Gingerbread Lane

If you live in the Northeast Ohio area and are looking for something Christmas-y to do before the day is here, you should check out Gingerbread Lane at Great Northern Mall! Gingerbread Lane is an annual event hosted by a wonderful organization called Welcome House. Welcome House is a non-profit agency that operates group homes for adults with developmental disabilities. They have been serving Cuyahoga County for the past 40 years, and every year a bunch of local bakeries donate a fabulous gingerbread creation to display on behalf of Welcome House for an entire month before Christmas.

These can hardly be called simply "gingerbread houses." To me, a gingerbread house is four walls and a roof with some gumdrops and frosting, something you can buy in a kit at a craft store. Cute and festive, but not really display-in-public worthy. These houses (and villages, movie replicas, ice skating rinks, etc.) are elaborately decorated down to the finest detail, large in scale and quite impressive.

Let's take a tour:

This house was created by The Grateful Dog Bakery, located in North Ridgeville, OH. This bakery is the most unique of the list because all of their baked goods are for cats and dogs! They specialize in all-natural, homemade treats for the furry friends in your life.

This next gingerbread village was actually made and decorated by some of the clients who attend the Welcome House Community Center. The WHCC is a day program for adults with developmental disabilities.

Next up is a scene from one of my favorite holiday movies, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  This was made by Great Scott's Bakery & Deli in Rocky River, OH. Great Scott's makes some of the most delicious cupcakes you can find: my mom gave us a box of them right after I had Charlotte and it was definitely one of the finest gifts a person can give to a new mom. Also, the cupcakes are huge and they have really unique flavors (like chocolate with maple bacon frosting).

This one comes from Gingerbread Homes by Jon Thibo and Nick Fumic. You can check out their Facebook page here! These skilled gingerbread men (har har) also have an award-winning house on display at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens for their grand gingerbread display that is part of a huge holiday event called "Glow."

The guys at Gingerbread Homes were very busy this season, since they also made this next A Christmas Story inspired house (they even included the leg lamp!):

Fligner's Market in Lorain, OH is behind this next creation. Fligner's is one of the largest locations on this list, with a full-service deli and bakery (along with any catering option you could wish for!):

And last but certainly not least, here's one from Colozza's Bakery in Parma, OH. Specializing in cakes and cannolis, you can't go wrong at Colozza's!

To check out all of these displays, along with several others that aren't included here, visit Great Northern Mall  now thru December 24th. Hours are Monday-Saturday 10AM to 9PM and Sundays from 11AM to 6PM.

~Stacy