This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending an annual Gingerbread House Party complete with a White Elephant Gift Exchange and enough sugary candy bits to construct some pretty wicked homes!

Without further ado, allow me to present to you:

“Chaos in Candyland.”

We started out with about seven preset gingerbread packages – these packs came with a boatload of candy as well as these large pouches sugary frosting.

It took a little time to unpack everything, but within about ten minutes, we were ready to build. To make things interesting, a competition was set up.

The rules – one kit per team, 30 minutes to build and a candy free for all!

On your mark … get set … build!

Things started out pretty innocent … standard Gingerbread House building – pretty cookie cutter if you will. 😉

Then the first casualty of the night … but never fear! The sugary frosting was used as a sort of mortar to patch the foundational issues.

As you can see, two of our teams decided on a very standard gingerbread home configuration.

While one of our teams decided to go with more of a cow-tipped version. Will the structural integrity hold? Only time will tell.

Here we have the makings of “home” that turns out to be quite strange and haunting – the Krumpas … but we’ll come back to this in a bit.

Remember that foundational issue we had earlier – looks like this team has made good use of the mortar and managed to get their home vertical – will it stand?

Maybe …

Maybe Not …

This team decided to throw in the towel, grab a beer and retreat to the couch for some Sunday night football while the other teams scavenged the wreckage for spare parts.

T-minus 15 minutes until judging!

We’ve got some Gumdrop and M&M sidewalk action going on here … looking pretty good so far!

And here’s our cow-tipped home … it looks like the frosting is a little too wet, we might have a bit of a problem on our hands. And are those Gumdrop teeth?!

These two teams came up with a very creating and beautiful combination of candy and cookie, it looks like they may be pretty close to completion.

Remember that home I said might turn out to be a little creepy … well, I don’t think you’re ready for what it becomes – I know I wasn’t.

What are those Gummy-bears doing on that Kit Kat?

Before we get into the creepy house – let’s just take a moment to talk about the Gingerbread man guarding this house, does it look to you that this team has made him, ahem, anatomically correct?

Remember that house with the Gumdrop Teeth? Yeah … that didn’t last very long. Nice try, points for the attempt.

Now on to the Gingerbread House of Torture … yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, this team has gone to the dark.

Allow me to elaborate – remember that Gummy-bear standing on the Kit Kat? Well, it turns out this is actually a plan where the Gummy-bear king, seated in the back, on his throne made of Hersey’s Chocolate, has condemned the Green Bear to the pit of torment depicted below.

Apparently this pit of torment houses a vampire Gingerbread man along with a pile of his most recent victims.

This image depicts a Gummy-bear trial, where the convicted are sent up to the Gummy-bear king for final judgment.

From the back, this house doesn’t look so bad, but oh the trouble that awaits anyone who makes the mistake of knocking on their door.

This team created a more traditional Gingerbread House, even providing it with additional support via Kit Kat beams – the toughed look of the roof makes it an instant classic.

Again with the appendage … I’m not sure how the night devolved so quickly.

As for the winners of this competition – the decision was made that this home, with its classic look and Gumdrop lined sidewalk most represented the traditional spirit of Gingerbread House building.

So what about you – have you ever built a Gingerbread House? I’d love to hear your stories, comment below!