Cupcake Cottage

Each year, in Shipshewana, IN there is a gingerbread house contest.  Each year I say to myself, I wonder if I could do that?  My friend, Nancy, has a restaurant and bake shop there and I thought it would be good publicity for her if I did one.

My teenage daughter and I decided to go for it.  We have been tirelessly working for the past few days to construct this house in order for it to have time to settle before we drop it off on Monday.

I enjoyed working with her and spending this time laughing and sharing and feeling a bit sick over the smell of candy together.

We were having difficulty knowing when to stop.  We do have some cupcake topiaries and a cupcake snowman to make yet.

It took my daughter over three hours to construct the roof last night using over 100 sticks of bubble gum.  The smell is so nauseating that I don't think I'll be chewing gum anytime soon.

All of the fencing and scrollwork for the arch and decorative details are done in royal icing and made in advance.  The neco wafer (stone) foundation is one of my favorite parts.

With this being our first gingerbread house, we really didn't know what to expect.  Although it was alot of hard work, it was fun and we decided we might start a tradition of making one every year, contest or not.  Although, we do hope we win the $500 even though neither of us can feel our fingers today!

Hugs,