I can’t think of a better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to decorate a Gingerbread House with your family! It has been quite a while since I’ve decorated one of these!! And to be honest this wasn’t on my list of things to do this holiday season, but I’m sure glad my Design Blogger friend Stacy Naquin decided to host a Gingerbread House decorating contest for Designers and Bloggers (and any other creative types that want to participate of course). The more the merrier!!

If you’re interested in finding out more about this fun contest….it’s not too late to participate, hop on over to Stacy’s Blog here and check out the details.

I am finally finished with my entry and I emphasize finally because my Kitchen was a complete wreck for three days….I honestly thought this would be a fun, quick, and easy task but come to find out, I was quite mistaken. Yes, fun it was but quick and easy…not a chance! And I , not being of the baking kind, even began with a pre-baked house kit. Maybe next year I’ll get brave and bake one from scratch….did you hear that Stacy, I said “next year”!! You may have started a little holiday tradition. “We” can all take turns hosting this fun, friendly competition (you know I’m game)!

Here’s the kit I began this project with and the few candies that came with it, but if you know anything about me, this wasn’t quite creative enough so off I went to the stores (yes stores…many of them) in hunt of a few tasty additions!

When I mentioned that my Kitchen was a complete wreck, I didn’t do it all myself….I had a little helper! My son Kyle participated in the festive fun too. We’ll be posting his house up for the competition as well…and I must say, his is quite fantastic! I think he enjoyed sampling all the sweets just as much as he did building his house!

If you don’t have time to make one of your own this year, I thought it might be fun to share my decorating experience with you…next year I think I will plan ahead and start a little earlier. The royal icing does take a bit of time to dry…hence the three days of a trashed Kitchen!!

My biggest tip through this whole process would definitely be to decorate your entire house FLAT before putting it together and let everything dry thoroughly….I’m definitely no expert (and would love any tips you may have to offer). I’m so thankful that I did start a little early (due to the enthusiasm of my 13 year old) because this allowed for all the extra time needed for everything to set up and dry properly!

Drumroll please….here’s my completed Gingerbread House!! I’m calling it a “Cozy Christmas Cottage”….Craftsman Style of course!!

And that concludes my Gingerbread House entry for the contest this year…wish me luck!! If you think it’s worthy enough of your vote, I’d appreciate you heading on over to Facebook to show your “LIKE” love! You can see my house posted here. I can’t wait to see all of the other entries too….everyone is so creative which makes for such a fun contest! Hope you enjoyed sharing in some of my holiday festivities!!

Bonus Photos (for your enjoyment and incase you were wondering):

Happy Holidays!