Tonight we decorated our gingerbread/graham cracker houses. I realized a few years ago that when you have this many children, one gingerbread house kit does not cut it. There will be arguing and fighting. So, we make one big house, then use the extra candy to decorate their own individual houses made from graham crackers. Last year I learned a tip from the 1st grade teacher–boiled sugar. Yes, you boil about 1 cup of sugar until it’s a brown liquid, dip the crakers in, and glue them together. It’s not a job for children because it’s obviously very very hot, but it stays! Those graham crackers aren’t going anywhere when they are glued together with that stuff. And should a child decide to eat their house later, they won’t be eating anything that could harm them. It works much better than trying to get all their little houses to stick together with frosting. Then the kids can concentrate on the decorating without the frustration of their little houses caving in.

house john's house

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