How Sweet It Is!

Here's the Christmas-card-worthy version of gingerbread house building. 

And here's how it was behind the scenes! (Don't worry. No one but Brooke ate her gingerbread house!)

OK.The girls' houses looked a bit different from the version on the perfectly-appointed Wilton kit photo.

But that's what made them special, don't you think? Perfection is overrated (or so I hear).

Before the girls visited in November, Grandpa and I perused the gingerbread house aisle. Since both girls love animals, we decided on Wilton's gingerbread dog house.

Their love of dogs was just one factor in the decision. The others were:

• It appeared there were fewer pieces, a positive for the first gingerbread house building project for the girls AND for us. Architects we are not!
• Each kit was around $5 - an economical price sure to yield a fun activity for part of an afternoon (or part of two afternoons, as it turned out.)
• I knew that even though the kit came with only two colors of icing and the candy was limited to a sugar puppy and dog bones, I could pull out my arsenal of sprinkles from the kitchen cupboard. I also had M & Ms, chocolate stars, several different colored chocolate discs and gummy bears on hand. (You could also use dry cereal or crackers for shingles, etc.)

We constructed our houses in two sessions. The first day was a building day. I have one big piece of advice for you grandmas out there: Have another set of adult hands during this part of the process. It took both Randy and me to apply the royal icing supplied in the kit to the different components and hold them together while they dried. (I thought I could do it myself, but I was sure glad to see Grandpa walk in the door at just the right time.) I don't have photos of that process. My hands were a little busy at the time.

We set the houses aside on plates and left them to dry overnight. The next day was the fun part for the girls. I asked them what color of icing they'd like me to make to go along with the red and white that came in the kit. Predictably, they chose purple and pink.

Then it was time to let their creativity shine. It takes a lot of concentration to provide the perfect decor for a home.

Just ask HGTV ... or Brooke.

Kinley is a typical first-born child who likes things done precisely, as you can tell from her neatly-arranged M & M shingles.

And when her little sister needed a little help to get it all done, Kinley was glad to pitch in.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Wilton may not be calling to use our versions for their holiday marketing, but we sure had a good time being architects for the day! (Check out the frosting on Brooke's face!)

Kinley wanted photos of every side of her masterpiece, and she couldn't wait to take it home so Mommy and Daddy could see her creation.

I've been watching the Holiday Gingerbread competition on Food Network this month. I don't think we're ready for that. 

But, if you have grandchildren coming for Christmas and are looking for a fun project to do, we recommend a gingerbread kit. (Bonus: The kits may even be on sale right about now.)

Kinley and Brooke thought the houses tasted good, too. (I cannot vouch for that. And I don't think they ate any more after their first tasting when they "raised the roof.")