#GINGERBREAD HOUSES, PART 2

Yesterday I featured my two favorite gingerbread creations from a local competition. Here are some more. After the bruising election season, I loved the sentiment of this gingerbread White House. Note the sign on the right: "Santa for President."

 This was a family entry of a Candyland board made out of gingerbread.

 A girl scout troop created with gingerbread globe with a plea to save the earth.

 This was one of the individual entries. I have a feeling it was created by someone who does a lot of cake decorating.

 Another individual entry went with a pet theme. The dogs and cats are all sculpted out of fondant. If you've ever worked with fondant, you can appreciate the skill of the person who created this entry. The wishing well is all gingerbread.

Finally, we have a farm scene, complete with bales of hay, chicks, and a vegetable garden.

#GINGERBREAD HOUSES, PART 1

One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is to attend gingerbread house displays. Down the road from the headquarters of the magazine where I work is an arboretum. Each year they host a gingerbread competition. Entries are divided up into different categories: family, scout and school, and individuals. Attendees are asked to vote on their favorite. Today and tomorrow I’ll share with you some of the fabulous creations from this year’s competition.

My hands-down favorite was a family entry, "The Ugly Christmas Co." It features a display of ugly Christmas sweaters with gingerbread men salespeople. Have you ever seen anything so creative?

My second favorite display, also created by a family, was the rendition of Finding Nemo.

Check back tomorrow for more wonderful gingerbread creations.

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA - GINGERBREAD WONDERLAND

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without gingerbread houses. Last year we showcased gingerbread houses from an exhibit at Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, PA. This year we visited The Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, NJ for their 21st annual Gingerbread Wonderland.

This annual competition features a variety of categories of competition – adult individual, adult group, family, child individual, child group, school/scout groups, special needs individual, and special needs group. Entries had to be constructed out of gingerbread. All structures, including the bases had to be edible. The only non-edibles allowed were foil covered candies.

These entries were by far the most creative gingerbread creations we’ve ever seen. Yes, there were the magnificent creations like the cathedral and cuckoo clock designed and built by adults with exceptional talent, but we were blown away by the family and school/scout entries.

See for yourselves:

Gingerbread Jitterbuggers

Gingerbread Pizza

Gingerbread Jersey Boardwalk

Gingerbread Niagara Falls

Gingerbread Mermaid

Gingerbread Christmas Lights

Several entries paid homage to Apple:

Gingerbread iPad

Gingerbread iPhone

iGingerbread

However, my favorite was a gingerbread rendition of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night