About The Gingerbread House in Kyle
The story of The Gingerbread House in Kyle actually begins many years ago. The recipe for our gingerbread cookies has been passed down for generations. Kristine Lilly, the founder of The Gingerbread House in Kyle, has been making gingerbread cookies and gingerbread houses for more than 30 years. She would make the cookies and houses from scratch in her own kitchen. In 2012, Kristine partnered with her daughters and originally started a business called “It’s Gingerbread Cookie Time”. The business was successful and it only grew from there. In 2020, Kristine and Robert Helms Jr., expanded the original concept to create The Gingerbread House in Kyle. Kristine, with help from her family, began constructing pieces of gingerbread decorations to decorate their house to make it resemble a life-sized gingerbread house.
A Little History
“My mother used to make beautiful and elaborate gingerbread houses when I was a young child. In elementary school, she would make me and my sisters a gingerbread house for each of our classrooms. They were magical, and the awe of every child in class. We would look at the amazing cookie house, covered in icing and sweet candies every day for 2 weeks - just waiting for the 'end of the semester Christmas party' to break it apart and eat all of that delicious candy. I have some really good memories from those magical gingerbread houses of my childhood! In honor of my mother, I've tried to create a magical life size gingerbread house, for everyone in my community to enjoy. Although it is not really made of candy, I hope that it inspires feelings of magic and memories of simpler times for everyone who comes to visit!” - Kristine Lilly
“Lilly's super-charged approach to decorating began in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging and friends and families were separated over the holidays. Lilly herself was preparing to spend Christmas without her three children, two stationed on military bases, one living in another town, and without her granddaughter. “I had just handed out Halloween candy with tongs and a mask and was wondering what Christmas was going to look like,” Lilly tells TODAY.com. She says she thought back to the Christmases of her own childhood in Arkansas when her mother, Sandy Crace, would make gingerbread houses for her children to take to school. “We would just stare at the house and wait for the day we could eat it,” Lilly recalls. She adds that her mom knew how to make “the best gingerbread ever” and had a knack for making the holiday season feel “magical.” She says she realized she wanted to share that same feeling with her community. So, she decided to turn her home into a giant gingerbread house — and a new annual tradition was born.”
