Friday Fun of the Christmas Kind

Hello-Hello and welcome to an almost-weekend here at The Prepatorium.

We wanted to make our Friday Fun post Christmas-related this week, so we are taking a look at one of the season’s most delightful traditions, the gingerbread house. We begin with the confection created every year by the White House bakers, a replica of the White House.

The White House

This year Bo has a little sister named Sunny; the Obamas brought another Portuguese water dog into the fold.

The White House

This year’s version weighs in at a whopping 300 lbs and is actually edible, as previous versions have been.

Our next house was created by a talented woman named Carrie; she not only shared the final product, she showed exactly how she made the house in her blog.

Carrie/Worth Pinning

Carrie’s instructions and photos almost made it look like something ~~I could do~~ most anyone could do, her directions and photos are that good.

Carrie/Worth Pinning

The folks over at Cake Wrecks have some fabulous offerings this year.

Jeziba via Cake Wrecks

This homage to Breaking Bad by Sugar Plum Cake Shop gets major points for creativity.

Sugar Plum Bakeshop via Cake Wrecks

Having spent so many years as an apartment dweller I was partial to this version of the holiday classic.

Via Cake Wrecks

Here is one that is environmentally friendly, made by Laura Morrissette last year and featured on the Today show.

Via

More on how she made it all work from The Women’s Eye:

….she designed this one with licorice panels on the roof, a recycling bin in the front yard, candy bottles carefully sorted from stacks of paper made of Fruit Roll-Ups and, for public transportation, a gingerbread bike.

Of course, bigger isn’t always better. These are from Kyle Lefort’s 2013 Miniature Gingerbread House series.

Kyle Lefort

A closer look at Kyle’s creations, available on etsy.

Kyle Lefort Etsy

The modernistic approach is also popular. This beauty is by Nick Milkovich Architects, one of several treasures auctioned off by Canada’s Creative Room back in 2009.

Nick Malkovich Architects

The auction was a benefit, with proceeds going to Architecture for Humanity.

We didn’t realize there is a National Gingerbread House competition every year. It happens to be at one of our very favorite places, the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. You can see some of the remarkable creations from the 2009 competition on the blog Running with Tweezers.