While Christmas shopping with the boys Monday, I picked up several bags and boxes of candy. Twizzlers, Dots, Red Hots…

Why?

Because Elias saw the fun gingerbread house kits and thought that might be a fun project. I agreed with him, but couldn’t stand the idea of spending so much for one kit for one kid.

I suggested an alternative. I told him we would buy candy (“Really??!!” he said) and graham crackers (“Seriously??!”) and make our own gingerbread houses. In fact, if all of “the brothers” wanted to make one, we would actually have an entire village.

Elias loved that idea. And he loved helping me pick out candy. And he loved bringing it all home to surprise the rest of the crew.

I really thought that some of my boys would not be very interested in the idea. But would you believe, Wednesday night after church they all sat down and got busy building houses? (It must have been the red food dye that enticed them…)

The conversation was hilarious. You should have been there. No actually, be thankful you weren’t. ;)

I made a “paste” with powdered sugar and milk – then put it into two condiment bottles. That made a great way to apply the “glue”.

Pardon the quality of this picture. My camera doesn’t take good shots at night.

We found that it was best to build the structure first, then let it dry completely before adding any embellishments. It only took a few minutes to dry – and then they were off! Candy, candy, and more candy.

It was crazy fun. And a little bit messy. And did I mention that the conversation was hilarious?

Shucks, I don’t even remember what we talked about. I just know we laughed a lot. Which means that I applied the frosting glue in a wiggly pattern at times, because have you ever tried to apply frosting glue when you’re giggling? It makes for a very wobbly line.

But that’s nothing a red hot can’t fix.

Ever tried making Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses before?  It was our first time and I learned that it’s way too much fun!