For the Love of Gingerbread- and GIVEAWAYS!

*****Giveaway Closed******

I have an obsession with decorated gingerbread.  Some (aka my kids) might even call it an unhealthy addiction.  I love everything about it- the smell, the color, the taste, and of course, decorating it.  This love affair has been going on for a LONG time. Here's the story of how we met.

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When I was 5 years old, my kindergarten teacher read "The Gingerbread Man" to the class.  To accompany the story, they made a pan-sized gingerbread man and added some candies.  One of the teacher's assistants took the gingerbread man to the cafeteria kitchen to be baked.  A little while later, she returned in a frantic state, an empty baking sheet in her hand.  She claimed that the Gingerbread Man leaped off of the pan, just as she was placing him into the oven.  She tried to catch him, but couldn't.  This unbaked gingerbread man was loose in the school building and I believed it, wholeheartedly.  I even remember telling my mother about the rogue gingerbread man when I got home from school that day.  True story. 

May I present some of my Gingerbread Obsession!

20+ DIFFERENT gingerbread people and 3 kinds of house construction sets.   My favorite people set is probably the bigger green people- they belonged to my mother.  And my favorite house set is the one on the right- the Williams-Sonoma set- that I bought a few years ago.  The other two sets are new to me this year!  The house at the top of this blog post is made with the mini all-in-one cutter by GoodCook.

My Gingerbread holiday village consists of 5 lighted houses, lots of little gingerbread people, and many other accessories.  A stuffed gingerbread baker tops my baking holiday tree.   

These gingerbread houses were made prior to my sugar-cookie decorating days.  My husband really wants me to make another large gingerbread house now that have so much more decorating experience under my belt.  If only there were more hours in the day. . .

Time to share the love of gingerbread!

It's been a cookie-kind of year for me.  Building my own commercial kitchen.  My new cookie job.  It's only fitting that I celebrate with a
GREAT GIVEAWAY!

ONE Grand Prize winner (United States only please!) will receive the following from me:

WHOOOOWEEEE!!  That's some serious Gingerbread Stuff!  Let's take a closer look at the Grand Prize, shall we?

Your own copy of "The Gingerbread Man" to share with some little ones.  Plus a Grow-Your-Own gingerbread man.  Just because. 

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Two cute gingerbread dishtowels, one potholder, one spatula, and one gingerbread-shaped brown sugar saver (to keep your brown sugar soft!).

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A super-cool book of Gingerbread Houses to inspire you!  Includes templates and lots of how-to's.  Plus two packets of Chocolate Gingerbread Cocoa for you to enjoy while flipping through the book!

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THREE (yes 3!) sets of gingerbread cutters!  The set on the left makes a bigger house.  The set in the middle is the gingerbread man basics.  The set on the right is the coveted GoodCook all-in-one mini gingerbread house cutter!!

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ONE SECOND Prize winner (United States only please!) will receive the following from me:

Second prize is not too shabby!  Your own GoodCook all-in-one mini gingerbread house cutter, a cute gingerbread cookie container, gingerbread sprinkles (perfect for cupcakes!), and yes- a handful of mini Gingerbread Twix.  Sorry it's not the whole bag.  I had to try some.  As did my kids.  And the husband.  But we left some for the second prize winner! 

Visit my FB page and click on the rafflecopter to enter!  Contest ends 12/13/13 at midnight, EST.  Winner will be randomly selected from the comments under this blog post.
Good Luck!

***Giveaway Closed***

Don't have Facebook, but still want to enter?  Answer this question in a comment below!
What would be a must-have candy on YOUR gingerbread house?

Winner Update!!  My Random Selector (aka my youngest son) selected the following two participants as the winners:
Grand Prize:
Jennifer Gunter

Second Prize:
Rebecca Weld

Thanks to all who entered!!