I was so excited when my Nutcracker’s gingerbread cookie kit arrived at my door. And guess what, the box actually doubles up as a drum set, and it comes complete with a pair of drumsticks! So cool!

I’ve decorated a gingerbread house before, so I was bracing myself for the mess. But I was pleasantly surprised when I read the instructions for the icing sugar. It was actually quite simple, and didn’t require me to dig out my electronic beaters. I just used a fork to beat the egg white (of half an egg) in a large bowl until it was bubbly and frothy, and then added the sifted icing sugar.

When you’re done mixing the icing sugar, just pour it into the piping bag provided and cut a small hole at the tip, and off you go! The icing acts as the decoration for the cookie as well as the ‘glue’ to hold the gummies, mini-chocolates, and silver sugar balls in place.

*Note: It’s harder to decorate when the icing is too thin and runny, so do make sure the mixture is stiff enough.

Big hands and little hands. This activity is fun for both little ones and adults! You can see some fine motor skills at work here, particularly when it came to the tiny silver sugar balls. For Vera, these gummies were relatively easy to handle.

This must be the hottest gingerbread beach-babe mama ever seen. Goodness me…I think daddy was having a bit too much fun decorating this one!

Here’s Vera giving the icing sugar a go. You can tell she’s pretty happy being able to play with the sugary gummies. Took quite a bit of willpower not to stuff them into her mouth first. So, this activity actually helps to train your toddler’s ability to defer gratification too! Hmm…

Here’s daddy drawing a cross on a heart-shaped gingerbread. How apt for this special season.

Here’s a Christmas tree decorated with the initial V - for Vera!

Here’s our little family. From left: baby Javier, mummy (ahem, you can stop laughing now please), daddy, and Vera. And of course, Christ as the head of our household.

The best part for Vera? Getting to munch her handiwork. This is one fun and yummy family activity that involves all 5 senses. Great for kiddie parties too, I reckon.

And what a lovely gift tag to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas.

I didn’t know that the simple act of decorating gingerbread cookies could be so much fun and enriching for the entire family.

I think this makes an excellent gift / family activity this Christmas. If you’re keen to find out more, you can visit GingerBells on Tumblr and Facebook. Besides gingerbread products, they also do Christmas mince pies and cake lapis. They also have a store at Lau Pa Sat, number 63A, that is open during the Christmas season, so if you’re in the area, do drop by.[Just received an update that GingerBells will be at Northpoint Shopping Centre (1st floor) till 17th December. Do check them out if you are around the area!]

Happy decorating! =)

I received a personal set of this nutcracker gingerbread cookies for the purpose of this review. No compensation was received. All opinions are my own.