15 Outrageous Gingerbread Houses Slideshow

Entitled "Just My Type," this whimsical typewriter is made of — you guessed it — gingerbread. Made by New York City bakery Baked Ideas, it was on display at New York City's Le Parker Meridian in 2011. 

Pastry chef Troman Felizmenio created a gingerbread masterpiece when he brought the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral to life in 2009 at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow. 

This adorable cold-weathered band is by Linda Carney of Asheville, N.C., and took second place at the 2012 National Gingerbread House Competition. Carney told The Grove Park Inn, "It was inspired by Mom's sweatshirt and her spirit is all over it."

This religious creation by Ann Bailey of Cary, N.C., took the grand prize at The National Gingerbread Competition at The Grove Park Inn this year.

Stephanie of Cake Fixation created this Disney favorite when she entered a competition in Port of Bellingham, Wash., in 2009. It should come as no surprise that she won first place.

Craft blogger Michelle Jamieson created this replica of the Harry Potter favorite, the Weasley family home known as The Burrow, as part of a Craftster.org challenge. She admitted that her favorite part of the entire house was the monogrammed sweaters on the clothesline, a trademark of Mrs. Weasley in the film series.

Artist Britta Blvd, who works with edible materials, created this masterpiece for a "Year Seven at Hogwarts" party. See how she brought the classic Harry Potter castle to life, piece by piece, here. 

Guinness World Records dubbed this 67-foot monster, located at the Mall of America, The World's Largest Gingerbread House in June 2012. The house is made of 14,250 pounds of gingerbread, 4,750 pounds of icing, and more than 1 ton of candy confections. 

The Fairmont San Francisco created its largest-ever gingerbread house in 2011, and replicated the design this year. The two-story creation, which stands more than 22 feet tall, features thousands of gingerbread bricks and about 2,000 pounds of icing and candy.

In keeping with its annual tradition, Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian opened up it's life-sized cookie doors for guests to buy gingerbread treats and holiday décor in the lobby of the Victorian-themed hotel. 

Built by Jonathan Gellman of Skyward Builders in 2009, this organic gingerbread house was made at the Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, N.C., an LEED-certified hotel. In keeping with the tune of the hotel, every detail was environmentally friendly, from the recycled nails to the organic eggs. 

Made from London's renowned "jellymongers", Bompas & Parr, this giant replica of the Gherkin building in 2008, just one of their culinary masterpieces.

Inspired by legendary photography Bruce Weber's "Not Your Usual Christmas" campaign, London department store Selfridges placed this mega gingerbread mansion in their fairy tale-themed holiday windows this year. 

In 2010, Neiman Marcus sold this Dylan's Candy Bar life-size gingerbread house for a whopping $15,000. For this pretty penny, your child could have had 381 pounds of gourmet gingerbread and 517 pounds of royal icing to play with.

The Langham Hotel in London presented their Hansel and Gretel-themed gingerbread house in 2011. At 4 feet 3 inches, it took 200 man hours to complete.