OK. So we’ve previously established that gingerbread houses are amazing and versatile and frequently really, really adorable. And we can also establish that unless you are a super fantastic baker who has lots of time on their hands, you will probably make your gingerbread house this year from a kit. I’m certain it will be even more attractive than last time, when your roommate’s hamster chewed through one of the walls and you patched it with a slice of rye bread.
See, the problem lies not in the construction of the gingerbread house. The problem lies in what you DO with the house once it’s built.
Usually the progression of events goes this way. The gingerbread house is built. The winter holidays happen. The gingerbread house must be dealt with. An adventurous soul samples the confection that has been sitting out for many weeks and either gags or breaks a tooth on a gumdrop that was made last June, lived in a box for a year and a half, and then sat out for a month. After finding out how much a dental crown costs, the depressed gingy cottage owner pitches the whole thing in the garbage, muttering about wasting good candy and spending their Christmas bonus on their teeth.
This doesn’t have to be you this year. I promise. This year, you can build a gingerbread house that will not have to be painfully consumed OR thrown in the trash. This year, you can make a little chateau that would make a good gift (ahem, fruitcake). Best of all, this year, you can make a gingerbread house for your dollhouse.
Yes, this is the truth, because for the first time ever, you can buy a gingerbread kit handmade from polymer clay. From a gingerbread chimney to a licorice door to a gumdrop-studded roof line, you can create the cookie house of your dreams without having to sculpt it yourself, eat it yourself, or feed it surreptitiously to your neighbor’s dog yourself.
I’ll send you the basic kit, which includes all the fixings for that lovely model you see above, plus assembly instructions and a little tinfoil-wrapped cutting board to position it on, if you so choose. The only supplies you’ll need for assembly are ones you’d need to make a regular-sized gingerbread house: flour, powdered sugar, and Elmer’s glue (oh yes, everyone is baking with Elmer’s nowadays, haven’t you heard?). You can make your gingy house as a decoration for your real house, as a work in progress for your miniature scene, or as a glorious finished product for your 1:12 scale winter display.
The basic kit is $30 plus shipping and handling, but what I think is reaaally cool is that you can personalize your kit. Want wafer cookie shutters and cotton candy bushes and a marzipan snowman? I’ll give you a free quote, and you can decide if I should add them to your kit. Those three pine trees, unassembled, will be $5 with your kit, which is pretty much the best value around.
We launch on Monday. If you want to be on the top of the list for a kit, you should let me know right away. I’m expecting a lot of demand for these sets, so be sure to get your spot soon.
the frippery factory 