Gingerbread Mania....by (Angela) Jean

Nothing says 'festive' like 11 small children hopped up on candy.

I love Christmas crafts and now that I have children of my own I can throw crafty parties and people will be fooled into thinking I'm doing it 'for the kids' when really, the fun is all mine. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration...I think the kids (and I'm going out on a limb to say the adults too) have a bit of fun.

Preparation is key when doing these kind of events for kids. In general, little people are not known for their patience and they really can't hear "we're almost ready" more than a couple of times before they revolt. I also took it easy on myself and purchased the gingerbread houses. I'm sure they will not be as tasty as homebaked, but to be honest: a) this was more of a craft project than a baking project and b) does anyone really want to eat anything that small kids have had their paws all over? My friend Sarah baked the sugar cookies. They were delicious!


I tried my best to do most of the prep work the night before. I rolled up the rugs, set up the folding tables, assembled the gingerbread houses and arranged the paper craft stations.

There were three activities planned: gingerbread house decorating,

paper crafts,

and Christmas cookie decorating.

Mmmmmm.....doesn't that look delicious?

I was impressed with the level of focus the kids mustered up. At times, the house was almost silent. You would have never guessed that there were 6 boys and 5 girls all under 10 in my teeny house!

 All in all, the party was a success, and I look forward to making it an annual tradition.