A Christmas lover has transformed her home - into a giant gingerbread house.<br /><br />Carmen Croxall, 34, spent two weeks decorating the front of her rented home in Exeter, Devon.<br /><br />And she says the end result is "next level" - having decorated the property several times in the last 18 months.<br /><br />The latest design is complete with biscuit window frames, candy canes and gingerbread men.<br /><br />And Carmen, who runs a props business, says around 70 percent of the house is made from recycled materials.<br /><br />The fake brickwork is made from water-resistant MDF and the chocolates are old milk cartons covered in cellophane.<br /><br />Her lollipop sticks are made from wooden dowel offcuts and an old drainage pipe and the pink icing is fabric leftover from a previous project and ball pit balls.<br /><br />Mum-of-two Carmen, owner of the Prop Factory, finished the house over the weekend.<br /><br />And although the wet weather has proved to be a big test to how durable her decorations are, she believes the gingerbread house this year is her best project yet.<br /><br />She said: "I love decorating my house!<br /><br />"It all started in 2020 - I had an events company and had dressed events for eight years but, after nine months of not doing it, I had a huge void.<br /><br />"At the same time, we changed our business and started selling products.<br /><br />"I'd just sold my house and was due to move out too, so those three things led to my first crazy transformation.<br /><br />"My new landlord said I could decorate so I did my whole house for Halloween and last Christmas, I did a pink kitsch theme with a festive Tyrannosaurus Rex outside.<br /><br />"Now, I've gone next level!"<br /><br />Carmen says the project was relatively inexpensive, putting her biggest outlay at £300 for the Velcro.<br /><br />She said: "I didn't spend too much as I managed to scrounge a lot from my work.<br /><br />"The bricks are damaged MDF that we couldn't use; the lollipop sticks are wooden dowel off cuts and an old drain pipe.<br /><br />"The two main costs were the Velcro at £300 and wadding which made the snow at £90, plus a few new sheets of MDF.<br /><br />"The snow is made from wadding.<br /><br />"I put colourful cellophane over old milk cartons for the Quality Street chocolates but had to add clear cellophane over the top as the colourful sheets leaked in the rain.<br /><br />"It's all stuck on with very heavy duty velcro - each brick has enough velcro to hold up 28kg!<br /><br />"I tested this theory for a few months prior to doing this and found it worked if the brick work behind them didn't get wet. <br /><br />"I had to cover the whole house so water couldn't get to the real bricks, and I also used an air compressed staple gun to make a lattice between bricks.<br /><br />"It went from an idea to a finished thing in just two weeks. I was in this zone where I was so focused on finishing it that I didn't even appreciate it until it was done.<br /><br />"I love it, I'm really happy with how it looks - but now that it's done, I'm already thinking about what I can do next!"<br /><br />Carmen added that she's not heard from her landlord - usually a good sign - and her neighbours seem happy.<br /><br />"I've emailed my landlord pictures and told him what I've done. He hasn't replied so normally that means he is fine," she said.<br /><br />"I think he just likes peace and quiet.<br /><br />"My neighbours seem to be happy! They said they they liked it."<br /><br />And, as for her kids' reactions, she said: "I have a 13-year-old who isn't impressed at all, and my three-year-old doesn't seem that phased. I think he might be used to it!
