From 2008-2016 I made a display gingerbread house at work as encouragement for Toys for Tots donations. Since retiring, I have been displaying them in North Carolina at my local library, basing the GBH theme on a children's book.

This year I used Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express as my inspiration and Calvin & Hobbes as my anti-heroes. The train is an actual toy (with a large Christmas bell on board), but the house is construction-grade gingerbread. The roof tiles are gingerbread cookies and the seams & lights are lined with marshmallows. All icing including ground cover is Royal icing. Other ornaments (windows, door, bulbs) are real as I spent 8 LONG years in southern Florida dealing with humidity and melting candy. The snowman on the train tracks and snow Godzilla are fondant. The mask on the toy Godzilla is a nod toward COVID-19.

I love using Calvin & Hobbes in my displays as their humor offer a counterpoint to all the sweetness and give adults viewing the house something to smile about.