Do you remember the little village that the Munchkins lived in in the movie version of The Wizard of Oz? I always used to love it when they’d show the baby Munchkins asleep in a giant nest complete with egg shells as beds. They looked so cosy and I remember thinking as a child that it must be wonderful living in Munchkin Land. Of course children are allowed to have such dreams. Now as an adult it is my job and utter pleasure to create dreams like that for my children. Ned & Anaïs are a little small to appreciate this year’s Gingerbread Village but before long they’ll be wildly interested by all things Christmas so it’s time to get my practice runs in.

Ta dahhhh!

These things are so much fun to create and stand back and stare at afterward. Bowls of sweets litter the table, mortar in the piping bag spills out all over the floor and the mess made is extraordinary. But at what other time do you get to build a front garden fence out of decorative Candy cane?

I ask you, when??

To make the mortar you will need:

• 500g icing sugar
• 1tsp cream of tartar
• 3 medium sized free range egg whites

Mix the above ingredients together in a food mixer using the whisk attachment and beat together until it forms stiff peeks.I used a piping bag with a small nozzle attachment to pipe my mortar onto the gingerbread pieces.

As you can see the construction of the Gingerbread houses are fairly simple. You need a steady hand, lots of mortar and patience but it all holds fairly well. I left mine to dry overnight but you don’t have to do that. I did it because I ran out of time but if you construct the houses in the morning they should be ready to decorate in the afternoon.

And boy did we decorate! It got to the point where Jodie and I just could not help ourselves when it came to sticking bits on here there and everywhere.

Using sweets and candy for the coloured bits and ready to roll Regal Ice for shapes that went on to make window frames, some of the doors and, randomly, heart-shaped front lawns on one of the houses.

In my fantasy Gingerbread Village Christmas elves run through the streets when night falls. Checking all of the houses are safe and well and that the children are tucked up in bed inside.

Then, when the village is safe, they knock on the liquorice all-sort door to the church and sneak inside for a power nap before heading back off to the North Pole.

Taking the train of course. It’s all very Polar Express in my Gingerbread Village.

All is calm. All is bright.

All is also vibrant and sweet tasting. Perfect and imperfect. The best combo don’t you think?

I decorated the outskirts of the village with giant baubles. Robert and I went to NYC for Christmas one year with the rest of my family and there were giant GIANT baubles outside one of the tall buildings there. So I put them there to remind myself that one day we’ll all go back again. We’ll stay at the same hotel and feel the City in the same way we felt it several years ago. Before children, before marriage even. But not before love.

Enjoy your days in the run up to Christmas. Take it all one step at a time, one day at a time. Everything you’re meant to get done you’ll get done. And if you don’t manage it then it wasn’t important.

I love you and I thank you for reading.

Cherry x

Click here for Part One of my Gingerbread Village

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Don’t forget you can join my Facebook page!

Cherry Menlove

Related posts:

1. How To Make a Gingerbread Village – Part One
2. Gingerbread Men Christmas Decorations
3. This Year’s Gingerbread House – 2009
4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Let Your Heart Be Bright
5. How to Make a Patchwork Seat Cover – Part Two

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