The Finished Products

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We’d love to read your comments: which building is your favorite? There will be several shots of each.

Victorian Cottage.

Notice this house even has lighting. Yes, it's true. Real lights shining through noodle windows.

Those Rice Chex roof tiles are nice.

The fence is amazing.

Calvary Church.

This was no small church. Notice even the cross at the top.

The stained glass windows are very creative, and the icicles? Wow.

Gingerville Zoo. Quite a creative one. Notice the water is made of blue M&Ms.

Animals crackers make great animals. Nice cage too.


Gingerville Grocery Store. The gingerbread walls are sided with pretzel "logs." Notice the porch supports?

Nice red-hot Christmas lights.

What is a store without fruit?


Back door is for deliveries.

Mayor's House. Notice the snow blower out front?!

A bush made out of chow mein noodles.

I guess the mayor must have people over for s'mores and a bonfire.

JH Tower. Notice the Christmas lights going up it, as well as the flashing light on the top?

Lights here too.

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

64 thoughts on “The Finished Products”

  2. It’s hard to choose, they are all so very creative… but my favorite is the grocery store. Such a great family activity. Merry Christmas, Maxwell Family!

  5. Aw… that is too cute, all of it! Just adorable!
    I think I like the grocery store best of all, though :)!

  6. My favorite is the Gingerville Grocery Store, but they all look lovely! 🙂
    Happy Christmas for you all, full of peace, love and kindness.
    God bless you 🙂

  7. They all look so great but I like the store and victorian house best!

    Blessings on you and yours this Christmas!

  8. They are all amazing and well, frankly, they are making me hungry!!!! 🙂 As for my favorite….hmmm….I think I like the grocery store. It’s one of my favorite places in real life 🙂

  9. It was a toss up between the store and the Victorian cottage- but the Victorian cottage gets out vote! Love all the creativity-ours were not quite as creative but probably just as much fun. thanks for posting pictures!

  11. Very creative! I love all of them~ they look delicious! I’m not sure which I love best~ I likve the Victorian Cottage, and the Church.

  12. Oh my goodness! You guys did an amazing job!!! I am so impressed! 🙂 I especially liked the Victorian Cottage, the Grocery Store, and the Mayor’s House. Hard to choose my favorite between those! lol Merry Christmas Maxwell family! 🙂

  13. Wow, all the structures are just beautiful! I think my favorite is the Victorian Cottage. I really like that style of house, and you captured it so well in gingerbread..very impressive front window! Merry Christmas to you all!

  16. Wow…the only time I tried making one of these, the frosting wasn’t the right consistency and we ended up eating the house instead of decorating it. You all definitately know how to make the icing just right! I’m so impressed with your creativity!

    Since you want us to vote, I would have to choose the beautiful Victorian cottage which has it all…lights, fence, roofing, and creative architecture.

    By the way, what is a “JH tower?”
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    John Hancock building in Chicago. Built to scale. You might call it a “modern” entry. I suppose the people in Gingerville needed some office space.
    Steve

  17. Oh, I vote for the zoo! All the others are very nice, but there’s just something about the creativity in that Gingerville zoo! I had never thought of building a gingerbread zoo! 🙂 The marshmallows are such a cute idea!

    Thanks for posting the pictures!

  18. The zoo is really neat! I like the idea of the animal crackers, and the water fall is fantastic.

    Great job!

  20. So are you going to eat it after a while or do you throw it out?
    ——
    No, we’re not going to eat even a bite. Not sure what we’re going to do with them.
    ——

  21. We really enjoyed them all, but were split on a decision. Our votes are as follows:
    – Grocery Store: Very creative for pretzels for logs, and very well done. We’re also pleased to see they offer fruit. 🙂
    – Mayor’s house: Liked the original chimney, snow blower, snow covered flower beds, and the drifted snow effect, but the adorable footprints by fire provided the winning touch.
    – Grocery Store: Very realistic with highly detailed touches. The split, desalted pretzel logs were truly impressive. The front posts of candy canes helped highlight the structural integrity under-girding the entire building. The steps and roof looked the tastiest.
    – Victorian house: Liked the bay window, the welcome of the lights and the open door, the awnings over the windows, the shingled roof, the realistic fence, flowers on the wall, and the dusting of snow over it all.

  22. Just wanted to make a suggestion…I see that you don’t plan on eating Gingerville..it would be so neat if you could donate them all to a children’s shelter or a similar place, for the children there to enjoy?

  24. I love the Victorian (I love victorian style) and the grocery (remind me of cabins) gingerbread house.

    Love them all…they are very creative.

  26. Dad here says Grocery store gets his vote – but some of us girls say Victorian house as we really like the style of things from that era! Great work all!!! It is Christmas Eve here in Australia so we wish you a Very Merry Christmas Maxwell family!!

  27. They are all so amazing. Those icicles were really neat! But, I think our vote would be for Gingerville Grocery Store and then the mayor’s house. So cute.

  28. Wow- looks great. I absolutely love the Victorian Cottage. I can see myself standing out the front drinking hot chocolate. If your not going to eat them, why not donate them to hospitals, nursing homes and places where people can’t be at home this Christmas.
    Update as to my second gingerbread house attempt: All was set until i did the roof. Crash! How do you keep the roof to stay? I do live in Australia and the heat and humidity does not help- oh well still tastes yummy.
    Have a very Merry Christmas with family and friends.
    God bless.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>
    Very, very stiff icing that sets up quick holds like super glue. Also, the gingerbread has to be baked rock-solid (reminds me of faith in the Lord Jesus. Our life is completely safe in Him).
    Steve

  29. Wow! Such creativity! All of them are such neat ideas. I like the Victorian cottage. So pretty. I can picture it as a real house. It also looks very delicious.
    The church was cute. Did a good job on it!
    The zoo was definitely something I didn’t consider. Great job!
    The skyscraper with Christmas lights was a neat idea!
    But for design, looks, and cuteness, I’d say the grocery store tops them all! Great job!
    Next to that, I like the Victorian cottage best, and then the church.

  30. Love them all, but I think I’ll vote for the Mayor’s House, though the Grocery is a close second. I do love the stain glass windows in the church, though – very creative!

  31. My what talent went into this. Did you all pick one building and do it alone? My favorite is the Victorian cottage. I live in what looks kinda like a modern day cottage with bay window and all so I’m partial. The store takes second place. Incredible!! Merry Christmas Maxwell Family,
    From Johnna and Family

  32. I definitely like the Mayor’s house the best! They all are very cute!
    Looks like a lot of fun!
    Have a Merry Christmas.

  33. I like the Victorian cottage and the Grocery store. Those are so cute! Nice job.

    Merry Christmas!

  34. My vote is for the Victorian house. I love bay windows. All of the buildings are beautiful. You all must have had a lot of fun making them.

  35. What a great family activity – so creative! We lived and worked in Chicago for a number of years, so I like the John Hancock Building. But, we all like the grocery store because of the log cabin look. Merry Christmas Maxwells!

  37. It looks like most vote for the store and I would have to agree. The Victorian is a close second though. How about posting a picture of the entire village? Great job Maxwells! Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas!

  38. I agree, they are all awesome and wonderful. I, too am having a hard time deciding on one. But, I would vote for the grocery store. Merry Christmas everyone.
    Would you let us know who gets the most votes?
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    I’m guessing we will total them at some point.
    Steve

  39. Grocery, then Victorian Cottage, then Mayor’s House — my faves in that order (although ALL are so creative and fun!). I can’t imagine how much thought and planning went in to your village — so many elements! Thanks for sharing these photos and enjoy!

  40. The Mayor’s house gets our family’s vote, hands down. Everything about it was so great, especially the snow blower, but the footprints around the bonfire really were the “icing on the cake” for us…very ingenious and creative. Second place goes to the Grocery Store, followed closely by the Victorian house–the split rail pretzel fence was too cute and so realistic.

    Thanks for bringing a little Christmas cheer into our day. Merry Christmas and blessings to your family!

  41. The very top one (victorian cottage) is my favorite… U all did an amazing job! Blessed Christmas to u all!
    God bless!

  42. Merry Christmas to the Maxwell Family! May God bless you as you continue to seek Him in the upcoming year! The gingerbread houses are all so lovely. You are quite the talented group. In our house we especially loved the zoo (little boys) and the grocery (big boys). I am partial to the church. Really, we loved them all!!! As always-thanks for sharing!

  43. Great creativity with all of them!
    My husband said that he wasn’t going to pick because he thought they were all great.
    My first pick would be the grocery store.
    My 15 year old daughter picked grocery store first and second Victorian cottage.
    My 11 year old son picked the Victorian cottage and Calvary church.
    My 9 year old daughter picked the grocery store first and second the mayor house.
    My 7 year old son picked the grocery store first and Calvary church and JH Tower tied for second.
    We’re curious…are you going to let us know who did each of the buildings in Gingerville?
    Merry Christmas and many blessings to your whole family!
    From the P Family
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>
    Yes, we will be identifying the teams.
    Steve

  44. These are absolutely beautiful!! The Victorian is so neatly done down to every minor detail. The zoo is so creative as well as the grocery store. They’re all GREAT with each having it’s own style of creativity. Hats off to you all, and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

  46. All are very nicely done! A tip and trick from a professional baker: use bits of Jolly Ranchers or broken “flat” lollipops and place bits in the openings of the gingerbread windows. When baked, the hard candy melts to resemble stained glass windows.
    >>>>>>>>>
    Good idea thank you. It was time consuming using the gumdrops.
    Steve

  47. They’re all wonderful! My favorite is the Victorian cottage, but also really liked the grocery and mayor’s house.
    The zoo was very colorful and I liked how the church roof appears covered in snow.
    Although I’m more of a fan of the quaint look, I thought that the tower also showed a great deal of imagination and I particularly liked the “lights”. I’m figuring that you must have colored that batch of frosting black to give the night-time appearance–very creative.
    Thank you for sharing your creations!

  49. I love them all, but the Victorian Cottage is my favourite!

    Aw, but I really hoped you would do an Elderly Home instead of a regular church! 🙂

    What a lovely blessed way to spend time together at Christmas.

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