I had the house stored in my house during the winter months not near a heat register or a window or anything like that. It just seemed to dry out and crack apart. First the icicles fell off, then the corners broke apart and that was that. Oh well. I wanted to have one up close and personal because I want to make one and wanted to see how it was done. I learned a lot from it. Now I can't wait to get started!!

Hi again everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've just finished a new template today - a tall clock tower. It's rather advanced, but it could be SO cute (or it could also make a great scary Halloween tower!)

If you've signed up for my templates and want to try this one, just reply to the e-mail I sent you and request the clock tower. You can sign up here if you haven't already: http://www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com/gingerbread-house-templates.html

Kelly
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l5pkel, your photo isn't coming through -- can you repost it?

BobWB if you refresh the page it should show up. It's been doing that lately. Someone said they're working on it.

LOVE the tower, Kelly. Looks very cool. And kinda hard, too.

Thanks Honey!

Also you can try right clicking on it and choose show picture. That has been working for me.

Sometimes when I open this thread it comes up and sometimes it is just a red box -- when I click on the box it says there is no attachment. I have the same problem with one of the pix in my pictures -- the closeup of the monogram, sometimes it's there and sometimes it's not. Probably just a glitch in the system.

So has anyone finished their castle yet? I see she had to close the template testing because so many of us had requested. I finally finished mine.

OMGosh, Mattie -- that is amazing!!!

O.k., a million questions, let's start with these:
How did you get the texture?
Did you paint the gingerbread with RI or airbrush it?
How did you do the tree? I saw one in the cake store this weekend, but yours looks "neater/ smoother" theirs was more twisty.

SO, SO COOL!! And BTW, that fountain is just gross!

For the texture I have impression mats. After I rolled the gingerbread out I pressed the mats in the dough and baked. I thinned the RI just a bit and painted it on. Let it dry then dry brushed black gel thinned with vodka. The tree is modeling chocolate and I dont plan on ever doing another. It gave me so much trouble. Honeydukes, thank you for the compliment on the fountain, just the reaction I was looking for. LOL

Oh.. my... goodness! maddie1 that is so awsome!! great job!

Thank you so much.

Mattie I love your castle! You did a fantastick job on it. I went out and got the stuff to do the haunted clock tower today. I plan on starting it Sun. I just hope mine turns out half as good as yours.

The thread is so long now. Forgive me if by some strange chance, this has been discussed.

I would love to make a gingerbread house. I really would. When my kids were little, I was only brave enough to use graham crackers.

Since that time, I've developed a severe allergy to eggs. Baking with eggs (for other people) isn't so bad, because the eggs are pretty controlled. But I have avoided using royal icing because...well, I make a mess of things. I don't think it is a good idea for me to have so much contact with eggs. And I'm not even comfortable with the idea of gloves while using RI. Like I said, I make a mess.

Does anyone have an egg free alternative for icing/glue for gingerbread houses?

I would be so happy if someone had an idea!

Mattie I love your castle! You did a fantastick job on it. I went out and got the stuff to do the haunted clock tower today. I plan on starting it Sun. I just hope mine turns out half as good as yours.

I was so happy to find this topic. Here in Utah there is a thing called The Festival of Trees and everyone donates decorated Christmas trees and gingerbread houses to be auctioned off and all proceeds go to Primary Childrens Hospital (they take anyone whether you have insurance or not). I remember going to the festival once when I was 12 and looking at the gingerbread houses and being totally amazed by what people had done and thinking one day I was going to make a gingerbread house to donate. I was actually thinking maybe I would give it a try this year and so I was thinking about starting a topic on this exact thing. I am definately going to watch this thread. You guys have some amazing talent. Thanks for all the great ideas and info already.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Every couple of weeks I use the search function to see if there have been any new entries about gingerbread. Was thrilled to find this!

I wish the powers that be would consider a seperate section on Gingerbread like they did for the cookies and cupcake interests.

I have pre-ordered THE GINGERBREAD ARCHITECT book due out later this month and really looking forward to getting it.

Thanks jewels and justgale. I had a really fun time doing the castle. At first I thought of doing it as sort of a cinderella theme but since it is near halloween I decided to do a haunted castle instead. I'm glad I got a picture as soon as i finished it, because the next morning when I got up the fountain was drooping. I guess it wasnt completely dry or the gel softened it.

Good luck with the tower. I cant wait to see how it turns out.

Just for the record, y'all have me inspired to try my hand at gingerbread this year!

Go for it bob. You'll have so much fun.

[quote="momvarden"]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggytarheel

The thread is so long now. Forgive me if by some strange chance, this has been discussed.

I would love to make a gingerbread house. I really would. When my kids were little, I was only brave enough to use graham crackers.

Does anyone have an egg free alternative for icing/glue for gingerbread houses?

I would be so happy if someone had an idea!

someone on here said that they glue together their houses with candy melts. Said you don't have to wait nearly as long for it to harden up. I have little to no patience when it comes to drying time so I thought I might try it with my tower. Hopefully I'll find time Sun. to work on it.
Sherri

Thanks for the help! I look forward to looking through that website. Unfortunately, meringue powder has egg whites in it.

The candy melts sound like a great idea! Maybe I can get that to work.

Thanks so much to both of you.

Mattie1, thanks for the help. I have one of those mats, I will have to look for it. Another question for you: When you painted the castle did you do it before or after you glued it together?

I painted it before I put it together. I also painted the seams with thin RI as well. when it was completely dry I used a brush to dry brush the black thinned gel on just for an aged effect.

Here are some construction pictures.

Mattie (okay this is a stupid question), what did you paint it with?

I used thin gray RI and just painted it on with a small brush.