Gingerbread Carousel

Once upon a time, we girls tried really hard to land a Trader Joe's gingerbread house kit.  I had first seen it advertised in their flyer on a Thursday evening.  I went to the closest Trader Joe's on Friday...and they were sold out.  Over the weekend, I called other Trader Joe's stores in the area, but they were also sold out.  We girls were so bummed that we all but forgot about making a gingerbread anything.

Then, the week before Christmas, I came across a gingerbread carousel on clearance.  I bought it and tucked it away, intending for the girls to build their creation over Christmas break.  Christmas break came and went...and we never got around to building the carousel.

Today was the day.  After a (second) fun afternoon of playing in the snow, and after warming up with another round of hot chocolate, we got to work building the gingerbread carousel.  The girls nominated me to pipe the icing while they made the structure and decorated it.

 We assembled and decorated the center, then we put on the top on, and then added the carousel poles and reindeer.

 Lots of frosting and candy later, and voila!  A masterpiece (almost) too good to eat!