Graham Cracker Gingerbread House-

 
 

If you're looking for a way to make cute gingerbread houses QUICK, this is your lucky day!

These guys can take less than 10 minutes if you're in a hurry, and are a great alternative to your standard gingerbread houses when you need to make several in a pinch.

I came across the idea for these easy gingerbread houses when my 14 year old, Kati asked if all 7 of her friends could make gingerbread houses at her birthday party- 5 days away!!

My first thought was, "oh my gosh, I should've started baking like a week ago!!"

My second thought was, "how much will 8 gingerbread houses cost?"

Fast forward-

These graham cracker houses were a hit at the party, so I decided to let Kati show you guys how incredibly easy it is... Have fun!!

Set up your supplies:

Graham Crackers- they even make Gingerbread flavored grams now, so-score!

Store bought icing- I'd usually make a batch of royal icing for my gingerbread houses, but in a pinch this store bought icing in a can works great too.

Candy- keep in mind that these houses are on the smaller size, so you might want to scale down the size of your candy as well.

A cake plate, or something flat to use as a base for your house.

A spatula, or dull knife to apply the icing

a serrated knife for cutting the grahams.

 Cut 2 of your grahams into a point with your serrated knife. These will be the front and the back of the house. You'll need 4 full sized grahams for the 2 sides of the house and the roof.
 

Once you cut the first graham you can place it on the other graham you need to cut, as a guide. You want them to have the same angled cuts, so the roof sits evenly on top.

This is the icing we used. It doesn't get rock hard, like royal icing does, but does firm up after an hour or so.

Spread a good amount of icing onto your base. This will act as the "glue" that will stick your house to the base.
 

I like to start with one of the sides and the back, so they can balance on each other. Kind of like building a house of cards. Continue spreading a thin amount of icing on everything you want to stick together. Once the base is built spread icing to the backs of your roof pieces, add them on top.

Time to decorate.

And here's our finished house. We're keeping this one as a decoration, so we added a couple of cute, inedible touches.
 

The decorations, including the adorable sisal trees and wreath, as well as the candy found in this post are from Oriental Trading. 

You can find these items here-

http://m.orientaltrading.com/party-supplies/candy/christmas-a1-551289+1240-1.fltr

I received items from Oriental Trading. The review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the products listed above. I was provided the samples free of charge by the company or PR agency and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.

Happy Decorating xo

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Holiday Cookies~

I've recently started working with a local cookie cutter company, R & M International Corp.

They supply me with the cutters, and I get down to business. In this case it's prepping for Christmas and the fun holiday season...

{Okay, these are from my own cookie cutter collection, but I thought they turned out so cute, I had to add them.}

My cookies even appear on the box of their new cookie press! If you've never used a cookie press before, I'd highly recommend it. This one was so simple, no rolling or cutters involved. When you're baking for large crowds, and don't have a lot of time, this thing will be your best friend. 

Halloween Treats (no tricks) ~

Happy Halloween!! One of my favorite things about what I do is meeting and working with amazing,  creative people. It's so much fun to plan out the details of a party or photo shoot and then see the stylist's vision come to life.  Here are two recent parties I've collaborated on.  Check out the cookies in this Young Frankenstein party and the fondant toppers I made for an Addams Family shoot.  I hope you love them as much as I do...

This Frankenstein party by Three Little Monkeys Studio is so beautiful it's hard to believe it's based on a monster movie!  Take a look, Gretchen actually built a mini lab...talk about attention to detail!!

 

And what lab is complete without gross body parts in jars, right!?!

 

 

Here are the cookies that I made for the party.  My favorite are the severed Frankenstein arms (never thought I'd use those words in a sentence)!!  

 

 

 Gretchen's party had so many amazing elements that she had to write several posts to cover it all!  Start reading along HERE, you'll be SHOCKED at the electrifying details...

Next is a spookingly charming engagement party styled by Dorangela of  Two Prince Bakery Theater.  The food and décor are inspired by the old TV show, The Addams Family.

These beautiful invitations were designed by Loralee Lewis.

There are so many clever, subtle ways that she incorporated the show's characters, including the "Thing" cupcake toppers that I made...

 

 

And those drinks...I just love the way she styled my fondant cigars!!! (Yes, they're actually Smoking!!)
 You can check out the rest of the party HERE.


xo Linda

Knock it Off ~ TV Premiere Party

Hey, guys!  So do you remember the kitchen/dining room makeover that I told you we had done? It was televised and SO much fun... I can't think of anything I didn't love about the experience.  One of the best parts, besides my awesome new work space, was meeting local bloggers and TV hosts, Monica and Jess.  Their blog, East Coast Creative is the inspiration for their new TV show, Knock it Off!  On the show they take what seems like a hopeless cause-of-a-room (ie; my kitchen) and transform it using their amazing and affordable DIY techniques. 

 

While filming my episode we were casually discussing the show's premiere party when I realized that they were planning the entire event themselves...between juggling a TV show, a blog and their families?!! That's when I stepped in...

               Welcome to The Knock it Off Premiere Party!

 Up until this point I had only styled small, family parties.  This party had over 200 guests!!!  It was a collaborative effort by so many amazing businesses. Check it out...

Monica and Jess greeted their guests at the door.  It was a great way to make sure they could meet everyone who came to their party without missing anyone.  These amazing, huge tassel balloons by Tara from One Stylish Party adorned the entrance.  The tassels reflect the color scheme that ran throughout the party... orange, turquoise, and lime green are the colors from the show's logo.  I threw in the tan/craft paper to represent the DIY aspect of the show.

See the red carpet and backdrop in the background?  Guests felt like VIP's as they posed for photos...
Lauren, the amazing talent behind ten23Designs created the vinyl logos for this step and repeat backdrop. So glam...

       even Monica and Jess got in on the action!! (How cute is Jess's baby bump!!)

 

And what's a premiere without a marquee sign?  (I made this sign for less than $30!!)

Here's a great tutorial.

 

 

 Don't you love this pinwheel banner by Jaclyn of Peckled?  You can make a big statement with a banner, and pinwheels like these are really popular party decorations right now.

 We had a huge space to decorate so I used pinwheels several different ways.  These sparkly, logo pinwheels made by Valerie of Greyson Design were hanging from the ceiling.  They added such a fun pop of color.

 

            How SWEET is this custom chalkboard sign?!! Nikki from Nikki, In Stitches is the most creative person I've ever met! (she's even been on Craft Wars on TLC!!) She made all of the chalkboard signs for the party: food, drinks, and sweets.

 

We went through LOTS of cupcakes! I made vanilla, chocolate, and oreo mini cupcake bites, sugar cookies, and chocolate-dipped marshmallows.  The signs were so much fun to make and practically free to do.  I just hand stamped paint stirrers from the paint store...

 

 

I made the table runner using a roll of dollar store craft paper and this beautiful, ruffle garland made by Jenny from Craft That Party.  Jenny also made these precious peg dolls of Monica and Jess...

 

 

Here's a cool side by side:

 

 

After the guests had a chance to mingle and eat it was time to watch the premiere!!  Everyone grabbed some kettle corn and settled in for the show...which is amazing by the way!! 

 

 

I found these cute, scalloped popcorn containers at Oriental trading.

 Another inexpensive...well...free way to decorate is to cut up paint samples in coordinating colors and string them on twine to use as bunting. 

The popcorn "table" is actually a door that I painted to mimic the one in the show's logo...

 

  

 These lollies and mini tool key chains (that actually work!) were take home favors for the guests.  To make the centerpieces, I filled these little, clear paint buckets from Oriental Trading with floral foam, crepe paper, and glow lights, so they would glow in the dark.  Then I popped in delicious, custom lollipops with the show's logo on them.  They were made by Cheryl of Vintage Confections.  She creates edible works of art and has been featured in Brides Magazine as well as Martha Stewart Living.  I used double stick tape to add these adorable, glittery logo flowers by Valerie of Greyson Design to tie it all together.

                 Knock it off!!!  These are so cute!!!

                         Hope you liked it!!  We did!! xo

 

 

 Helpers~ I chose these shops because each is professional, has the highest standards in the quality of their work and an amazing eye for detail.

Find their shops here:

Photographer ~ Nicole of Expressions by Nicole Marie
                                                  Me and Nicole :)

Peckled~ pinwheel decorations and sign
Nikki, In Stitches~ chalkboard signs
Greyson Design~ logo pinwheels, centerpiece logo flowers, mini bunting, water bottle labels
Vintage Confections~ custom logo lollipops
Craft That Party~ custom peg dolls, crepe paper ruffles
One Stylish Party~ huge tassel balloons
ten23Designs~ custom vinyl logos
Oriental Trading~ red carpet, glow sticks, scalloped popcorn containers, small paint cans, mini tool key rings, turquoise napkins

Oriental Trading provided products for this event.  All opinions are my own.
.

 

 

 

Root Beer Float (Cookie Tutorial)~

 

I thought it would be fun to post an easy tutorial for the root beer float cookies I made earlier this summer (in honor of National Root Beer Float Day~ yep, that's tomorrow).  These were made for a graduation party styled by my friend, Christy from Itsy Belle.

I colored my fondant brown & rolled it so it wasn't too thin, since I'd be using stamps on it.

I measured my cookie so I knew what size to make my fondant, then used a pizza cutter to cut it down to size.  Next, I stamped out the words I wanted...this may take some practice so maybe try a word or two on a scrap piece of fondant first to get a hang of stamping straight.  I actually like the imperfect look that stamping brings to a project, it gives it character!

Once your words are on, take a toothpick and make the lines for your mug, make sure you space these evenly.

Brush corn syrup onto your cookies, staying away from the edges of the cookie because this stuff is super sticky and will sneak out from under the fondant if you add too much.  Once the corn syrup is on you can gently press your mug onto the cookie.

I used the top of this purse cutter to make my fondant, ice cream scoop but a circle cutter would work too.  Add this to the top of the cookie.

Now is a good time to start mixing your royal icing. While that's mixing up you can make your straws...I LOVE stripey straws but you can make them a single color if you'd like, it would definitely save you some time.  If you want the 2 tone affect just roll out 2 different colors of fondant into long, thin ropes.  lay them next to one another and start twisting, gently pressing as you roll it back and forth on your surface so it sticks together.  I always use a little powdered sugar on my work surface to keep the fondant from getting too sticky.  You could also use corn starch.

Cut your straws evenly by finding a size you like then laying your cut straw next to the fondant rope and cutting the next straw the same size.  Continue this until all of your straws are cut.
           (Oops, we have an over achiever in the group!!)

By now your royal icing should be ready.  Put it in a pastry bag with a pretty small tip, I used a #2.  First I outlined the mug and added a handle on the side.  Next I added the "over flow" so it looks like the foam is running down the side of the glass.  Add more royal icing where you plan on placing your straw and immediately add the straw (the royal icing will start to set up pretty quickly).

Add a few swirls of royal icing to hide the seam between the mug and the ice cream and your finished... SO cute, right!!  Let them set up for a few hours before serving them and give them a good 12-24 hours to harden before you place them in bags.

These were used at a graduation party, such a cute idea!  I also made these bottle cap cookies to go with the root beer theme...

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a ROOTIN' great day!!



 xo