Gingerbread House Competition

Yesterday my family held our second annual gingerbread house competition that I talked about on Friday.   My family has made gingerbread houses ever since I can remember.  These ranged from houses made out of single serving milk cartons and graham crackers to houses that we baked the dough for.  Needless to say we have made just about all the gingerbread houses on the gingerbread house spectrum.  Todd and I have made a gingerbread house each year since we have started dating. Last year my mom decided it would be fun to start a little competition between us and my brother to see who could create the better house.  The winning team would receive a gift card and the losing team would be given a consolation prize of holiday socks. 

This year we decided to keep the tradition going. My mom purchased the houses early this year.  They sell out pretty quickly! In mid November we began plotting when the competition would take place. Believe it or not, it's incredibly difficult to get four people in their late teens and early twenties together at the same time, for at least two hours.  The competition begins by my mom opening the houses, lining two trays with tin foil, and distributing the extra tools and candy evenly.  The losing team from the year before then decides which work space they would like to use (dining room table or kitchen table). Once each team has their designated work space and materials the timer is set and the competition begins.  We are given about two hours to construct and decorate our respective houses.  The time constraint forces us to work under pressure and can add a little stress at times....especially for me the perfectionist.  The most difficult part is getting the frame of the house built. Once that is done it is all easy decorating choices from there. 

This year Todd and I took a different approach to the competition.  We decided to decorate several sides of the house before icing them together.  This made decorating the roof much easier because it wasn't on an awkward angle, and we didn't have to worry about pressing too hard risking the chance that the roof might collapse. Once the whole house was decorated we added extras to the exterior of the house. 

So I'm sure you're wondering who won the competition.  This year we upgraded the judging system, so that my parents didn't have to choose one team over the other.  We have decided to accept votes via social media.  We all have pictures of each house on our social media and are allowing our 

friends /family decide the 2015 winners.  If you would like to contribute to the voting please comment with your favorite house. The winners will be announced by mom at 3pm on Wednesday, so be sure to vote before then! 

House 1

House 2

This is a great activity to put you in the holiday spirit.  We had a fire going and music playing in the background as we built our houses.  This is a competition that family members of all ages can participate in, which makes it really fun! If you're looking for another tradition to add to your holiday season, then I highly suggest you check this one out. 

Remember to comment with your vote!

Happy Holidays!

XOXO