ginger 2015: group 4

Day two! Let’s begin with our fourth grouping of Ginger 2015 masterpieces. I call this set of entries Cottages and Modest Abodes.

Cast your vote at the bottom of the post to help determine the winner of the 2015 People’s Choice Prize. (For more information on how this competition will go down, click here.)

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tamsin’s gingerbread safari

This is Tamsin’s second appearance in Ginger 2015 – her first entry can be found here. Tamsin wrote:

I moved to America from South Africa, and as a parting gift to our family, I created an African gingerbread experience. We don’t have a white Christmas in Africa, so this was more appropriate for the Christmas that we experience there.

Tamsin, I’m going to be as clear as possible here: gingerbread and candy are the only sorts of parting gift I’m interested in. I have long felt that homemade presents are the best, as they require a bit of your heart and soul to produce.

Now, let’s discuss barnyard animals. I would love to see more of them in gingerbread displays. Why isn’t this a thing? The pretzel roofs add a salty contrast to the sweet embellishments, and the frosted trees delight with their dainty decorations. Tiny villagers in bedazzled outfits! Edible dirt! (It’s edible, right? Whatever. Dirt’s good for the immune system.) A superb gingerbread experience!

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annie’s classic ginger cottage

Annie writes:

This is a small sweet gingerbread house that I made for my grandson. He is mad for sugar. I will let him consume it just before he goes home!!! Not a minute sooner!!!

Thanks for looking at the house. It was fun to make. Simple but elegant. 

Annie, you are a wise, wise woman. Never give sugar to a kid planning to remain in your home for more than five minutes. They’ll trash the place. Though… is that a granola bar walkway? Because I’m pretty sure those are good for you, which would totally balance out the sugar you gave your grandson. That’s nutrition science.

This is classic gingering – plumes of royal icing and perfectly placed candies, a spearmint hedge, and adorable gumdrop tulips. The scrollwork on the front of the home is most welcoming, especially when paired with the sweet wreath on the front door. Wait… is that a Rice Krispie chimney? That’s healthy too! There’s iron and folic acid in that chimney! This house is nutritious!

Right? Guys?

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team dewar’s frozen gingerbread with non-crap roof

Team Dewar writes:

Here is the Dewar father and daughter team entry for 2015. It is a Frozen themed gingerbread house. When I saw this kit, I knew it was the one we had to make this year because my 9 year old cousin loves everything “Frozen” and Olaf in particular.

Please notice the special roof that we added because cardboard cutout roofs are just plain not frozen enough (in other words they are cr*p). As requested here are exactly 2 photos, no more and no less.

In 2010, 2.0 and I put a cardboard roof on our house, and we’ve regretted it ever since. I’m going to look into sour belts as an alternative.

Naturally, I don’t know a thing about Frozen, so I had to do some Googling. I believe this is Elsa’s castle. I also believe that she is a princess, but to be honest, the Wikipedia summary of the plot was very long and I was worried that there might be spoilers. There is a chance, after all, that I could decide to see the movie someday. (Just kidding. I’m never going to watch that movie.)

Look at the sugar pearls on that castle! They match the sour belt accents perfectly, and add a dash of shimmer and shine to this elegant and understated creation. The piped detailing is a lovely touch, and I’d happy dive into that coconut snow! Is Olaf a… giant? Never mind. No spoilers, please.

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faye’s sugarplum sanctuary

Faye writes:

This is Faye’s Sugarplum Sanctuary, where the Sugarplum Fairy comes to work all her magic! There are windows, but there is no door, because she can fly, so why would she need one?

Uh, Faye? Flying doesn’t mean you can just float through walls. I mean, I can almost fly, and I still need doors.

She is not home at the moment, because she is flying around, bringing Christmas joy to all. 🙂 Everything is made from scratch, because I have so many allergies and I wanted to! The gingerbread and royal icing are gluten free and vegan and I made my own sugarplums! It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. 

I can absolutely understand why Sugarplum would want make this humble abode her sanctuary. It looks very peaceful, nestled in the deep in the forest, surrounded by trees and softly falling snow. Minimalistic and laden with homestyle charm, it’s the ideal spot to kick up your feet and relax after the razzle dazzle of Nutcracker engagements and the spreading of Christmas joy. I’m assuming Sugarplum had some big machinery bring in those sugarplums, because they look very large. Of course, she’d need something sizeable to sustain her through the winter months. (Flying burns a considerable number of calories.)

Wait… what’s that sound? Sugarplum must be home. She just crashed through a wall.

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destini’s secret snowmen

Destini writes:

The name of this this thing is Secretly Snowman’s because it has hidden snowmen all around it. Being a Gingerbread expert doesn’t have to come with experience or even gingerbread!

Wait… what? I believe that’s EXACTLY what the term gingerbread expert implies.

All it takes is a little bit of creativity, a cardboard box, and candy (and a good glue gun, can’t forget that).

So… no gingerbread?

This house is being featured at a large seasonal event (25,000 people) held in Okc. I was asked to make a Gingerbread house and this is what I came up with. I had never made a gingerbread house before, but I knew I could do it. Did I have mistakes? Yes, a lot LOL. But a lot of work and will power paid off, and after 3 days and many late nights ~VIOLA ~ a gingerbread-less, gingerbread house was made. 

Uh, I guess the rules for Ginger 2015 must have been vague, as it seems that it wasn’t clear that gingerbread was, you know, the only theme uniting competitors. That said, I’m a huge fan of sugar and this house delivers. SO JAM IT, GINGER SNOBS.

I made the windows out of sugar and syrup, put the polar bears and pond myself out of fondant and also built a little well that you see out of pretzels. The roof is crushed up candy canes and the small side of the house with the wreath is a very large mistake. (Damn candy windows LOL) So I covered it up. Be inspired to get off your butt and try something new, its good for your mind (and butt) to be creative!

There are so many messages in this entry, Destini, not the least of which is: any problem can be solved with candy.

I am completely entranced by this gingerbread-less display. Layer upon layer of sugar in every form. The well-lit candy walkway and adorable polar bears, the pretzel wishing well and shimmering snow. The glue. Oh, the glue! It really is a feast for the eyes. I mean, only the eyes. That glue is probably toxic…

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loreta’s (delightful) dental nightmare

Loreta sent an essay with her entry. She did the same thing last year, and I made fun of her, but Loreta is not easily deterred, so I’ve trimmed her 47 page entry essay to some key points:

Hola from frosty Eugene, OR. Home of the University of Oregon Ducks, but I really couldn’t give a flying leap! Eugene is also 2nd on the top ten list of most hippiest towns in the US. Not that you probably care!

Oh, I care. You should see my hips. I can’t get my pants up anymore. Maybe I should move to Eugene.

Most Eugenians also care more about granola and tie-die than they do about gingerbread.

And… I also started baking cookies… if I ever sell one cookie for money and thereby become pro, my company name will be “Tie-Die Cookie Company.”

Okay. Just getting the hippiest reference.

I work a grueling 40 hour week, and baking was not in the cards this year, even though my newly remodeled kitchen has duel ovens. Yes, this is a kit-house. But spices were used – it smells delicious!

I have been building gingerbread houses for over 25 years. My inspiration this year was to get rid of as much 25 year old candy as possible.

Probably one of the best themes we’ve ever seen in this gingerbread competition.

Whatever I had the most of, that’s what I used. Starburst that required unwrapping every single piece, individually wrapped lifesavers with again more wrappers, and nicely pre-colored and shaped marshmallows – no unwrapping but they were very appetizingly semi-clumped/melted together in the bag.

Tooth-breaking stale heart suckers fill the yard, with rock-hard gun-drop candy circles at the base. A knife could not cut these bad boys!

Oh yes, and candy canes. A house is not complete without candy canes poked through the Styrofoam base.

And green marshmallow treat bushes. Every year. My daughter’s beg me. These delightfully fresh concoctions only last a few days before being plucked off one by one.

I still own way too much stale, rock-hard candy.

So. Much. Candy. The ratio of gingerbread to candy in this masterpiece is spot on. I mean gingerbread is fine, but candy is finer! The starburst walkway is genius! The heart sucker trees make my heart sing! The colour scheme is divine, and it’s heartwarming to see an entry that embraces the whole recycle-reuse-reduce movement. I’d expect no less from a resident of Eugene.

Loreta, I sure hope your dentist appreciates you, because there’s a good chance you’ll be financing his or her child’s education. AND IT WILL BE TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Loreta has a website dedicated to gingerbread! Check it out!

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Cast your vote below! The (one) overall winner of online Ginger polling will win the 2015 People’s Choice Prize!

Repeat voters are blocked by cookie and IP address.
Polls close at 11 am AST, Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

You can also cast a vote for your favourite Group 5 and Group 6 entries.

Polling for Group 1, Group 2 & Group 3 continues until 10 am AST, Monday, December 21, 2015.