Halloween Gingerbread Houses - 2015

2015 marks the 6th year of doing Halloween gingerbread houses. We began when my first granddaughter was five.  The other two began participating when they were three.  My grandson is only nine months old so I have a few years before we have to make four houses! The houses are truly a joint Nana and Papa collaboration.  I make the dough, cut out the pieces and bake them, as well as accumulate all the candy and other decorations.  Papa puts the houses together.  This year he also made us some spooky licorice trees. Each girl gets an identical house to start with and we let them go from there.

I finally got smart this year and got a plastic tablecloth to corral all the mess.  I put towels on the chairs so I didn't have frosting on the cushions.  Clean up was a breeze this year, I just rolled up the tablecloth and all the mess went with it! Not sure why it took my six years to figure this out!

I love this time with the girls.  We chat, laugh, eat a lot of candy, and lick frosting. They all have such busy schedules, it's getting harder and harder to get everyone together. The cousins enjoy seeing each other and the siblings get along great.  Mommies are allowed to come, though it's not mandatory. Extra hands sure do help! I see progress each year, they get more creative, have specific ideas of what they want to do, and get more proficient working with the piping bags. They are quite proud of their creations and I cherish the memories we have made!