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Extreme Gingerbread Contest At Our House

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I am sharing photos of our wacky & fun Thanksgiving night tradition. We decorate (pre-assembled) gingerbread houses to the hilt, and fill them with firecrackers. We are very competetive! We have friends vote for the winning creation. Our one rule: Everything used to decorate must be edible. (or at least, it has to have been edible at one time..as in: old Halloween candy, stale pretzels/cereal/crackers/cookies/gum/ice cream cones, cinnamon-applesauce dough, etc...) On New Year's Eve, we blow them up at midnight! This has been great fun for our family and friends! This is something that ALL my kids and their friends have looked forward to doing each year. (They are ages 16, 18 & 22!) Every year, the houses get more elaborate. This year, my daughter & her boyfriend made a gingerbread TANK from scratch. Enjoy our offbeat take on gingerbread houses. We call it "EXTREME GINGERBREADING"...

7 comments

Feb 28, 2010. 12:30 PMJur says:

Do you have any video of the destruction of these poor houses?
Great idea anyways, and very nice looking houses =)

Aug 5, 2010. 2:02 PMlisacstowe (author) says:

YES! We do have video!! I will get after my son to post it. It is so much fun! The neighborhood kids all gather to watch our craziness. My husband is always the "fire marshal" standing by with the hose. My son and our family friend Greg, are the "demolition" team. The rest of us take cover, screaming & laughing hysterically!

Mar 2, 2010. 6:42 PMlisacstowe (author) says:

Thank you! We have so much fun doing it! And yes...we do have video. I will have to wait until hubby or my son come home, as I have no idea as to how to post it.

Jul 15, 2010. 10:19 AMpolevaulter33 says:

this looks like so much fun!! i cant wait for next christmas/new years:)

141

Dec 14, 2009. 4:12 PM

canida says:

That's an awesome idea! We've done group gingerbread house builds from kits, but missed the all-important "blow them up" step!

Dec 14, 2009. 6:13 PMlisacstowe (author) says:

Glad you liked it! The first year, we crammed the firecrackers into them when we blew them up. Another year, we used lighter fluid. It blossomed into what we do now! It is great fun for all of us!