It’s time to go crazy decorating the house for the holidays. The sugar-glazed windows need trimming, the walkway should be lined with candy canes, and the roof needs to be heavily iced then shingled with chocolate NECCO wafers. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — first you need to build the house.

Yes sir, we're talking about making gingerbread houses. It's that once-a-year family-night activity when your kids are elbow deep in white icing and hyped up on ROLOs and Red Hots, and you've got a sugar headache because you snitched more gumdrops than you plastered on the roof. It's Hansel and Gretel (without the creepy witch). It's good, old-fashioned, sweet, sticky fun.

There's a whole underground community of passionate gingerbread house makers out there who've made the art a yearly tradition during the holidays. And these gingerbread fans come out in droves during Thanksgiving Point's annual three-day Gingerbread House Festival held in November. If you went to the festival, you can attest to the dozens of candy-covered and themed houses that were on display. And if you thought the art of gingerbread making died with your great aunt, think again. This is big.

So is the "Old Plantation Manor" that Mark Poulson, a 55-year-old Springville resident, created and donated to the festival under the guise of a gingerbread "house." It took him three and a half weeks to make. Gingerbread mansion or manor, perhapsfi Yes, yes. "House" hardly describes the award-winning, white-columned, two-level estate that is Poulson's fourth gingerbread submission to the Thanksgiving Point festival. Previous year's submissions included an arbor house with a wraparound porch, a lighthouse, and a Victorian home with a gazebo and wishing well.

When Poulson isn't making gingerbread houses (which is most of the year), he works as an assistant store leader at Macey's supermarket in Pleasant Grove. He started making gingerbread houses years ago, and it's now become an annual tradition.

"It's a fun thing to do," said Poulson. "It's a family thing. I've taught all my kids, and my kids just love making them. And now they, in turn, are teaching their kids. So it's a neat, family-oriented activity that you can do. You just have to buy extra candy so they can eat some while you're making it."

In addition to his yearly festival creation, Poulson makes smaller traditional gingerbread houses that he gives away to neighbors and friends during the holidays.

"I've always used them as gifts," Poulson said. "I make them just to give away because, to me, it's more from the heart and it's something that takes time to do. You'll never get the money that it's really worth, but it is worth a lot as a gift to me and it means a lot to people."

Some of Poulson's favorite candies to use in his gingerbread creations are cinnamon hearts, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, candy cane sticks, silver and pastel-colored dragées, mini M&M's, Skittles and Jolly Ranchers, which he crushes then bakes for stained-glass windows.

On the flip side, Jeannie Chamberlain and Cheryl Wilcox, both from Provo, are all about organic ingredients and "green" houses. The two submitted a gingerbread birdhouse to this year's Thanksgiving Point Gingerbread House Festival, and for the past five years have been creating candy houses to use as centerpieces for weddings, parties or just for fun.

"We try to use food and natural things," Chamberblain said. "Like anything that we can find growing outside or along the streets. We've picked lots of weeds and berries and different things on trees, and then we'll dry them or cut them or paint them. It just seems like right now organic is the 'in thing.' "

Their previous festival creations have included themed houses like their "Bear Bungalow," a "Thanksgiving House" and an "I Spy" house, which had a list of candies onlookers could locate on the house. Creating gingerbread houses that are not only unique, but also entertaining for people to look at is something they strive for, Chamberlain said.

"One of the things we like to do is put some animation in it, like birds and bears, or turkeys for Thanksgiving. So it's not just a house, it has some character to it that makes it fun for people to look at."

So, obviously, there are some hard-core gingerbread creationists out there, but you may not have the inclination or creativity to tackle a Southern plantation or an organic birdhouse. Are you more the graham crackers-and-icing-from-a-can typefi That's OK. (Even if most gingerbread enthusiasts would recommend baking your own gingerbread.) The fun with gingerbread houses is in the creation, not necessarily the outcome.

Sarah Curtis, a 28-year-old Provo resident and first-grade teacher at Brookside Elementary in Springville, grew up making homemade gingerbread houses around the kitchen table with her parents and siblings every year at Christmastime.

"It was just a fun activity that we'd do all together," Curtis said. "Making a gingerbread house was almost like picking out a Christmas tree. Every year, when you pick out a tree you talk about which one you think looks right, and you decorate it. It's fun because it's always different, but it's still the same every year. So doing a gingerbread house was like, 'We know how to make it, we're going to put it together, how are we going to decorate it this yearfi' "

Curtis and her family were all about the traditional square houses decorated with real gingerbread and old-fashioned candies like Starlight Mints, NECCO wafers, Red Hots, and spearmint leaves for green bushes.

"The basics," Curtis said. "And then every year we were looking for new ideas."

And the good thing about making an amateur gingerbread house is you don't feel guilty about breaking into it when the candy decorations start looking tempting. Curtis and her siblings would leave their house up until after New Year's Day and then break it apart and take the pieces on their family vacation after Christmas.

In talking with people, it's hard to find a bad memory associated with making gingerbread houses. So if you're looking for a memorable (if slightly messy) activity that your family will remember for years to come, take some time out during the busy season to make a gingerbread house together.

"I think that part of Christmastime is not trying to fit everything in and being so busy," Curtis said. "Making a gingerbread house was just another way that we slowed down and spent time together -- and we had something to show for the time that we spent together. It was special."

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Gingerbread House

• 2fl cups sifted flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ginger

• 3 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

• 2/3 cup molasses

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Mix ingredients thoroughly and chill several hours or longer. Roll dough on oiled piece of foil, place on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

It is easier if you draw the house pattern on the foil then roll the dough on the pattern. Make sure the dough extends a little beyond the sides of the pattern so you will have nicely shaped pieces when finished. Place paper pattern on hot gingerbread and cut immediately. (Remember to cut the door in the front.) Lift out carefully and cool on cake rack. The gingerbread should be very hard when cool. If necessary, the pieces can be laid back on the cookie sheet and placed in the oven for five or 10 minutes longer, as the roof will break off if the dough is not thoroughly baked. Be careful not to burn the gingerbread.

-- Courtesy Mark Poulson of Springville

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Royal Icing

• 3 egg whites at room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat ingredients thoroughly until the icing stands in peaks. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth.

-- Courtesy Mark Poulson of Springville

Sidebar: Rock the house

Making gingerbread houses can be a fun holiday activity that the whole family will enjoy. Here are some suggestions to help make your gingerbread creation a hit.

Firm foundation: Make a base for your house by covering a piece of plywood or cardboard with foil and assembling the house on top so it can be picked up and moved.

Dream house: Use your imagination to make any shape of gingerbread house. Try a Victorian mansion or a barn house or lighthouse. Just cut the basic structure from poster board or cardboard and test it first by taping the pieces together.

Stick it: Apply both the "glue" (see Royal Icing recipe) and decorative icing to your house using a pastry bag with various decorating tips (available at candy supply stores and big-box retailers). Using colored icing for accent will add additional flair to your candy home.

ROLOs vs Cheerios: If you're looking for an alternative to candy, use a variety of cereals to trim your house. You can also purchase rock-shaped candy at many grocery stores that gives the appearance of actual rocks, should you want your house to have a realistic look.

Take the shortcut: If you don't have time to bake the gingerbread, graham crackers can be used as a last-minute substitute. Or, you can purchase a pre-made kit at the grocery store. Regardless of whether it takes 10 hours or 10 minutes to make, be sure to display your gingerbread house as a holiday centerpiece.