December Anything GoesChallenge by Ren-Yi

Design Team Member Ren-Yi submitted this project for the December Anything Goes challenge.  She said:

Christmas is truly a wonderful time of the year. It's also one of the craziest when it comes to getting everything done (at both work and home) I have to come clean and admit that my international mailing is not complete. So, dear international friends, if you're reading this, you might be getting it near around (after) Christmas. It will allow you to enjoy Christmas a little longer ;) This is also the time of year when I am most grateful for any Anything Goes challenges, like we have going at Scrap Our Stash's December Challenge. It allows us DTers to "kill a few more birds with that the many Christmas stones" we have going. It's also neat, because lots of the girls are sharing cute gift ideas which are already making me think of next year :)

Most of you know that I make a home-made thing every year, be it baking or something paper crafty. This year is no different, except that I didn't inspire this project, but rather Florian. Who would have thought he'd take a crafting interest in my December madness? Evidently, he use to make these very cute "gingerbread" houses during his childhood. The catch is, they are made out of butter cookies, rather than gingerbread. Look, our own Mini Candy Cane Lane! 
I really like them, because they were (1) easy to make (2) fast to make (3) fun to make (although some houses had some questionable structural integrity) (4) and they don't make you sick to the stomach trying to eat it all. Nice bite-size houses that any parent could approve.
Icing

• Lemon Juice (fresh or bottled in the plastic lemon)
• Powdered Sugar (lots!)

Foundation & Structure

• LU Le Petite Beurre
• Bahlsen Leibniz Butter Biscuits

House Embellishments

• Haribo Gummy Bears
• Lambertz Dominosteine
• Kraft Marshmallow Trees & Stars
• M&Ms Dark Chocolate
• M&Ms Mint Chocolate
• Hershey Mint Chocolate
• Holiday Red Raspberry Berries
• Holiday Dark Chocolate Nonpareils
• Sugar Sprinkles (Red & Green)

There is really no science to this, except to have fun! It's really a great project to do with friends or kids. Some hints:

• For the icing just start with some powdered sugar & some lemon juice and mix to the right consistency. The icing does harden over time, so with a little drop of lemon juice, the icing can be quickly thinned out.
• Watch out, that it's not too runny, or else the little candy pieces won't stick.
• The LU Le Petite Beurre were better foundations & walls because they do not crumble as easily as the Bahlsen did when trying to create half sheets for the walls. (But the Bahlsen taste better ;) Maybe I am biased since I had those cookies growing up.) But next time I make them, I will go with the LU Le Petite Beurre.
• With two people, we managed to make about 30 in 2 hours. This is a fast project!

Check out the Scrap Our Stash's December Challenge. You have until the end of the month to get your inspirations in. What are you making for the holidays? Are you done?