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2022 GBD On-line Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

The people have spoken, and the results are in! The winners of the 2022 GBD Online Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown photo contest have been chosen.

 

The creativity and talent displayed in these gingerbread works of art is truly outstanding. Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated and made this year's competition a huge success!

Click here to view all the entries!

Gingerbread Smackdown 2022 winners

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Overall People's Choice - Favorite Gingerbread Structure, and Favorite Architectural Replication

Arlena McLaren

Homestead Kitchen and Bakery

Homestead Kitchen & Bakery is my favorite local place to eat.

It took over 150 hours and 2 months to create. Everything is edible.

Details include a mini Gingy house, pies, donuts, and cookies, all created with fondant. The brick texture was done by hand prior to baking. Stonework detail was created using a dremel, then dry brushing with food color, & finished with tinted icing mortar. The windows are isomalt.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Overall People's Choice - Favorite Gingerbread Art, and Favorite Christmas Scene

Nancy Wolfe

Gingerbread Nativity Scene

The figures are made of layers and layers of royal icing and painted with colored coco butter. The tree is made of chocolate. the walls have been carved to look like stones. The door,flooring, manger, hay bail feeder and hill where the tree sets is gingerbread

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Cartoon-Movie-TV-Fairy Tale Christmas Scene

Barb Amabile

Christmas at Mystery Mansion - The Case of the Missing Elf

My entry was inspired by Scooby Doo, the theme for my granddaughter’s 3rd birthday! A runaway elf is hiding in the Mystery Mansion and the gang is searching for him.

The structure is made from colored and imprinted gingerbread, painted with food coloring after baking, to brighten the colors. Interior walls are painted with royal icing. Sugar lace curtains adorn isomalt windows, while trim, figures and other details are combos of ginger clay, fondant, rice cereal treats, pasta, and royal icing.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Commercial Christmas Scene

Mindy Bandiera

Village Shoppes

I love the colors of Christmas, and was inspired when I saw a picture of Christmas colored half-timber buildings in Germany. I wanted to go big & put to use all the new techniques I've learned over the past year. Village Shoppes is 100% edible, made of construction grade gingerbread & covered in baked gingerbread bricks & stones. The half-timbers are made of gingerclay. The trees are gingerclay glued with isomalt onto ice cream cones with cinnamon stick trunks. Includes a toy store, pub & bakery.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite entry using a Gingerbread-By-Design Template

Suzanne Potter and Libby Valentino

Town Village Christmas

We chose the town village so that we could name the stores after our children. We used isomalt for the windows and edible ink pens to make the "stained glass" on the church, and gelatin sheets for the bank windows. Libby used an intricate flooding process to decorate the storefronts. The roof features shredded mini-wheats and candy pearls. The trees are made with ice cream cones, frosting, and mini candy pearls. The church features a filigree done with royal icing.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite entry using a Gingerbread-By-Design Template - Heidi's Gingerbread House

Fonta Reilly

The Sugar Plum Fairy Manor

A sparkly glittery home fit for a fairy made with 100% gingerbread construction, royal icing, fondant, assorted candies, and wafer paper snow. And lots of edible glitter and luster dust.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite entry using a Gingerbread-By-Design Template - St. Andrews House

Cynthia Schroeder

Christmas memories of Oregon

I used a pattern from the Gingerbread Exchange but modified it, adding a balcony and moving the side entry to the center of the house. This beautiful 2-story home is constructed of gingerbread, the windows are crushed, melted butterscotches, the lap siding is strips of sugar sheets, and the roof tiles are chocolate melts. The columns are large Peppermint sticks and the delicate balcony railings were made from Royal Icing. Inside, the foyer is wallpapered, carpeted and furnished.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Frosted Gingerbread House

Brian Peffley

The Grand Pink Lady

“The Grand Pink Lady” is a tribute to my sister and all women that have are are battling breast cancer. Over 100 hours of live went into this Victorian beauty. Everything is edible and handmade. The tower and tower roof are Rice Krispies treats and enrobed in handcrafted fondant stones. Enjoy!

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Fun Outdoor Christmas-Winter Scene

Heather Brookshire

Santa vs Jack Frost

The theme of this display is Santa vs Jack Frost and they are having a sled race to see who is the fastest at the North Pole! Santa is pulling ahead at the finsh line but he better watch out for Jack's icy tricks! The trees and the sleds are made from gingerbread and the characters are made from fondant. The sleds were covered with fondant with royal icing details and the trees were piped with royal icing and then stacked with more icing. Jack's icy powers were made from white chocolate.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Barn Scene

Marie Madsen

Water Mill Farm

My inspiration is a water mill farm environment, which we have here on our island of Bornholm in Denmark. the stream, the mill and the Christmas tree sale at Christmas time. the 3 small houses are part of the farm. and their stream flows into the water mill.
I have used gingerbread, royal icing, dried beans as stones. and colored isomalt for the water.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Bridge Replication

Patrick Mulcahy

Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge

This is a replica of the historic Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, MN.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Castle

Emily English

Balmoral Castle

Inspired by, and in memory of, the Queen of England. History was made this year with her passing and I wanted to honor her. Balmoral is says to be her favorite residence.

Plus, I’ve always wanted to build a castle!

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Michelle Sneath

Silent Night

My first ever church, Silent Night, was inspired by the passing of a family member and her love/passion to serve our Lord. This church almost didn’t make it to the finish line. With less then 36 hours to delivery for a fundraiser event in my hometown, it hit the floor and busted into pieces. With Gods Grace and determination I pieced it back together and finished it.
The stain glass windows are crushed Jolly ranchers, the stone are melting chocolate’s and the structure is gingerbread.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Dollhouse

Rachel Delany

Christmas Storybook Cottage

I made a dollhouse style gingerbread cottage decked out for Christmas! I made a wood grain effect to the gingerbread and used this for the hardwood floors, front door and wooden furniture. There are several fun details including a pie baking in the oven, gingerbread men being rolled out to bake, Christmas cookies waiting for Santa, and a miniature version of the dollhouse in the nursery.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Greenhouse Scene

Pamela Klein

Victorian and greenhouse

The house and greenhouse are 100% edible except for the lighting. The windows are poured sugar and the detail work is mostly royal icing with a few candies. The snow is powdered sugar. The surrounding figurines are ceramic or plastic.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Gingerbread Train

Debi Delay

Go go, choo-choo

A mix of all kinds of chocolate and candy board is 32 inches long

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Minimalist Gingerbread

Joel D. Elhard

Hannas Victorian House

Welcome to Victorian Village! Hannah's House comes to life from 1880 to the 2022 Christmas Season. Three-feet of Tasty Deliciousness filled with Seven Generations Christmas-past and into the Future. Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Original Gingerbread Scene

Sara Liva

Hen House

This hen house was inspired by my actual hen house and chickens. The house, the chickens and the feed buckets are gingerbread frosted with colored royal icing. The hay is vanilla and Carmel flavored hard candy. The feed bag is taffy. I made both of these by hand. The chicken feed inside the bag is crushed pecans and walnuts mixed with gold sprinkles. I made the roof titles by "washing" the sugar off sour apple candy strips (the soft kind) and re-coating them with silver/black sprinkles.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Use of Candy

Kryste Kurlnder

The Edible Elves Emporium

We were inspired by color and all the available candies we could find!!

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Favorite Use of Frosting

Keith Birch

Starry Starry Night

Reimagined Van Gogh’s view of the village of Saint-Remy under a starry night within a carriage lantern. Background created from melted candy and the village rests on a pavlova. Gelatin sheets form the windows, with candy stars above and the top is finished off with a handmade gingerbread chocolate tree.

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Co-Favorite "Wow! This is Gingerbread?" (tied for first)

Beverly Cutler

Come to the forest

This diorama is made of 7 hand cut panels, 7 spacers panels and three side panels . The only non gingerbread pieces are the stems on the flowers (pasta ) and the sugar crystals to make the background . The animals and flowers are made of gingerbread pastillage .The wood is made by graining it with a impression mat painting it with food gel and baking it then sanding it

2022 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown

Co-Favorite "Wow! This is Gingerbread?" (tied for first)

Julie Andreacola

National Museum of Gingerbread

The National Museum of Gingerbread showcases great gingerbread builds. It is 100% gingerbread structure with 37 art pieces. Some are printed with edible ink on icing sheets. Others are laser etched into gingerbread and hand painted. Nicholas Lodge’s portrait represents the influence he has had in the gingerbread world. A cobblestone road represents the terrifying journey every piece makes to a competition. In the theater, Food Network’s Gingerbread Giants is playing.

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