A Gingerbread Decorating Party with Amy Blessing

Decorating gingerbread houses with Amy Blessing has become a bit of tradition – and one of my favorite holiday activities with Rip and Tan (last year’s natural gingerbread houses seen here). With this in mind, I of course wanted to do the same again this year. And for this get-together we added even more fun, namely gingerbread houses and trees from the lovely ladies of Sweet Laurel and The Kitchy Kitchen. Wanting to make it bit of a decorating party, we invited a bunch of our little friends using the beta version of Minted’s new online invitations. The particular invite I chose: an absolutely adorable (and just my style) Gingerbread House Party Online Invitation designed for Minted by Chicago-based Baumbirdy.

To set the scene, we used simple burlap tablecloths upon which Amy placed an assortment of miniature deer and fawn. Also on the table, she placed little trees that she had made by cutting rounds from a small birch log, drilling holes in each, and then placing branches of cedar, douglas fir and pine into the holes. And for seating: Moroccan stools in white and natural from my kids’ party favorite, Fire and Creme.

As mentioned, the little ones used almost too-delicious-to-decorate gingerbread houses and trees from Sweet Laurel and The Kitchy Kitchen, and they decorated on top of individual cake rounds to make for an easier cleanup. Amy’s inspired ingredients for decorating: this easy-to-use frosting, as well as almonds, yogurt covered raisins, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, marshmallows, and finely shredded coconut for snow. Not only did the little ones leave with the festively decorated fruits of their labor, but also these amazing gingerbread house kits donated by my home-delivered crafting favorite, Kiwi Crate. Never one to miss a detail, Amy adorned each wrapped kit with sprigs of greenery from the flower mart, adhered with red washi tape found on Etsy. Needless to say, our party was such fun – and perhaps my favorite gingerbread decorating get-together to date. XXJKE