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Home for the Holidays - Gingerbread Style!

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty Coeur d'Alene AB37665

At my house, for the past 25 years or so, it just isn't Christmas until everyone has made a gingerbread house!

We are onto the next generation now, as my grandchildren join the seasonal anticipation of our fun tradition of gingerbread house building every year.

When I made my first gingerbread house back in the 1980's, I realized that I could create my own creative masterpiece in peace - if I let each of the kids work on their own, so they would leave mine alone!

Those little boys, now all grown up, still enjoy sitting down and making a gingerbread house.  Here's an interesting bit of trivia: it's the boys who have been most creative over the years.  Whether building sky high scaffolding of candy canes to support snowmen soaring in the sky, or crafting a diving boards from fruit stripe gum for the snowmen swimming in the duck ponds - their fearless diversion from the traditional gingerbread "normal" has been a delight.

Here are a few photos of our gingerbread creations for your enjoyment.  Whatever it is that brings your heart home for Christmas, may you find much of it this holiday season!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Janna Rankin Scharf provides a superior level of real estate service to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com for area information and to search for all homes in the Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service. 

No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence.  Give me a call today so I can  be of service to you!

Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CLHMS, PMN, SFR  208.651.9700

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Comments (8)

Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Wow....they are all gorgeous. I would love doing this but the thought of it completely overwhelms me!  You should write a post with tips on how to do this....from all your experience there must be do's and don'ts to make it easier for those of us who have never attempted such a thing.

Dec 14, 2015 12:26 AM
Janna Scharf
Keller Williams Realty Coeur d'Alene - Coeur d'Alene, ID
Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate Expert

Sharon Tara the secret is royal icing!  It fixes anything and turns into concrete!  When the houses are built, I take the leftover icing and pipe out the snowmen, ducks, birds, squirrels, etc.  They last for YEARS, so I dont have to make more of them every year.  I just made about 40 snowmen with leftover icing.  Now, I won't have to make another snow man for a few years.  Another tip for the tiniest gingerbread home builders is to glue the house pieces together the night before so their roofs don't keep slipping off while they smoosh all the candy into it!  Ho ho ho!

Dec 14, 2015 12:41 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Do you make your own gingerbread. If so could you share a recipe?

Dec 14, 2015 12:47 AM
Janna Scharf
Keller Williams Realty Coeur d'Alene - Coeur d'Alene, ID
Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate Expert

I do, and yes I will share.  I also found a pattern that makes all the pieces for two of the smaller houses on one cookie sheet with one batch of gingerbread.  I got to Colorado this year without my pattern or recipe.  I ended up on google and found a recipe and another pattern, but it wan't a good experience.  All recipes are NOT created equil!  And when mass producing homes, it is such a wonderful thing to be able to procduce the to easy specs.  :)

 

Dec 14, 2015 12:52 AM
Sam Shueh
(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA
mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

How cute!  I especially like the bird houses on the left middle the best.....

Thanks for sharing,

Sam Shueh

Dec 14, 2015 11:06 AM
Kathleen Luiten
Resort and Second-Home Specialist - Princeville, HI
Kauai Luxury Ocean Home Sales

Janna this is wonderful visually and as a family experience. Now I have (gingerbread) house envy! ;-)

Dec 16, 2015 09:06 AM
Debbie Laity
Cedaredge Land Company - Cedaredge, CO
Your Real Estate Resource for Delta County, CO

Hi, Janna...your houses are absolutely beautiful and so very creative. You guys really do go all out. I bet it's a fun family time to have everyone sit down to work on their house. 

Thank you for taking the time to enter the December contest. 

Dec 19, 2015 06:58 AM
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

Wow, those are a lot of gingerbread houses:) They look adorable!

Jan 05, 2016 06:29 AM