Kisses, Neccos, licorice, fruity "Os" and lots of royal icing
Details of this tropical-themed gingerbread house include sunbathing Teddy Grahams. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
On Monday, students were getting close to completing their gingerbread houses. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
This house included a tableau inside. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
family-and-consumer science teacher Sue Burwell gives instructions to students gathered around the candy cart. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Students sort through the candy decoration options. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Laden with an assortment of candy decorations, it's time to head over to the house and start crafting the design. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Temwork was required to both affix the decorations and determine what would go where. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Art teacher Kirsten Andersen, left, is ready to help these students affix their roof. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Making a roof covered with Necco wafers can be tedious. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A roof covered with M&Ms can be even more tedious. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
And a roof covered with fruity "Os" can be the most tedious option. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
In addition to unwrapping, some of the candy needed to be broken to achieve the perfect look. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Royal icing is used like glue, because it dries quickly and it dries hard. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Gluing it together with royal icing, piece by piece. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
One of the fringe benefits of the being the baker means you get to taste things as you go. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Upside-down sugar cones make a great base on which to add green frosting for a tree. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Prior to baking the gingerbread, some students dropped Jolly Rancher candies in holes cut for windows to create a stained glass effect. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Sugar-coated fruit wedge candies make a nice addition to this gingerbread house. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Another Jolly Rancher candy treatment. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Licorice whips and white icing give this roof a festive look. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
More details added to the tableau Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
A hot mess in the home economics room at Camden-Rockport Middle School Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
Nearly finished gingerbread houses Monday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
Adding some finishing touches Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
It wouldn't be a middle-school gingerbread house with a black licorice shnauzer "peeing" in the royal icing snow. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
Details of this tropical-themed gingerbread house include sunbathing Teddy Grahams. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
On Monday, students were getting close to completing their gingerbread houses. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
This house included a tableau inside. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
family-and-consumer science teacher Sue Burwell gives instructions to students gathered around the candy cart. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Students sort through the candy decoration options. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Laden with an assortment of candy decorations, it's time to head over to the house and start crafting the design. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Temwork was required to both affix the decorations and determine what would go where. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Art teacher Kirsten Andersen, left, is ready to help these students affix their roof. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Making a roof covered with Necco wafers can be tedious. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
A roof covered with M&Ms can be even more tedious. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
And a roof covered with fruity "Os" can be the most tedious option. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
In addition to unwrapping, some of the candy needed to be broken to achieve the perfect look. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Royal icing is used like glue, because it dries quickly and it dries hard. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Gluing it together with royal icing, piece by piece. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
One of the fringe benefits of the being the baker means you get to taste things as you go. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Upside-down sugar cones make a great base on which to add green frosting for a tree. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Prior to baking the gingerbread, some students dropped Jolly Rancher candies in holes cut for windows to create a stained glass effect. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Sugar-coated fruit wedge candies make a nice addition to this gingerbread house. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Another Jolly Rancher candy treatment. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
Licorice whips and white icing give this roof a festive look. (Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
(Photo by Holly S. Edwards)
More details added to the tableau Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
A hot mess in the home economics room at Camden-Rockport Middle School Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
Nearly finished gingerbread houses Monday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
Adding some finishing touches Monday. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
(Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
It wouldn't be a middle-school gingerbread house with a black licorice shnauzer "peeing" in the royal icing snow. (Photo courtesy Kristen Andersen)
The north end of Camden-Rockport Middle School Friday was once again awash in the aromas of gingerbread, peppermint and royal icing, as the home economics room was transformed into a workshop for Santa's special elves.
For 12 years running, students in the after-school art club have been led by family-and-consumer science teacher Sue Burwell and art teacher Kristen Andersen in the messy — but tasty — art of gingerbread house making and decorating.
While a fresh batch of icing was being whipped up by the Kitchen-Aide mixer on the counter, Burwell gathered the students around a cart containing a wide assortment of candies and cookies, crackers and colored sugars. There were licorice whips, some as hard as sticks making them very suitable for railings and lampposts, and many packages of Necco wafers. There were bags of M&Ms, peppermint candies, Hershey's Kisses and sugared fruit wedges. There were also gummy worms and Teddy Grahams, ribbon candy and jelly beans.
Everything a creative person could need to decorate a holiday house made with walls and a roof of gingerbread.
It was also almost too much for these kids to take in, this big pile of sugary goodness. But as some quickly learned, not all of the candy was suitable for nibblling. Afterall, these colorful and sparkly sweets were for decorating gingerbread houses, not for eating, and so it was good that much of it was stale and hard and dried to half its original weight.
A week earlier, the students baked the structure pieces, some with holes pre-cut for open windows and others that had been baked with Jolly Rancher candies in the openings to simulate stained and colored glass windows and skylights.
For some on Friday, Dec. 7, walls needed to be iced into place and roofs iced atop the walls. For others, it was time to dive in and decorate.
This week the gingerbread houses would be finished and set up for display for a couple of days in the library. At the end of the week, Andersen said the houses were to be donated to area nursing homes for the enjoyment of their residents.
"They were thrilled to hear we were going to be bringing them gingerbread houses made by the students," said Andersen.
The students' gingerbread houses will be donated to Quarry Hill, Windward Gardens, 63 Washington Street, Woodlands Alzheimer Care, Merry Gardens, Knox Center for Long Term Care and Camden Hills Villa.
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