Colonial Gingerbread House

I LOVE gingerbread. It's my favorite Christmas cookie by far. My dad and Jessie also share this love, whereas my mom, Sarah, and Edward could easily do without. My dad made an amazing gingerbread house when we were kids and I've always wanted to try one of my own. Jessie and I have been in charge of gingerbread for probably the last ten years at the Sisti household, so it was kind of sad not having her to help bake, decorate, and eat all the cookies this year.

I found a bunch of great printable patterns on the Bob Vila website, which came up on a google search. I opted for the colonial pattern, since it reminds me of my childhood home. I used my mom's old recipe which is hit or miss. Sometimes the cookies are great, other times they lose their shapes and get all wrinkly. Jessie and I have shed many tears over failed batches. BUT, this year all went well. Phew! I didn't go out and buy any candy, I just used what we had around the house, which was basically m&ms, hershey kisses, and leftover smarties from Halloween. Perhaps next year I'll got a little more crazy with the decorations.

A pregnant gingerbread lady looked pretty awful so I just made a baby instead. I guess this would be more accurate for next year.

Piper and her dog house.

Piper

The back of the house is lacking pizazz.

Front walkway. Do you see the red cat peeking out the window? (That's in honor of the late Mr. Kitty)