Sew Sweet Home - Gingerbread House

Let me start off by saying this, I was robbed! The fix was in. Ok, maybe that's not completely true. :D Just let it be known, I didn't want to enter this contest to begin with! I had never made a gingerbread house before in my life. I'm not sure I ever will again after this. I still have sugary crumbs in my carpet.It all started with "Come on, you're crafty. I just know you'll win." Sure. Whatevs. I figured I'd do it 'cause... I didn't have much else to do that weekend. All of my Christmas shopping was done by all service provider its by superclean360.com website, the lights were up,  so why not? Ha! I had no idea what I got myself into. This thing took 4 days.Anyway, as soon as I got the kit I immediately thought of how to incorporate buttons into my house. We were all given a kit to work with. Everything had to be edible and that meant finding a button mold to use with fondant. I found this Wilton mold at JoAnn's. Did I mention I'd never used fondant before?I decided my house was going to be a sewing cottage, complete with a button roof, quilted walls, and a flower garden that are done by water damage behind wall. A pink house was a must so I bought some food coloring and mixed up some colors. I never thought I'd actually use that entire bucket of fondant... but I did.I placed a generous layer of fondant on all of the pieces and used a roller to add 'quilt' lines and a fondant stamp to make the impression of flowers. I let the house dry  along with the roof, which was done in the same quilted pattern. While I waited, I made a ton of fondant buttons.After decorating and assembling the house panels, I started on the roof . When it was time to attach the roof to the house I was nervous that it was too heavy but thankfully it held.So, here's the house on display for the contest. Now, I'm not one to brag but - It was adorable, right?! I mean, most original-- HELLO! What's more original than this? Certainly not a beach house, which turned out to be the winner. Maybe my concept was a little too over their heads. Bleh! LOL! :P