Scrappin' Wednesday- Making Gingerbread Houses | Occasionally Crafty: Scrappin' Wednesday- Making Gingerbread Houses

Wednesday, October 31

Scrappin' Wednesday- Making Gingerbread Houses



Photobucket
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  Halloween isn't even over yet, but if you look all around, Christmas is everywhere!  I have even started my Christmas shopping already!  Normally this makes me gripe and groan, but in truth, Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I can't wait for it to arrive!

So, my scrapbook layout for the week fits perfectly with my mood.  I'm almost done with 2010- I just need to scrap the last activities of the year.  One thing we did this year was make "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers and candy.  I would like to share the Story of the Gingerbread Houses with you:

Once upon a time, a family bought a gingerbread house kit to make with their two small children.  They thought it would be fun.  It wasn't.  The frosting wasn't strong enough to stand the house up, and it squeezed all out the end of the bag and all over the father.  The father could not get the house to stand up.  The kids would rather eat the candy than use it decorate.  Much yelling ensued, and though the houses turned out in the end, it was an experience best forgotten.

A new year dawned, and when the prospect of building houses once again dawned, the mother thought and thought about how she could make the activity a better experience.  So,  she made her own frosting glue from a tried and true recipe on the web.  She composed the houses from graham crackers well ahead of time, so they would be sturdy and dry for decorating later.  She bought squeeze bottles for the icing to contain the mess.  And when the kids ate the candy, she and the father just shrugged and smiled.
The result was this:  two beautiful houses and a happy family.

True story :).  What I learned from this experience is this:  if we let anger, impatience, or a mess get in the way of observing our family traditions, we lose the meaning behind them.  What's important is the time spent together as families and loved ones.

Here's our much better house-making experience:



Thanks for stopping by today! 
Photobucket



Connect with us! You can find us here:
Image Map

2 comments:

  1. that is very clever Valerie. I think I will be doing the same this year. Mind sharing your glue recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's really simple:
      1 lb. powdered sugar
      1 tsp. cream of tartar
      3 egg whites

      It will harden as it sits, so you can add a few drops of water as you go to soften it up. I put the icing in a squeeze bottle and cut the tip off so the opening was pretty wide. Good luck!

      Delete

Thanks so much for stopping by! I try to answer all valid comments as soon as possible, but you can also email info@occasionallycrafty.com with an urgent question. Have a great day!