My Kind of Gingerbread

I don't LOVE the taste of gingerbread or all the time and effort it takes to make, roll, cut, bake and put together gingerbread houses. (I do LOVE the way they look and smell though.) My kind of gingerbread houses are the graham cracker kind! It has become somewhat of a tradition in our home. No baking required... just lots of fun decorating! This year, we had cousins at our house overnight (Tim and Karen went on a little 24-hour staycation for their anniversary) and I thought it would be fun to do it with them.

I read on a blog that I frequent, that you could hot glue them together. This sounded like a great idea, so I glued and assembled the night before. It worked great! The houses were more durable and had less set up/drying time. I'd highly recommend it if doing this project with kids.

At first, my kids were worried that I had put glue on their food. I told them they didn't have to eat the glue... just the crackers and candy. (It seemed like it would peel off fairly easily when it did come time to eat.)

Get ready... get set... decorate!

Audrey's ready

Katelyn says, "Ta-da!"

Abree's excited about the candy cane, but hasn't decided where to put it.

As soon as Treyson's was completed he asked, "Can we eat it now?"

I told him he had to wait for a few days, so it could decorate our house for Christmas. It didn't take long for it to be picked at and dilapidated looking.

Rylee had to piece hers back together, after a candy light mishap.

Taylee came up with the idea of using a Tootsie Roll for a chimney. She angled it so it would fit just right.