Vote for My Gingerbread House!!!!

Well, I finally finished my gingerbread house. YEAH!
And....... I entered it into a local competition. EEK!!!

So now I'm going to loose all my pride and beg you to please go and vote for it! (It never hurts to beg...right?) LOL

I'm a little behind in the voting right now so I'm hoping you'll help me out. If I win, they will donate $1000 to a charity of my choice. I chose "Share a Smile". This is a charity organization started by Dr. Eric Vogel DDS. He's a local dentist who travels to other countries around the world providing free dental care to those in need. He's a great man and it's a great charity! Dr. Vogel is battling cancer right now, so I'm sure he'd be even more grateful for the donation to help his organization and to help these people in need.

Here's how you vote. Go to this facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ivoryhomes?sk=app_180881568718542

First you'll need to "like" the Ivory Homes facebook page. (You can always "unlike" it again after you've voted.) Then a page will come up with pictures of all the gingerbread houses in the competition and you can cast your vote. My house is #9- Anderson Family. The voting lasts until Wednesday (December 5th). Thank you sooooooo much for your help. I really appreciate it!

I'm always a little leery of contests like this. Too many times they turn out to be more of a popularity contest then a contest based on ability. So we'll see what happens. But I'm still BEGGING and PLEADING for your facebook vote!!!! ;)

I had a lot of fun putting this house together. However, it took sooooooo much longer than I'd ever imagined! It wasn't the decorating that took so long... it was the construction. I'd glue a few pieces together with royal icing, then wait, and wait, and wait for them to dry before I could continue. This house had so many pieces that my daughter's bed was completely covered with cookie sheets and boards filled with gingerbread house pieces! Anyway, here are some pictures.

One of the many boards covered with gingerbread pieces.

Some of the pieces a little farther along.... plus the little Christmas trees I'll put in 2 of the windows.

For the windows I used gelatin sheets. They work really well because they come with the diamond design already there!

Starting to put it all together. The white sections are where windows will be placed. And to the left is the beginnings of a large Christmas tree. It's made with Rice Krispie Treats and covered in white chocolate.

Here's the same Christmas tree covered in fondant. I'm about half way done clipping little sections to make it look like a pine tree.

Getting the roof put together... it was sooooo nerve wracking!!! I was worried it would fall in, but it held together very well.

I colored the gingerbread dough a dark brown color. To make the shingles I rolled out the dough and made impressions with a fork to create some texture. After cutting out the  little squares, I trimmed off the bottom edge with a wavy blade. This added an awesome detail to the shingles. I baked them for 12 minutes and they were done.... did I mention I made approximately 1700 little shingle pieces!!!! Wow, it took the better part of a full day just to make these little squares. But I was very pleased with the end result!

Adding the shingles... see the 2 large bowls filled with shingles. Every time I closed my eyes all I could see were little brown squares.... LOL

Here's the stone siding. On the right you can see what a difference it made after I brushed a little gray petal dust into each of the cracks.

The finished product!!! :D

Here you can see more little details like snow on the rooftop. The base board measured 34 x 28", and the house was about 16" tall.

This is a closeup of the front. In the windows you can see a Christmas tree and a picture of Santa Claus hanging on the wall.

The little lights were chocolate covered sunflower seeds.

On the left you can see the large finished Christmas tree. Cotton candy made great smoke coming from the chimney.

This is the right side of the house with a small tree trying to hang on to the last little bit of Autumn.

View of the back.

Close up of the back where you can see a 2nd Christmas tree in the bay window. The other window has frilly lace curtains. Just outside the door is a stack of wood, an ax, and a bucket of coal waiting to keep the little house warm and cozy for the holidays!

Making this gingerbread house kind of reminded me of pregnancy. Quite often after your first delivery, you vow to never put your body through that again! But over time you forget about the morning sickness, mood swings, discomfort, and pain. You begin to remember the good times... and after a while you decide it wasn't so bad after all. Then you end up having another child.

Will I ever attempt another gingerbread house with this much detail???  Give me a few months to forget about the 2 weeks... all day... everyday... the late nights... and the early mornings I spent working on it. Then come next October or November I'll probably decide it wasn't so bad after all and end up doing it all over again!!!

In the mean time..... GO VOTE!!!! :)

My Christmas Gift of Music

During this Christmas season, I wanted to send everyone a big "THANK YOU"! I really appreciate your time and thoughtfulness. You've made me feel very welcome in this blogging world. I've made new friends all over the world and hope to know many more. So this is my special gift to each of you...

Here are two of my children performing their own arrangement of  "O Holy Night". My daughter's playing the marimba and my son's playing the vibraphone.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Tutorial Grand Finale!

And now for the Grand Finale!

.........drum roll please.........

Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow I plan to post my Christmas gift to you. I'm very excited to share it with all of my wonderful followers.

Christmas Tree Tutorial #10

Today's post will be my last Christmas tree tutorial, and I think I saved the best for last. It's been fun putting together these tutorials with their different methods and ideas. Hopefully you've been able to learn something new and have enjoyed yourself as well.

Be aware that today's tree is a bit more tedious and time consuming than the others. However, I think the end result is well worth the effort. This tree looks much more realistic, so you just might have people asking, "How did you do that?"

Pretty cool looking tree... huh!

You'll need a green fondant cone, a rolling pin, and a small daisy cutter. (Or any other similar flower cutter.)

Cut out a flower shape then fold it in half.

Fold it in half one more time, so it's folded into quarters.

This is what it will look like. There should be a triangular shape at the bottom.

Using a little water, wet that little triangular shape and glue it to the base of the cone. Push up the individual petals so they stick out.

Continue adding flower shapes as you work your way up the tree.

It takes a little while, but when you finish filling in the tree... it looks fantastic!

Tomorrow will be my Grand Finale!!! So make sure you don't miss it... 

Christmas Tree Tutorial #9

I think of this tree as my "art deco" Christmas tree. It's stylish in it's own kind of way. (However, shhhhh don't tell anyone... but it also reminds me of a pineapple. LOL) I was in a bit of a hurry when I made this tree, so a few of the indentations are a little off.  If you decide to try it, take your time and make sure your knife point is always perfectly straight up and down.

This is the tree you'll be making this time.

You'll need a fondant cone and a small knife with a pointed end.

Starting at the bottom, push the tip of the knife into the fondant. Stagger each row as you move up the tree.

After each indentation, remove the knife in a downward motion. If you pull the knife straight out, it will leave ragged edges.

My finished pineapp... ummm... I mean my finished Christmas tree. ;)

Only one more tree tutorial left! Stay tuned for the grand finale!

Christmas Tree Tutorial #8

If you don't have a lot of time... this tree can be put together pretty quickly.

Simple yet elegant...

Begin with a fondant cone shape.

Roll out some extra fondant.

Using a pastry cutter, cut the fondant into strips with the wavy wheel. (My strips are about an inch wide.)

Start at the bottom and attach the first strip (wavy side down) with a little water.

Continue adding more strips, overlapping them as you go.

Cut out a small circle of fondant.

Go around the outside edge of the circle with the wavy wheel so it matches the fondant strips.

THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL!!! You'll need a ball tool and thick soft petal foam. Gently push inside the middle of the circle with a ball tool until the circle begins to cup in shape. Don't push on the edges. Then attach it to the top of the tree with a little water. You'll have to mold it just a little so it fits properly.

There you have it...  another tree to mark off your list!

One thing to keep in mind with this tree, is that it has a definite front and a back. The ends of the strips will meet together in back. Even if you join the ends very neatly, the line will still show. So put the back side of this tree where it isn't noticeable.

Christmas Tree Tutorial #7

Hello everyone, I hope you're having fun experimenting with all the different trees in my tutorials!

Today's tree needs to be made from either gumpaste or a 50/50 mixture of gumpaste and fondant. Fondant alone isn't strong enough and won't allow you to ruffle the edges as shown.

This is another one of my favorite trees... so pretty.

In addition to fondant/gumpaste, you'll also need a rolling pin, a ball tool, 3 different sizes of circle cutters, and a foam petal pad.

Once again you'll need to form a cone shape.

Roll out the gumpaste and cut a couple of circles, then cut them in half. (If you want to cut out more circles, make sure you cover them with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.) Using the ball tool, thin the round side of each petal. Place the ball tool half on and half off the edge, then gently push down as you move the ball back and forth along the edge.

Starting at the bottom of the tree, attach each petal using a little water along the top edge. Make sure you don't wet the ruffled edge.

Stagger each row of petals as you work your way up the tree. When you get closer the the top, you should switch to a smaller circle cutter.

For the top of the tree, cut out the smallest circle but don't cut it in half like the others. Simply ruffle around the outside edge of the entire circle then place it on top. After you've finished adding all the petals, gently push the ruffled edges up so they stick out and don't look matted down.

That's all there is to Christmas tree #7.