I think we’ve done a gingerbread creation of some sort or another for 19 years in a row, since the year our daughter was born. So while the rush before the holidays can sometimes overwhelm, not other commitments, sickness or natural disaster has ever gotten in the way. I must be honest and say I thought the tradition would die when our daughter headed off to college (just like I thought it would wane when she headed off for high school) but old habits die hard.
It’s a really tiny effort this year, but between this tableau and ginormous decorated gingerbread cookies all over our home, it smells distinctly like Christmas. This year, I decided to use some cloches to highlight some miniature gingerbread houses. Not much candy, but I did use some dismantled pine cones for shingle like decor on the roof of one of the houses, to terrific results.
We also focused on little figures with dogs (we have several) as a tribute to Ginger, our roughly 86 year old brown labrador that seems to be slowing down just a bit this holiday season.
Fresh and ceramic pine cones, little christmas trees, icing “snow” and little touches like a “Coke” cart mean we have a Gingerbread tableau, even if it meant we only used 1/10th of the gingerbread we prepared with earlier plans of a grander Downton Abbey or similar challenging building. Maybe next year.
Nice wired plaid ribbons were put around the arrangement, and actually, it was quite festive. The tableau sits on top of a glass table with old specimen shells displayed underneath.
Here are some of the decorated gingerbread cookies displayed around the house for holiday cheer and that wonderful spicy fragrance they give off for days and days.
Gingerbread creations from previous years here:
Version 2013
Version 2012
Version 2011
Version 2010
Version 2009
Version 2008
Version 2007
Version 2006
Version 2005
Marketman’s recipe and other posts related to Gingerbread
8 Responses
Oh, there’s the beautiful silver grape scissors making its appearance again! Love it!
Exquisite cookies! Zoomed in on the houses.
nice idea to put the cottages under cloches. how do you keep ants away from your sweets, MM? we’ve tried everything to keep ants away, but you can’t leave so much as a few cake crumbs and almost immediately you’d see an army marching towards them.
millet, for some reason, gingerbread with lots of spices absolutely repel bugs it seems. No ants have ever invaded our annual gingerbread displays. And I think the hardened icing is equally repelling… The gingerbread cookies sit out uncovered (so their fragrance permeates the room) and bugs never get to them… Oddly, now that you mention it, we have bowls and bowls of candy and chocolate and cookies around and their are no ants either… so maybe we live above a previous nuclear waste dump. We do have ants on the property, however, I’ve seen them crawling about.
I love the attention to detail! Merry Christmas, MM!
Gorgeous creations – Merry Christmas you and yours!
I am in awe with the awesomeness of your gingerbread house creations,I can almost smell and taste them..We spend last year Christmas on our newly built home in Pampanga ,outside Clark..the ground for a year by exterminators to repel ants,insect,mostly termites.The ants came on on my baked goods.Lucky you.I love visiting you,for I envision,getting a lot of inspiration and ideas fr.you.I never thank you enough.Happy Holidays.
so pretty! happy Christmas and a blessed New Year to all!