2020 Virtual Gingerbread House Exhibit

1. Cathy and Ella Schofield

Southbridge, MA

From the entrant: We named our gingerbread house The Candy Cane Cottage.

 

 

2. Christin, Dahlia Rose, and Ellianna Pierson

New Ipswich, NH

From the entrant: We did this last year and it was so much fun. My two young girls love to cook with me so they actually did a lot of the work, I measured but they poured, helped mix, and of course the decorating. Unfortunately, while hand washing Baby Elle climbed on the table and broke our house. We had to get creative, I have 14” gingerbread man pans so we whipped up a “mondo” and tried to salvage the rest our pieces. All in all it was a lot of fun, and a lot of mess.

3. Christine Caruso, Jillian Bussiere, and Casey Poirier

Ashburnham, MA

From the entrant:  We are fans of the skull snowman and the boot scraper by the door.

4. Crystal, Lily, Sophie and Cassie Rondeau

Monson, MA

5. CATEGORY WINNER | Eileen LaCasse, Rory & Siena Porcello

Longmeadow, MA

CATEGORY WINNER

Judge’s Comments:

• “I really like the details of the balcony and the windows with the little touches of red and green. The fence and trees were great accent pieces.” – Joseph Coan

From the entrant: I’ve enjoyed Sturbridge since the 1960s as a grammar school student and have shared that love with my four children.

6. Elizabeth W. and Katie Howard

Groton, MA

From the entrant: Since preservation wasn’t an issue this year and we planned to leave it outside for the animals, we decorated it with fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts and used hummus instead of icing!

7. Elizabeth R. Howard and Margaux LaPointe

Storrs, CT

From the entrant: Since preservation wasn’t a factor this year and we knew we’d be leaving our house out for the animals, we decorated with fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, and used hummus instead of icing!

8. Nora, Whitney, and Jeanne Behen

Campton, NH

From the entrant: Living in a more rural area now, we decided on a farm Christmas scene.

9. Joy and Titus Murrieta

Worcester, MA

From the entrant: My nephew and I make gingerbread houses every year when he visits for Christmas, but he and his family are unable to visit for the holidays this year, due to COVID-19. We decided to do a virtual decorating date via Zoom this year to keep our tradition alive despite it all <3

10. Lauren Bock, Meghan & Emilee Auclair

Belchertown , MA

11. VOTED BEST IN SHOW | Katherine and Leigh Rosenorn

Winchester, MA

VOTED BEST IN SHOW

From the entrant: The inspiration for this house is “Love is Love”! The concept and architecture was designed by Katherine  (14) and I helped her ideas come to life. We believe that everyone has a right to love and be loved no matter their gender or identity.

12. Madison Cappuccio and Stephanie Hannum

West Boylston, MA

From the entrant: This is my cottage in the woods that I share with my family. My grandad is out in the woods where he likes to be, watching for deer. Off to the left is our swan pond with bridge.

13. Cate, RJ and Maria Tucker

North Brookfield , MA

From the entrant: We always enjoy seeing all the gingerbread houses at Christmas by Candlelight. We decided to try and make our own this year. Our plan was to make the Quaboag River covered bridge. Obviously, we weren’t successful ?. However we decided to salvage some pieces to create…”Christmas Camping”. We had fun and the gingerbread tastes delicious!

14. Jay, Melissa, Molly, Jack & Jeremy Ledbetter

Leicester, MA

15. Pamela Grimaldi, Caleb Corpuz, and Josiah Corpuz

Rutland, MA

From the entrant: We wanted to thank all essential workers who risked their lives to help others in 2020.

 

16. Cassie Rondeau

Monson, MA

17. Charlotte Bores

Lincoln, MA

18. Charlotte VanArtsdalen

Lincoln, MA

19. Leah Hollenbeck

Olathe, KS

20. Madison Cerda

Mendon, MA

From the entrant: The structure is inspired by the castle in the book 1001 Arabian Nights. I also added a fountain in the corner as my own twist cause it MUST be hot in the desert 🙂 Also everything was made from scratch including the gingerbread, frosting, and the sugar glue used to bind everything together and everything is hand piped using a piping bag and even a toothpick at times to get every fine detail. It is a very intricate 3-D structure that can be viewed from all angles. I hope you enjoy it and have a Happy Holiday! 🙂

21. CATEGORY WINNER | Molly Meisner

Bellingham, MA

CATEGORY WINNER

Judge’s Comments:

• “The silhouettes are what put this one over the top, the party scenes and dancing really embodies the book as the artist intended.” – Joseph Coan
• “The windows are amazing and love the lighting with the shadows of people in the windows” -Mike Heenan (OSV’s Lead Chef)

From the entrant: I read the Great Gatsby book in school and I wanted to create the Gatsby mansion with my friends.! Everything was made from scratch too.

22. Neal VanArtsdalen

Lincoln, MA

23. Rachel White

Westfield, MA

From the entrant: This is the house from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Over the summer I played it obsessively to quell my COVID-19 lockdown boredom. I made it with fondant on top of a normal gingerbread house to make it look like the cartoon graphics of the game.

 

24. Alyssa Jalbert

Oxford, MA

From the entrant: My sister and I have made it a tradition every year to make gingerbread houses. We have been doing this for 5 years now and each year they keep getting bigger and bigger. This year I made a church and my sister made a log cabin. They are both 100% edible and made with gingerbread started from scratch.

25. Angela Hausch

West Chester, PA

From the entrant: Decided to do a globe instead of a house and because of 2020 and its challenges thought it would be fun to leave the lights unplugged this year :). Tried to do the gingerbread people in different skin colors to show unity around the world during this pandemic.

26. Cheryl Granger

Willington, CT

From the entrant: The inspiration was our trip to Denver Botanical Garden!

27. CATEGORY WINNER | Denelle Cooke

North Grosvenordale, CT

CATEGORY WINNER

Judge’s Comments:

• “It is very vibrant, colorful and fun and it also looks delicious. I especially like the tree with all the candies.” – Joseph Coan
• ” Looks like a real board game such a clever idea using peanut brittle which is definitely more difficult to work with” – Mike Heenan (OSV’s Lead Chef)

From the entrant: I was inspired by the classic version of the Candyland board game. The smaller house is made of homemade peanut brittle and was particularly challenging to form. Many of the other elements are gum paste and, of course, lots of candies.

28. Gina Vito

Norwood, MA

From the entrant: Skiing has been a favorite holiday tradition. Sunday River is where I thought my nephews and niece to ski. The 3 trails in this design are their first beginner, intermediate and expert trail. Fond memories!

29. Jessica Bourget

Manchester, CT

30. Julie A. Carlson

Auburn, MA

From the entrant: I had a lot of fun building this from scratch. I used a lot of what I had around the house like Oreos, Chex, Shredded Wheat, crackers, etc. I had fun coming up with elements for the house and yard at the store, based on what candies and snacks were available. In my photos of the house, the scene is built, but I tried to focus the shot on the sides of the house and roof. This was an amazing experience, and I had a blast! Thank you for your time and consideration!

 

31. Kasmir Stevenson

Oxford, MA

32. Lily Rondeau

Monson, MA

33. Lindsay Speight

Uxbridge, MA

From the entrant: Wanted to create some hope this year in honor of all my friends and family who have battled breast cancer. This is dedicated to all who are Breast Cancer Warriors!!

 

34. Meagan Fedigan

Sutton, MA

35. Nicole Simeone

Clinton, MA

36. Rebecca Andrews

Reston, VA

37. Rebecca Jalbert

Oxford, MA

From the entrant: My sister and I have been making gingerbread houses for 5 years and each year we feel we improve more and more. The log cabin was assembled with a mini wheat roof and pretzel rods as the logs. You will note that the cabin lies on a river filled with Swedish fish. My sister and I started making gingerbread houses made out of graham crackers at our local library and I am just so proud of how far we have come.

38. Sarah Hollenbeck

Olathe, KS

39. Talia Grover

Buxton, ME

From the entrant: The theme of my gingerbread house is dreaming of a white Christmas! During these challenging times given the Covid crisis I wanted my gingerbread house to evoke joy as well as the warmth and comfort of ones home during the holiday season.