Gingerbread Jamboree!

Jump for joy, you jolly little jingle belles! You've been invited to a Christmas candy cottage party!

I can't take credit for this one, it's all Mary Jo, down to the very last spicy gum drop! My beautiful and creative oldest daughter loves hosting parties, and does them well, conquering with aplomb every inevitable glitch that would send me soaring over the edge!

For instance, her order of one dozen pre-made gingerbread houses plopped down on her porch in pieces just hours before eight little ladies arrived to decorate them. I held my breath while she breezily described adding a Target run to her errand list to remedy the situation. Whew! They had them! Unbroken! And in enough quantity to please!

Let the partying begin!

Granddaughters Ava and Angeline greeted early arrivals, gifting them with personalized aprons whipped up by mommy on her new Cricut machine. Little ladies found them tied charmingly to their chairs, at places where gingerbread houses waited alongside generously filled cups of cute candy, cookies, and icing.

Gingerbreading is an exacting science! Guests went right to work, fortified by creamy cocoa sipped from Santa cups.

I love the patterning, the outlining, and the abundance of festive light bulbs festooning the eaves! I love the intensity and the focus! I love how those trusty trusses held up candy - hard and soft, minty, chocolaty, and spicy!

I love the scent of peppermint in the air, the snack bar, and the "adult beverage" option offered to moms who stayed to help!   

But mostly, I love a gathering of pretty little "jingle belles" who brought the warmth of their smiles on a cold and rainy pre-Christmas Saturday afternoon to sweetly decorate this year's Gingerbread Jamboree!