Epic Christmas Fail

I had this fantastic idea to make a gingerbread nativity with the kids this year.  I bought a cookie cutter set that included a star, wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a manger, an angel, and some animals.  I was super excited about it.  I stayed up late last night making all the cookies plus pieces to construct a stable.  This afternoon I assembled the manger and it was a bit rickety but I made it work..... then the candy came.  There is a very good reason I am not an architect or an engineer.........



Notice my initial structural supports made out of wooden skewers....

Those supports did not hold.....

..... and the carnage :(

So, things definitely did not go as planned.  The whole stable collapsed (luckily L saved the baby Jesus) and in the chaos FAR TOO MUCH candy was consumed leading to a chaotic evening with children high on a sugar rush followed by the inevitable sugar crash.  But, I have to say it was all worth it.  I don't think we have laughed that hard in a long time.

We tried to still salvage the cookie characters but in hindsight some more thought should have gone into the candy purchasing.  It is now just a mass of red and green.  You probably cannot tell but the picture below is of Mary and Joseph beside baby Jesus with some animals to the left and two wise men on the right.  And, yes, the wise men are being held up by a blue plastic bowl.



Baby Jesus in his manger surrounded by smarties and various other red and green candy.

So, next time you buy a gingerbread kit at the store and wonder why the pieces are so rock hard that you cannot even bite into them, remember this epic gingerbread fail. 

Merry Christmas!