Create a Gingerbread House Auction

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Gingerbread House Auction Fundraiser

When we opened our art gallery we decided to do a community service project in our small town. I arranged to have the children in the community build gingerbread houses for a silent auction to benefit the local food bank.

The people in our community are highly supportive of anything the children do and this fundraiser was surprisingly successful, even though it was a brand new event at Christmas.

The children were thrilled to view their handiwork in a real art gallery. We always love to encourage creativity in youngsters however we can.

Yum Yum House

Organizing the Gingerbread House Auction 

I arranged with the local grocery stores to donate the supplies for making the gingerbread houses. A teacher at the high school agreed to handle the actual making of the houses.

She helped a club of high school students aspiring to be community leaders to supervise work times for the younger children. The lower grades built simplified graham cracker houses.

High school students did elaborate gingerbread houses like the Yum Yum House as individual class projects in the today's version of our old home ec classes.

A Christmas Village of Tiny Houses

Diversity of Design 

Turn children loose on a project with candy, graham crackers, and to opportunity to create food for those needing it, and you will see an amazing array of design ideas.

Some children focused on one kind of candy as the dominant design tool. Others took a far more helter skelter approach. One little boy packed his house full of candy and was upset when he learned he could not take it home as it was going to be in the auction. However, he later won a prize for his house so all was well.

Just like the children themselves, all the wee graham cracker houses were delightful and different.

Winter Delight

Creativity on a Larger Scale in Gingerbread Houses 

The high school students spent much more time making and decorating their gingerbread houses. This one features a gumdrop path leading under a porch roofed with pretzel logs.

Winter Wonderland

Gingerbread House with Candy Pond 

This lovely little house is roofed with vanilla wafers. In the front yard is a reflective candy pond.

Who else would have thought of using pinto beans for the rocks around the pond?

Santa's Barn

Pretzels and Shredded Wheat Add to Gingerbread House Barn 

This adorable barn has a jack fence made of pretzels and shredded wheat both for the roof and for the hay.

This carefully crafted gingerbread barn was definitely a crowd favorite in the silent auction!

Gingerbread Tipis Anyone?

An Unexpected Gingerbread House Interpretation 

We never knew what to expect when the kids got their imaginations going. One year we had a little Indian village with gingerbread tipis. To add to the natural atmosphere, a candy pond, totem pole, and hide being stretched are added to the scene.

Amazon Gingerbread Recommendations 

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Uptown with Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread Village for Auction 

The endless variety of the hundreds of houses was a real crowd pleaser. The tables with gingerbread houses forming villages always featured silent auction sheets with all those lovely numbers and dollar signs on them.

The Food Bank loved the whole affair!

Gingerbread Village

Silent Auction Attractions

More Wee Christmas Houses

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by Lexi

Hi, I am Lexi Sundell, an artist passionate about painting flowers, poppies in particular. I live in Ennis, Montana and grow most of the flowers I pai... (more)

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