Gingerbread Meetinghouses

Each year we do some version of gingerbread house decorating. Sometimes they are great!

 Sometimes they are lame. (No assembly required?) Lame.

Sometimes they end up looking like a train.

But always, always they come in a kit from the magical land of Walmart. Well, I say, no more! This year I planned to do the "I'm not quite ready to make actual gingerbread" version: Graham crackers.

I thought it was going to be cheaper to do it this way, but seriously, by the time you get the grahams, and then purchase enough red/white/silver Christmas themed candy to make it look presentable, the 10 dollar kit is feeling like the frugal way to go. (And you know that unless you are crazy...everybody get's their own portions of each type of candy. You give them one big bowl to share and you are asking for bloodsport).

Also, while I'm on the subject of presentation, I really thought that making little individual gingerbread houses was going to be so easy. I even saved up little milk cartons to help with structural integrity. Unfortunately the little cartons and the grahams didn't really match up and it looked all wacko. So then I went freelance and tried to make it work....and I ended up with....

Little LDS meetinghouses.

I also decided to go whole hog and let them control the icing this year. Which is why it mostly got sucked directly from the baggy into their sugared up little bodies.

Direct Quote: "Oh YEEEAAAH! SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR!"

After awhile, I looked down and I realized that I was trembling from the sheer effort I was exerting in order to refrain from "fixing" anybody's creative processes. There was only one way out....

Make my own meetinghouse.

The glorious freedom of executing straight rows and miniature wreaths! 

(I now include this photo Mark took of me to prove I have no pride and no access to a clean white shirt.) 

Where else besides Utah will you find this many meetinghouses in one town?