Winter break from college was especially long this year, since it was our only break and time to go home. We were given 2 months off, so I had a lot of free time. My sister and I decided to make a stained glass gingerbread house instead of the typical windowless gingerbread houses of our childhood.
My sister designed the church, drawing a blueprint out on paper. I drew out the greenhouse, making sure there was enough glass, but not so much that it would compromise the integrity of the structure. I then took the blueprints, cut them out, made the dough, rolled it out, cut the pieces out, textured the front panels with a stone embosser, baked them, then took the panels with windows out a bit early and intentionally placed different colors of crushed up livesavers, aiming for a mottled rainbow look in the windows. For the greenhouse, I fully baked all the panels, then made liquid glass using boiled sugar and water that I carefully poured into each open window. We then constructed the church and house, using royal icing to seal and cans to support the structure while it dried. Once it was all set, we decorated with candy and more royal icing. We created a brushed stone look by rubbing royal icing across the front panel then wiping it off. A feat of gingerbread architecture!
