Turning Our Friends' Place Into A Life-Sized Gingerbread House, Final Reveal!

Happy Friday, my festive Festers! Ready to get your gingerbread house on?

This project has had a lot of ups and downs since we last spoke. Or downs and ups, as things kept falling off, hehehe.

That's the slightly unhinged chuckle of a woman who is one more mishap away from renting a flamethrower, btw. BUT WE MADE IT. And so far, knock on gingerbread, the Gingerbread House still stands.

Our battlefield of candy carnage.

So now that we've learned absolutely everything the hard way, let me show you all the things we did wrong last time, and our fixes that seem to be working.

Btw, to the person who so sweetly commented last time that we "make it look so easy!" - this is for you:

First let's jump in with some beauty shots, because I'm a desserts-first kinda gal:

::trumpet fanfare::

Eagle-eyed readers will spot the difference in these shots, but shhhh. We'll get to that.

The house doesn't look too different from my last sneak peeks, but the icing trim on the roof line got a major upgrade.

Originally we made the icing from plastic tablecloths, which was thinner, more translucent, and VERY wind-catchy:

Orlando's Festival Of Trees 2022, Part 2

Happy post-Thanksgiving work week, gang, how ya hanging in?

John and I just sat down to go through all our planned December activities and posts, so I already need a nap, heh. The month fills up fast when you want to do ALL THE THINGS, right?

First things first, though, let's get our holiday sparkle on with the rest of my favorites from Festival of Trees! (Click here if you missed Part 1.)

Beginning with the last thing I expected at this swanky Festival: a Dollar Tree DIY.


A really GOOD Dollar Tree DIY, though.

Look closely; those are all DT plastic bowls stacked and glued together, with fairy lights tucked inside.


SO COOL. They made different designs by switching up the combinations of bowls!

The only parts not from DT are the trees on top, but maybe we could make a cone from clear DT cutting mats? Hmmm. Or really, some of these would made great stands without the tree: you could put candles or greenery on top instead.

Moving on to the slightly more realistic trees with a deliciously over-the-top Elvis theme:

The action figure topper wouldn't be my choice (too small!) but the rest of this "Blue Christmas" is perfection:

Toy guitars, records, gold sunglasses, and even tiny blue suede shoes:

Yesss. I'm not the biggest Elvis fan, but I'm all about committing to a theme.

Which brings me to my favorite Festival tree this year. That's right, you're getting it early this post, no need to scroll to the end!

Now at first glance, this tree isn't the most spectacular... but wait for it.