16 Dec

Life Lessons from a Gingerbread House

Dear Children,

We attempted our first gingerbread house this year. And I think we all learned a lot from the experience.

Image Source

#1 – Just because everyone else seems to be doing something so easily, doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy for you. {Even when you buy a kit and everything seems like it should be really easy.}

#2 – Follow the directions. Sometimes you can get away with not following the directions – but other times it can be very bad news.

#3 – Not everything you do is going to be pretty. And not everything in life is going to go according to plan. {And that’s okay.}

#4 – If it feels like the walls are falling down around you, relax. Take a deep breath. And think. There’s almost always a solution – sometimes you just have to think outside of the box. {And if all else fails, just call me.}

 

#5 – Despite what you see in catalogs, on Facebook and on Pinterest – real life is messy. {And if you’re going to paint your kitchen cabinets, you probably should use oil-based paint…}

#6 – Everything starts to slide down as you get older. {And I do mean everything.}

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#7 – There will be times in your life that you are tempted to do what everyone else is doing. Make bold choices whenever you can. It’s okay to be different.

#8 – Did I mention that real life is messy?

#9 – Just because something looks good – does not always mean that it will taste good. Looks can be deceiving.

#10 – Sometimes, the end result doesn’t matter. It’s all about enjoying the process.

23 comments on “Life Lessons from a Gingerbread House”

  1. Oh, my goodness! Your mixer broke? How awful! But at least it looks like the kids enjoyed the project. :) We made our very first ever gingerbread house this year, too. I cheated horribly. I got a kit that came with everything, including ready to use icing in a bag… But it was fun! Love your stories- found your blog a month or so ago, and had to read all of the archives. :) Merry Christmas to you all!

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  2. We've been building gingerbread houses for 10 years and we still run into epic fail moments. It's turned into a tradition for us and it's all about the family time, laughs and memories. Good job for not letting the obstacles prevent you from having a good time. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  3. Seriously – a GLUE GUN? Is this allowed? I thought when I began reading that the first picture was YOUR finished gingerbread house – laughed outloud when I read on and got to see the real pictures…pretzels were also rather innovative….well done! (and thanks for the laugh!) Merry Christmas!

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  4. OMG I just wet my pants. I am crafty, bordering on professional crafty, but the G^*&)(* D$^&%&^T gingerbread house is something that I haven't been able to master either. Though I never broke my mixer- that take the prize- I have ended up with the messy, unmatched edges and a hot mess. A few years ago I got smart and Michael's sold a plastic yet realistic Faux Gingerbread house and ephemera- which added up $$$ pretty quickly I might add. I bought all the fake peppermints, faux necco wafers, and artificial snow and headed home. The problem? No matter what type of glue I used that stupid thing would not stick together. While I stopped short of using Epoxy and just filed the stupid thing in the vertical file (trash), I used about every other adhesive I owned before I gave up.

    last year I bought a gingerbread pan to bake the perfect sized walls and frankly I don't have the courage to use it. Maybe I will and if it works I will let you know.

    OMG I am going to keep laughing about this all day. You are fast becoming my favorite blogger. Want to see another blogger who tells the truth? Check out my blog rainingjellybeans.blogspot.com and scroll to December 2010 to see what my kitchen table looked like- I had used it for crafting and it was a mess to end all messes and yes I posted pictures.

    I'm am still being hit with the giggles…

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  5. And…if it is covered with candy then it will turn out just fine in the end :-)

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  6. I knew when I saw the broken mixer and then the glue gun things were going down hill and not as planned, have a wonderful Merry Christmas, xoxo (Aunt) Patty

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  8. Wish I'd read this before I went to the grocery store today. I succumbed to a sale and bought a gingerbread TRAIN kit for $2. I read another blog that said she buys the kits after Christmas and freezes them until next year. I'm planning to do the same thing. I'll try to remember to let you know how it turns out. (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)

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  10. It can be so hard to enjoy something that seems to be going horribly wrong, but yes yes it should be enjoyable because it really is fun. Such a funny post. Thank you for sharing!

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  11. That's funny. I had my own disaster last week. Thanks for sharing, next time I'm going to use the glue gun.

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  12. Ohhh, does this bring back memories of candy sliding off the roof of the Gingerbread house as my husband and I are trying to hold on to everything until it dries and the kids are yelling, Don't ruin it!

    Great story!

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  13. LOVE this!! And I love that you used a hot glue gun to fix the house.

    I can definitely relate to every one of these lessons… kind of wish I'd written this post :-)

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  16. LOL – they look like they are having fun though! Ours didn’t turn out too great either. I wish I had my cousin’s tutorial (posted on my blog today) before I had attempted to make one. But as long as it tastes good, I think that is all the kids care about.

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  17. LOL!

    You crack me up Anna. Love the house and the look of sheer joy on your kids’ faces. That’s what it’s all about.

    Madison xxx

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  19. This absolutely cracked me up! I love that you had a great memory building experience with the children. Thank you for the perk-me-up on my Christmas Day!

    Reply

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