Thank you for voting on the Gingerbread Houses! This was not necessarily a beauty contest, this was a voting process purely for fun to pick a house and offer the discount associated with that house, and I hope you had as much fun as we did!
Each of these houses was carefully crafted by a member of the studio at www.anniehowes.com. Houses 1 and 2 were decorated by Ryan and Sophie, respectively. House 3 was decorated by Bridget, my daughter, and house 4 was decorated by Katy's girls. Each house was a joy to see, and I think despite some groans, each was fun to decorate.
With one exception, the houses were identical, and the rules were loose: use whatever found objects to decorate. Everyone stuck to the contents of the box, except Kay's girls who included a Santa figure and coconut flakes, which were creative touches.
There was one boxed Gingerbread house that was slightly different from the others. One corner of the box was a bit damaged, and worried there might be a disaster inside. I reserved that kit to decorate myself. Bridget offered to decorate it for me, and because the deadline was fast approaching and I was swamped, I was relieved to have her help.
As suspected, there was some pretty serious damage. Upon opening the box, we learned each wall and both roof panels of the house were broken in at least one place. This could have been a disaster, but instead it led to the creative diagonal line along the walls on the house which may or may not have influenced your vote.
And I learned something through this about how we can start with something that's imperfect and turn it into something we can be proud of. It's not how it looks when we begin a project, it's how it looks when we finished it. It's not what we are given, it's what we make of it. This Gingerbread house could have been picked last in gym, but you voted it #1!
If you're a VIP Club member, then you've already received your discount code. Check your email =)
And, did I say thank you?
xo,
Annie
P.S. Here's the discount sheet that was sealed inside an envelope...just so you know, at the last moment, I increased the discount to 35%! Please check your email for your discount code!
