Better Late Than Never
I seemed to run out of time for a lot of things this December. Our tree was up late, our cards went out later, I wrapped presents Christmas Eve at 11pm... and I never got a chance to make the gingerbread house that the wee ones kept asking about.
My mom has a gingerbread house that we bought ummmm four years ago at IKEA (hey, we don't actually eat it, so I'm not worried about it going bad). She kept mentioning that we needed to make it, and we kept not quite having time to do it.
So this afternoon, I finally made the time. Who cares that it's after Christmas? Who cares that most people are taking down their Christmas decorations? We spent a good hour having a blast putting together our gingerbread house.
Ok, so that's really a picture of the box.
Apparently that's what our gingerbread house was supposed to look like. Except for putting on the icing (which is a somewhat delicate job), I let the wee ones decorate the house however they wanted. I let them tell me where to put blobs of icing, and then I did their bidding.
We had lots of smiles, and they were so proud of themselves.
Look, Mommy! I made a door handle. And it's red!
Look, Mommy, I made a doorbell.
Look, Mommy, my gingerbread man is throwing a snowball!
Look, Mommy! I made a wreath for over the door!
Seriously, why didn't I do this weeks ago? How did I not make the one hour of time to spend with them to do this? Granted, it was one hour of time because the house umm came pre-assembled (thank you, Costco!), but still... next year, we're making our house the first weekend of December!
20 comments:
psssh why cram everything into BEFORE Christmas? Thats so last year! I say celebrate the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany why let it be done in one or 2 days? Didn't you read my post on this? Michelle you need to keep up. :)
Very fun! I say you should buy two next year: one for each of them.
Or better yet, dare I suggest you make them from scratch?
*ducking and running*
You fooled me with the first photo! I thought "Hey! She helped them too much!". Got me. Then I scrolled down.
The kids did a great job! And those smiles don't seem too bothered by the date on the calendar. It's still the Christmas season, stretch it out and enjoy it!
Who says a Gingerbread house has to be decorated before Christmas? The wee ones look so pleased with themselves and they did a great job!
Your house is by far better than the one on the box and comes with two smiling kids.
What fun! And I bet the kids don't have any idea that things went a little bit out-of-order. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the gingerbread house went over with my kids - it is definitely going to be a tradition from here out.
That. Is. Awesome.
I think sometimes we should save these things (on purpose!) for the week following Christmas. The kids are off school, the holiday is over, and you need fun things to fill the time. I give you a parenting win. :)
Who really does care if it is after Christmas? Those things are fun to make anytime!
I agree, who cares? I told my husband I want the tree to stay up until the end of January. After all, it is just staying cold here. It was 80 right before Xmas and I was just not feeling it.
Very cute! I bet you can buy one now for next year ;)
People are already taking down their decorations?
The whole reason I don't put up outdoor lights any more is that I hate taking them down every August.
Oooh, I love it! They did a great job! We aren't taking down CHRISTmas decorations until dh comes home from his deployment in several months. :D
Have a Happy New Year!
Sherry
I think the gingerbread house looks FANTASTIC! We opted out this year and did a "Winter Wonderland" instead, with cones to look like trees and all kinds of goodies, I blogged about it last week!
Ok I was so hating on you for a second ... LOL I was no freaking way they only look that good on the box ... duh Alexis
But their house turned out darn cute I think better :)
Laura - Ooo, I like your attitude! If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit behind so no, I haven't read that post. Apparently I need to, however!
Melisa - I thought about buying two this time, but ... ummmm. As for making them from scratch, growing up, my aunt would have us choose our design and then bake them. (Mine were usually complicated two story Victorian style ones.) We'd go to the special candy store and buy all the candy for our houses and then spend the entire day decorating them. She went through soooo much work and effort for those, and I think I've learned from her errors!
Mary - I was hoping to fool someone. I'm still trying to figure out how they made it look like that at all. I was impressed!
Connie - Not me! I'm all for decorating whenever we find the time....
Unknown Mami - Awww, thank you! I love that sentiment.
Nichole - Oh no. While they've been asking to decorate the house, they didn't get that it was "supposed" to have been done before Christmas.
Karen - Why thank you! A parenting win from the mom who made the Steelers room is a huge compliment (and you know I mean that)!
Debbie - Not me. I would have liked to have had the time to do it before Christmas, but ... what can you do?
Stephanie - We're keeping our tree up until the middle of January... but that's only because the tree chippers don't come until then.
Cookie - I actually thought about it. And when I make it back to Costco, I'll be looking to see if I can find another one!
Tom - Ummm yes? Not me, but people are....
Sherry - Now that's the perfect reason to keep them up. Fingers crossed it's sooner than you expect.
Brenda - Yeah... we tried the decorating cookies thing this year. I may wait a few more years before I do it again. I love that you're holding with tradition.
Alexis - Oh no, don't hate me. Trust me, I can't decorate worth a darn. You should see my cakes! Glad I fooled you though. :)
I love it! A pre-assembled gingerbread house---what a great idea! And really, when you think about it, you can make a gingerbread house any time of the year. Make it springlike in the spring and summery in the winter. Put fall leaves on it in the fall. Whattaya think, Michelle?
We also had an "aged to perfection" gingerbread house this year. It took hot glue to reconstruct the "pre-assembled" construction!
But a lot of fun!
And I don't know who these people are taking their decorations down 3 days after Christmas - I'm hoping to enjoy them a bit longer - at least until I've recovered from the trauma of putting them all up!
We also had an "aged to perfection" gingerbread house this year. It took hot glue to reconstruct the "pre-assembled" construction!
But a lot of fun!
And I don't know who these people are taking their decorations down 3 days after Christmas - I'm hoping to enjoy them a bit longer - at least until I've recovered from the trauma of putting them all up!
I wish my gingerbread house stood up! I have no luck with gingerbread architecture and design :) Your house came out great. Looks like the little ones had lots of fun. That's what it is all about.
Pat - I love that idea... why don't you get all the stuff needed, and I'll fly my kids out by you to do it ;)
Regina - Wow, a hot glue gun? THAT is perfect. At least you know they won't be tempted to eat it.
Kelly - Strong frosting and canned foods help out a ton in getting them to stand up. I've had lots of practice, including some doozies falling over!
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