2011 Festival of Trees Project

This year Andrea and I took on a new venue with our little gingerbread habit.  The Festival of Trees has been a huge fundraising tradition in Utah for over a decade now.    People from all over enthusiastically donate decorated Christmas trees, quilts, gingerbread houses, wreaths, wood crafts, goodies, etc.  All the items are then auctioned off or sold through the week and every penny is donated to the Primary Children's medical center.  

So not exactly a competition, but we were excited to do a little good.  Since we have been doing large projects for three years now we decided to take another crack at the castle.  Using the same pattern as before,  we implemented our bits of acquired wisdom that we have picked up here and there, and I think we came up with a much higher quality finished product.

This picture was the inspirational starting point.  No sense doing the exact same castle....blue!  no, pink!  blue!  (I know I'm a Disney nerd, but I was just having a sleeping beauty moment there.)

The finished gingerbread pieces.  Notice the improved shape of the cylinders.  Wrapping the dough around a dowel, and then rolling the whole thing in tinfoil helps keep the shape.  Beveling the outside edges with the dremmel was also a new technique for this castle.

Since we now live three hours apart and the venue was close to in the middle, Andrea and I met at the Expo Center to decorate. (I assembled the raw pieces the night before driving up.)  In hindsight, we realize this was not the best idea.  Case in point:  Royal icing and cotton snow don't mix well.  

I poured the candy lake and river the night before as well.  

*Note to self: blue food coloring added to hot sucker syrup always turns green.  Figure out how to make water that doesn't look algae infested.  

We used fondant dusted with powdered sugar for snow this time which turned out quite nice.

Lighting was another new addition.  The castle is constructed on top of a styrofoam board, which worked well for supporting the led lights.

Last time we painted the turret tops with food coloring gel and water.  The sugar cones warped and uncurled from the moisture.  So this year we rolled our cones with blue fondant.  Our technique could use a little refining, but the general idea I think is a good one.

A fancy ribbon around the edge to finish it off, and voila!  We are done!

We got word today that the castle sold for $120.00.  It feels great to know that we were able to make a difference with our gingerbread delirium this year!

The Day After Christmas-2010

This year we decided to do something keeping more with the season, that is whimsical and eye catching, thus, the "Day After Christmas."


Putting stuff in it's place! Dancing Elves and Rudolf...DJ still nowhere in sight...


Almost done with the hot tub here. I did add "bubbles" around Mr. and Mrs., I'm now seeing the many pics I didn't take and need to go back and do (sorry Laura).


It's done! And time to take it to Gia's in Logan!






These are in the display location, however it was 9:30 pm when I turned it in, so my flash dominated, washing out color and detail. I'm going to go back over during the day this weekend and get some better shots, when I realized what the flash was doing I sort of gave up!

Gum Paste or Marshmallow Fondant?

Last year I used gum paste and this year I used marshmallow fondant to sculpt my figures. Pros and Cons for each, but I lean more toward the fondant, for several reasons: it stays soft longer so it's easier to take your time when working with it (...downside, it stays soft longer so you have to be careful where you put thinks or you will end up with flat sides where you lay your sculpture down), the color stays true where gum paste the color tends to fade a little, and marshmallow fondant is way cheaper to make then gum paste. In other respects they seem to sculpt fairly similar.
Because Fondant is so soft, we discovered (yes, Laura was there if this part) that if we used this paint pallet with rounded wells the heads stayed round too, and we didn't have the issue of it getting a 'flat head.'

This is my DJ elf, which ended up being one of my favorite sculpts this year...

This elf is a good example of a 'learning curve.' I discovered that certain colors make the fondant loose some of it's elasticity, causing it to crack. Black and red especially did this. Keeping the fondant coated with Crisco and wrapped in cellophane while storing between use keeps it nice and playable.

Marshmallow Fondant

16 oz white mini marshmallows
2-5 TB water
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 c. Crisco

Melt marshmallows and 2 TB water in a microwave. Put it in for 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, repeat until melted. It usually takes 2 1/2 minutes total. Place 3/4 cups of the sugar on top of the melted marshmallows. Grease yours hands with Crisco GENEROUSLY (meaning every nook and cranny of your hands. Seriously.) Then HEAVILY grease the counter you will be using . Dump the marshmallows on the greased counter top. Start kneading and kneading. Keep adding in the powdered sugar and knead some more until all the sugar is worked in. Re-grease your hands and counter as necessary to keep the fondant from sticking. If the fondant tears easily, it is too dry. Add water 1/2 TB at a time and knead it in until the fondant is more elastic. It takes about 8 minutes to get a firm, elastic ball that will stretch without tearing. Let it sit double wrapped overnight on the kitchen counter (double wrapped means: grease it with Crisco. Wrap it in cellophane and then put that in a Ziploc bag, squeeze out the air). You can store it in the fridge for weeks, just soften it overnight before you use it. If you're using it on a cake, use a 1/4" layer of butter cream frosting under it.

putting it all together

We had one day to put everything together this year. These pictures are the result of our work that day. Andrea has the house now, and will finish up the detail work (snow, reindeer, elves, sleigh, north pole, etc.) and deliver it to our display location in Gia's restaurant in Logan.

Modeling figures is Andrea's forte. I'm sure she will post more about this, but I had some good pictures so I will share what I have. This year Andrea used a marshmallow fondant to make the figures. Last year she used gum paste, and she has all kinds of pros and cons to each method. Here is Santa and Mrs. Clause chilling in the hot tub. For water we used blue sucker mix poured over crushed tinfoil for a bubbly look.

2010 - Day After Christmas

Well hello, all you gingerbread fans! This year's project is titled "The Day After Christmas" and centers around the theme of what happens at the north pole once the deliveries are done. Santa and Mrs. Clause are chilling in the hot tub, the reindeer are relaxing, the elves are celebrating. A fun twist on the north pole theme.

These pictures detail the gingerbread process. Andrea's husband modeled the pattern for us with his computer animation software. from there I transfer the pattern pieces to card stock. Baking took a day. we use Loretta's favorite gingerbread recipe from http://www.ultimategingerbread.com/. After baking I trim the pieces again to make sure they are true to the pattern. They have a tendency to grow in the oven.

The windows are crushed jolly ranchers. you can use any hard candy. place the candy in the window openings and bake in a 250 degree oven for a few minutes till the candy melts. it will stick to the gingerbread naturally. I use parchment paper under my pieces and never move them off the paper from cutting to baking to trimming. That helps to maintain shape.

for roof pieces and corners I use a dremmel to bevel the backs of the pieces. This way you get a trim fit without messing up the pattern dimensions with overlapping.

Rice crispies are my friend! they are wonderful for structural support and trees. add the coloring to the marshmallows before mixing with the cereal.

Hagrid's Hut - 2009