Christmas Inspiration ~ Gingerbread Houses ~ (And a present idea)

After reading Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby last night with Youngest, I was inspired to finally get a post up with pictures from The Boston Christmas Festival. The Festival takes place in early November, and I have attended the last 2 years with my friend MG. :)

One of our favorite features (Beyond some yummy food items and a wide variety of crafts and body care items~ handmade soaps and lip balms and such...) is the Gingerbread House exhibit.

Chefs from all over the Metro Boston region show off their creativity, and vie for 1st place. The houses are then auctioned off to benefit a charity devoted to ending homelessness.

Here are my favorites from this year:

Mary Engelbreit-ish birdhouses

A lovely little church~ the pictures don't do the stained glass windows justice~ they were lit from inside... sweet!

The windows showed up much better in this house~ doesn't it look yummy??? 

A fanciful nautical theme... 

And finally, a couple of Fairytale-themed cottages

Little Red Riding Hood

And the quintessetial Gingerbread House offering

Hansel and Gretel

Pretty amazing creations, aren't they?
Now I need to find a good EDIBLE Gingerbread house recipe to make~ because Youngest wants to EAT his if we make one. :)

Gift Idea: (Note~ there is an Amazon Promotion running today that you might not want to miss out on~Amazon Wishlist $5 off $35 promo code in case you're interested!)

Purchase the book Gingerbread Baby
Visit Jan Brett's website (Which is a fantastic resource, BTW)
    Print and Laminate the Gingerbread Baby Board Game
    Print and Bind the coloring pages from the Gingerbread Baby Mural for a coloring book
Purchase a new set of crayons or colored pencils
*I like these...Melissa & Doug Triangular Crayon Set, 24-Piece or
Crayola 8ct Write Start Colored Pencils (currently on sale at Amazon as an "add-on" for $2.97)


Use some brown craft paper stamped with gingerbread men to wrap them all up (Or stamp a brown paper gift bag with gingerbread men) and tie on  3-Inch Gingerbread Boy Cookie Cutter  (Or 3-Inch Gingerbread Girl Cookie Cutter ).

For an extra special gift you could even add in a set of Gingerbread House Cookie cutters~ Here are three I found~ read the reviews and see which suits you
Wilton 3 Piece Gingerbread House Metal Cookie Cutters
Fox Run Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set or for a different option, you could try a cookie mold like this
Paula Deen Signature Cast Iron Ginger Bread House Mold

I hope that you enjoyed this post with the fun pictures and the gift idea!

Blessings,