What a wonderful, very original gingerbread masterpiece, Mary! I see that you even have a light in there. Love it! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Lynn

How cute is that? VERY! I love the snow on the barn, it looks so real. I have never been brave enough to try a gingerbread house.
Syble

Very nicely done! Love all the snow, just gives it the perfect winter feeling. You are very talented--I'm not brave enough for "construction" projects! ;o)

Luvs

Beautiful barn...good lookin' Longhorn!! Go Texas!!!!
Welcome Winchester, glad to have your aboard!

That is so cute, love it! How good are you at these things, here is my story!!!

Syble, my DH bought two Gingerbread house kits a few years ago, grandson & I tried putting them together & it turned into a laugh fest!

That frosting that comes with them must be the problem, as nothing would stick, we'd get the roof on & the walls would fall, everything was a total disaster including us. We had frosting all over us, the table & the floor & ended up throwing the whole mess out!!!

very cute - I have never seen a barn before - very unique idea - TFS........

Lynne

Thank you everyone for your kind remarks,it is a lot of fun!

Yachter: Well, this is "house" # 5 for me in recent years and I have learned something new every year. Last year I learned a trick about the "glue" to assemble. I no longer use the icing. I use carmelized sugar, it hardens fast and holds like cement, however I don't recommend that when doing these with children as it is very, very hot and could cause serious burns if you get it on you.

To everyone -- believe me, if I can do it, you can too!!!

Happy holidays,

Mary

Mary, that is incredible! Being a country girl at heart,
this beats out Gingerbread houses by a mile. LOL.
Glad you joined us and shared your fun idea.

Happy Holidays,
Karen

This was so different..and very unique.

You did a fabulous job. Do you make a cardbord structure first, then add the 'walls'?
Love the longhorn inside, and the chicken on the roof.

I've made small ones with Girls Scouts, and they were a lot of work...
You really did a lot of detail, and it's fun to look at.

Great Job and TFS

jane

I love gingerbread houses, yours is great, love the barn and the animals such a cute idea. It takes alot of work and patience to do that, great job!

Mary,

WELCOME!!!!

I do believe I've found another Virginia girl!! And Boy, is she talented!

I love it! I've never had the courage to try a gingerbread house, much less a masterpiece such as a whole barn and barnyard! You even have the farmer resting after cutting down a tree!!

I was showing this to my DS this morning and how that the barn was lit up. He said, "Kind of looks like the barn is on fire to me!"

I said, "Well, maybe the bull kicked the lantern over and set the barn on fire!"

Hey, I just go with the flow of creativity! In other words, I just spurt out whatever bunch of foolish nonsense that pops in my head, but my mind (and hands) sure can't create something this original and unique!

Every time I scroll back up I see something I missed the first time. I love the snow on the horse corral and I just noticed that you even have a silo! How cool is that!

I can't wait until DH gets home to show him this one. He LOVES farming and would do it for a living if there was enough $$s in it to take care of the family. He will have a fit over this!

I'm impressed in a BIG way! My DD stops at every gingerbread house kit she sees, but neither of us has the courage to bring one home and try it!

Maybe you would be kind enough to do a step-by-step tutorial, sometime. Someone like me has to "see" it before I can do it!

At least share the secrets you've learned! Hey, I'm just over in Appomattox. Call me next time and I can come and watch! I would promise to just sit in a corner and be quiet as a 'Church Mouse', but it won't do any good to lie! Everyone here knows I can't be quiet one second! LOL

A BIG TFS!

Betty

What a labor of love. Msut have taken you a long time to complete. Like everyone else I'm blown away by the details. I've always wanted to create a gingerbread house. I have done small ones with molds with children, but nothing like yours. It's wonderful, just like a scene right out of the country.

Very cool gingerbread house idea! I made one many years ago, but never even thought about doing a barn...love it! Don't let anyone eat it, it's too pretty! ;-)

Kat :)

Wow, I am impressed! This is so darn CUTE and detailed! Afraid to say, I can't even put icing on a cake worth a darn! TFS your original! Charming ... and I love barn-looking...and this takes the prize! Jeanne S.

Thank you everyone for your very kind words!! Believe me when I say, If I can do it you absolutely can too!

Betty, thank you for the warm welcome from another VA girl! I found a "free" pattern on line (website below) for the barn. I cut the pattern out of a heavy construction type paper and use that to cut out the gingerbread. I usually try to make the gingerbread a few days, even a week prior to assembly to ensure it is good and hard. Rather than use the royal icing as the "glue" to hold the house together I use carmelized sugar. It drys fast and is like cement, but you shouldn't use it with children as it is extremely hot and can cause serious burns should you get it on your skin. Then I use the royal icing to pipe the seams and cause the snow drift effect on the barn and fence.

From there,just let your imagination take over.

In my mind barns are red with a black roof so I used a little royal icing tented with red food coloring to paint the barn red. The black roof is made from chocolate waffer cookies. The fence around the horses is gingerbread, however the fence around the sheep I found at michaels. I would like to say I made the animals, however they were found at walmart and target in the childrens toys department. Maybe when I get a little more confidence I will attempt figures out of gum paste like they do in the tv competitions (he he he). The "base" of the silo is a paper towel roll covered in gingerbread and the top is aluminum foil rolled in a ball covered in gingerbread and baked, then sprinkled with powered sugar to make it look like it is covered in snow.

http://www.ultimategingerbread.com/gingerbreadbydesign-freepatterns.htm

Here is a photo of 2008 Gingerbread house:

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Hope this is helpful...I say go for it, it is lots of fun!

Merry Christmas,

Mary

I'm just in total awe of your creativity and talent in creating these masterpieces! I love the barn and the little cottage is very cute also.

Maybe you could make animals out of marzipan. I used to buy them at the bakery when we lived in Europe and use them to decorate cakes. Not sure if that is easier than the gum paste but the marzipan was very tasty to eat as well! Just a suggestion, I'm sure I don't have the patience to make them myself!

Mary,
Sorry I haven't been here to post but sure glad I made it back in time to see your barn and gingerbread house. They are both awesome. You are so good at creating that I would love to see more pictures if you have any.

So happy you found us and hope you will continue to come and play with us.

TFS, Punk