Halloween 2011 - Swamp Water

I colored my icing with Forest Green and then watered it down to a "flood" consistency.  I put it into a squeeze bottle and then started covering my board using an off-set spatula to spread it out.  I didn't like the 1 tone of color, so I took another color called Avocado and dipped a paintbrush into the color, and then dotted the green water with it, then spread it out using the spatula.  It created the look I was going for.  While the icing was still wet, I added the gingerbread blobs and the pretzel log, along with everything else I wanted in the swamp water.

Halloween 2011 - Gingerbread Blobs

For lack of a better word....they're blobs!  I wanted to have some black in my swamp water, but wanted to stay away from black coloring because it would mix into the green icing, and I didn't want that.  So I made blobs with watered down gingerbread that I colored black.

Take gingerbread dough and add enough water to make it loose enough to pipe with a bag.  I used my hands to mix it up, as a spoon just wasn't cutting it.  After it was at a consistency that I could pipe it through a bag, I added some black coloring.  I then placed the dough into a piping back with a #3 round tip and created a bunch of shapes.  I baked at 350 for about 5-7 minutes.

Halloween 2011 - How To Make Cattails

When I decided on a swamp shack, I immediately thought of cattails!  But I had never made them before, so I did a little research and this is what I came up with.  I started with a piece of wire and added green fondant to it, keeping it as thin as possible, knowing that I had to build the brown around it.

I then added brown fondant, and wrapped it around the green.

Next came the leaves.  Taking the same green fondant as the stem, I rolled it out thin.  I then cut a leaf shape, and inserted a green toothpick.  To make it a little more believeable, I pushed the edges up, and on some of the leaves I added a bend to the top.



These are the pieces that I used to create a couple of groupings.

I let them dry overnight.  I grouped the different pieces together and stuck them into the styrofoam base.





Halloween 2011 - Keep Out Sign

Roll out your gingerbread dough and cut out a cross, leaving the edges a little jagged.  Since I am able to put things into my styrofoam base, I put a wire into the dough before I baked it.  If you forget, that's okay.  Just add the wire to the back of the baked cross using royal icing to attach it.  After it was baked, I added some white icing coloring to give it a weathered look.  I wasn't too thrilled with the effect, so I painted over it with some brown.  Later I added the words "keep out" in black royal icing.



Halloween 2011 - How To Make A Log Out Of A Pretzel Stick

I wanted to have a log floating in my swamp water, and came across some pretzel twists.  I simply took some brown icing gel color and painted it onto the pretzel.  Simple!



Halloween 2011 - The Dock

Time to assemble the dock.  I rolled out some gingerbread and cut them into thin strips, and as wide as I wanted the dock to be.  Using an exacto knife, I frayed the edges and added nail holes, then baked them.



The next step is to build the base for the dock, so I used the remaining 6 dowels that I had already prepared, and arranged them to the width that I wanted.  I glued them in place with royal icing, and then on top of the dowels, I place popsicle sticks.  Notice that the royal icing is brown.  I do this to match it to the gingerbread instead of having white everywhere.

I placed royal icing on top of the popsicle sticks and started placing my boards.



The finished dock.





Halloween 2011 - Assembly Of The Shack

After rolling out the dough and baking your gingerbread, assembly comes next.  Since it's a swamp shack, it needs to be elevated off the board.  I accomplish this by using wood dowels, cut to 1 1/4" lengths.  I then covered them in gingerbread and baked until firm.

I did 4 dowels for the house and 6 dowels for the dock.  Next, I prepared my base using a 12" round styrofoam and covered it with aluminum foil.

Next,  I assembled the house onto a cardboard base, covered in foil, that is the same size as the house.  I did this on the counter as opposed to on top of the dowels.  I then let the house dry enough so that it didn't collapse when I picked it up to place on the dowels.

I placed the 4 shack support dowels onto the base, using royal icing to glue them in place.

Using a piece of cardboard, I placed it on top of the dowels and pressed down, ensuring that all the dowels were the same height before putting on the house.



Finally, I picked up the house and placed it on the dowels.  As you can see, I positoned the house so that it hangs off the back a little bit.





Halloween Project 2011 Is Starting

Halloween planning has begun!  Every year I have a Halloween gingerbread house decorating party, and I try to come up with a new design as often as I can.  I start by asking friends what they would like.  Believe me, there is no shortage of suggestions!  But I have to narrow down the list to what is feasible, and what design will hold up when it's done in gingerbread.  Another important consideration is can I mass produce the design?  Every party I make roughly 12-15 houses.  When you're making that many, you can't get bogged down in details.  If there are certain design elements that you would like to do, then try it on your proto-type, keeping in mind that you will find out what's feasible and what's not when you're constructing everybody else's house.

The theme this year.......a haunted swamp shack!  My friend Kurt came up with the idea, and my friend Randy helped with some construction issues.  If you notice.....they're guys!  And they like doing these things.  And this is precisely why I have a Halloween party, so that the guys can come to this one, instead of the Christmas party. 

So many decorating ideas came to mind after the design decision was made.  Since it's a swamp shack, there has to be a swamp!  So the house has to be elevated, but how?  What foliage can I use to create the scene?  What kind of things do I have sticking out of the water?  What kind of base do I put it on?  The list can go on and on.  But the first step is the template.  So I'll get started on that and go from there, posting my progress.  Hope you stay tuned!