Worth It In The End

Ya know those projects that you think, "Oh, this will be SO fun for the kids to make!" And then you begin said project and realize, "What was I thinking???" Well, I had one of those moments this week. But I do believe, it was worth it in the end.

I bought this kit at Target.

 We have made one of these the past few years and Payton always has so much fun. But much like childbirth, I seem to forget each time how difficult it is to do.

It came with all sorts of icings and candies and pre-baked cookie walls, and roof pieces.

What the instructions don't tell you is that an adult has to assemble the house prior to letting the children decorate it. AND it needs to "set" for a couple hours before you can even touch it without it falling to pieces. Luckily, I did remember all of this from past years.

So, before Payton got home from school (and while Parker was napping) I assembled the house.

And let it dry.

(Do you like my creative coffee-mug stabilization method??)

Then added the roof:

I let it dry for a few hours before letting the kids go near it.

But once I gave them the green light... it was ON!

Just look at that concentration...

 Payton's classmate had a good time decorating too!

Even the little guy got in on that action!

 I can only imagine what is going through Parker's head. He felt like such a big boy participating in this!

Really, I think half the fun is that they eat the candy while making the house. But that's okay. It is one of those pain-in-the-butt projects that I'm sure we'll do every year because the kids love it. 

And in the end, we have a really fun decoration to display.

(I like to think that the little ghost lives here)

And yes...this glob of icing and candy on the roof really bothered my OCD!

I may or may not have gone back after the kids were done and added more details, candy, etc. to make it a little more visually appealing.

I mean come on... if you're going to have a huge blob of candy and icing on the roof, I'm gonna make a nice, neat line of candy corn along the back. :)

Now every time the kids walk past it, they want to eat a piece of the candy.

I guess that's what this holiday is all about. :)