Hello San Francisco!
If you’ve found your way here, it’s probably from the Just For Fun window display. Thanks for visiting!
Here’s a little information about this project and my love of gingerbread and crafts.
How it started…
I'm a designer who married into a family with a very serious gingerbread decorating tradition. My partner’s family started decorating houses (made from scratch!) when he was a small child, and every year on the day after Thanksgiving that is what we do.
The first gingerbread house I decorated in 2013
The first house I baked and constructed on my own in 2017
As evidenced through the gallery, I enthusiastically embraced the tradition. Over the years I tried my hand at baking the gingerbread and cutting the stencils, and knew that I wanted to use my design skills to put together some kind of comprehensive guide. In 2020, I did just that. I hired my friend Nicole to illustrate a book that I dreamed up to document the history of the tradition and the steps of the process. The book was a gift to my family and is not for sale, but you can take a peek through it below.
How it’s going…
I work out of a tiny creative co-working space in the Mission, and we occasionally have open studios or art shows. For our 2021 show, we decided to open our studio to friends and family the first two weeks of December. I thought it would be fun to showcase the book and Nicole’s illustrations by baking and constructing a gingerbread cityscape of San Francisco. It took me MANY hours with lots of people watching it come together during our open studio.
If you want to see how it all came together, take a look at my instagram story highlight or IGTV compilation video.
Make your own!
I’m happy to share this downloadable guide for anyone who wants to try baking and constructing their own house.
