A Sweet Activity

It seems like this time of year, my kiddos are in the mood to do a craft any given moment of the day. As I am elbow deep in making pumpkin rolls or up to my eyes in wrapping, my 5 year old boy will say sincerely (and with gusto), "mom, I am feeling creative. Can I pleeeease do a project?" Aargh. Mom guilt. I cringe as I think.... There is no way I can go pull a project together for my kiddos right now with all MY projects going on!!!!

Problem solved:
Last year, I found a big square box (12X12X12) and then cut a piece of cardboard that would fold in half to make a roof. After hot gluing that together, I cut out two triangles to fill in the empty spaces under the roof and hot glued that on too. Then, armed with lots and lots of graham crackers, I hot glued and hot glued until it was covered.

I made sure to use the homemade icing that really dries solid. The storebought icing is too greasy and never completely hardens. Then, I left the enormous gingerbread house out on a little table with the icing (tightly sealed) and bags of a variety of different candies that I bought from the dollar store. The kids spent some jolly time designing it and every time a friend came over, it was a ready-to-go activity that they really enjoyed. Probably because candy was involved; however, the house turned out darling. After Christmas, I stored it in a bubble wrap in a big plastic tub and when we opened it this year, it was perfect! There is another side left to cover, so I'm thinking next time I get that craft project question, I'll know exactly what project they will be doing. Look at Works For Me Wednesday for more great ideas!