Just got an email from IKEA saying I was a winner in their IKEA decorate-and-win competition! How cool is that?
I had great fun making this Gingerbread house , so I thought I’d share how I constructed it. First, I purchased 2 gingerbread houses from IKEA and made cardboard templates from the gingerbread pieces.
Then I worked out how to cut up the pieces to make an L-shaped cabin, calculating which gingerbread pieces had to be reshaped
This piece was cut out to accommodate the wall of the adjoining room
The roof of the adjoining room had to be angled accurately to align with the other roof
Putting the walls together on the 'main' room. The walls were joined with royal icing and supported with wooden blocks at 90 degrees till dried
The second wing of the house was made with smaller (cut to size) walls. The chimney was constructed with 3 V pieces and one 'straight' piece
Melted Isomalt (imitation sugar compound) for the windows
Isomalt set on marble to dry and then transferred to the windows of the building
Isomalt window in place (seen from the inside)
3-D Christmas Trees made with gumpaste, and decorated with dragees
Snow and edible glitter added for effect
Cake board covered with fondant, textured with woodgraining tool, then marked into 'planks' and set onto a board raised on feet
Gingerbread house constructed and set onto textured and elevated board
Larger base board covered in fondant and textured to create pebble path and grass
Wood-graining effect finished around deck. Railing, door and stairs added, and colouring completed on grass and pebble path
View from the front, with royal icing and fondant 'pollen' replicating snow
Santa modeled out of fondant and gumpaste, is stuck in the chimney
Close up of the front with Christmas Trees
Close-up of the stairs
The Christmas Tree at the side of the house
Looking in the window from the outside
The front door of the house is standing open
The finished snow-capped house
Larger base board covered in fondant and textured to create pebble path and grass
