The House That Lisa Built

To jump right into the holiday season (which is the only way my good friend Lisa approaches anything!) on Wednesday evening we made Graham Cracker Candy Houses with the Young Women in our ward. It was a lot of fun - and just what the doctor ordered for me. The girl's creations were very ...... creative, and ran the gamut from gaudy to gorgeous. Lots of candy was consumed, the noise level was high, and it felt just right. 


I just had to share the house that Lisa built with you. It is soooooo Lisa! If there is ever anything happening that is cool or fun, the irrepressible Lisa is there driving it. She is the definition of exuberance and her house is the visual representation of that. No tasteful selection of candy color schemes. No holly over the door (in fact, no door!) No careful arrangement of specific elements. Just an explosion of candy. On every possible surface. So totally Lisa. So. Much. Fun.

And just in case you want to make your own Candy House creation, here's how:

You will need
-7 square graham crackers
-royal icing
-a base of some sort (we used a square of cardboard covered with white paper and cellophane)
-lots and lots of candy (we used mini M&M's, licorice allsorts, Mike&Ike's, Smarties, Twizzlers, Jelly Belly's, gum drops of assorted sizes - the list could go on and on)
-few inhibitions
-a tiny bit of imagination
-some degree of patience (putting the pieces together into a box and making the roof stay was a bit challenging for some...)

You will need to cut one of the squares in half diagonally to make the triangles for the walls that support the roof. This can be a bit frustrating since it is easier to make the cracker crumble than cut ;) Be gentle and you will be successful.

Assemble the house by running a (generous) bead of royal icing along each edge of each cracker and sticking them together in a box. Allow a few minutes for drying as you attach each piece and you will need less patience - since it won't all collapse. Ha! When the shell is together, go nuts adding the candy and making your own personal 'statement'. Have fun!

Look! Someone made a dog out of mini M&M's. So cute.