Gingerbread Creations.

"Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience."
~Masaru Ibuka

My mom and Stephen hosted a Soup Dinner and Gingerbread Party the first weekend in December. An annual tradition of theirs since they got married in 2001, the event brings in relatives and friends, both far and near. Now, this is no ordinary gingerbread house making party; in fact, only a few houses are even made each year. Typically, we see more aircraft carriers, weapons, space stations, lighthouses, and vegetable gardens. (The vegetable garden was my last year's idea gone bad. Don't ask.)

Two years ago, I was quite please with my cityscape, though if given more time, I would have made several more skyscrapers.

But this year, I outdid myself. (Which wasn't hard to do, considering last year's vegetable garden mishap. There are no pictures for a reason.) Really though... I put some thought into this one. So did my eye doctor. "Your eye doctor," you ask? Yes, he and I sat down and discussed the matter that morning because I needed to redeem myself. I needed something that was recognizable. Something interesting. Something unique.

So, in keeping with the tradition of eclectic gingerbread creations, I built a gingerbread outhouse. Yes, an outhouse. Laugh if you must. But at least everyone knew what it was as soon as they saw the crescent moon. You can't deny it's unique. And every gingerbread village needs an outhouse of some kind, right? And those trees? Aren't they fantastic?!

Yes, I'd say I redeemed myself from last year.

Now maybe next year, I'll need to redeem myself from this year and make something a little more... refined. :) Maybe.