Enlarged To Show Texture: Gingerbread 2010

Believe it or not, it's that time again. The 8th annual Rotary Gingerbread Extravaganza kicks off on December 8th this year. Our entries are due by December 4th, so we better get crackin'. After our Polar Express entry we decided to go with something a little different this year. Jon suggested that we somehow incorporate the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade into the theme this year. The possibilities were endless when it came to choosing floats and the giant balloons, we just needed to figure out the back drop. When it came time for our trip to New York for the ICC, we decided to pay keen attention to buildings and structures, maybe take some notes and definitely pictures. Our hotel was two blocks from Times Square. We crossed 7th avenue everyday on the way to the subway station and could see Times Square to our right. Most blaring was the skyscraper size picture of Sean "Puff Daddy", "Puffy", "P-Diddy" Combs thrusting the power fist on the SeanJohn sign. We kept saying: "We've got to make it to Times Square this year!"
Finally, on the last day as we killed time between hotel checkout and cab to the airport, we toured Times Square.

As we headed down towards Puffy, we took in the crazy marvels of Times Square. Everything was flashing and scrolling and larger than life. We passed Toys R Us, M&M World, Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, MTV, everything was IN YOUR FACE!!! We decided right then to do some version of Times Square for the Gingerbread competition. Times Square at Christmas! Of course!

It was hard to let go of the Macy's Parade, but Times Square gave us a unique opportunity to really go big on this one. Jon said: "It's too bad that the Macy's Parade doesn't go through Times Square. That would be cool." Yeah, too bad. Well,... it turns out after a little research, it does go through Times Square. Up 7th Avenue and left onto West 42nd Street. Well, well, well. So much for the K.I.S.S. principle.
Now we have begun the planning stages. First we have to decide on a scale. I pulled up Google Earth to look at the parade route as is goes through Times Square.

The yellow pushpin on the bottom left indicates where the parade turns onto W 42nd Street from 7th Ave.
2 1/2 blocks up 7th Ave crosses paths with Broadway. This seemed like the perfect stretch. Of course until you consider scale. Yikes! So, on to Google Maps where I can look at the streets in a much simpler layout.

Now, I'm sure that there was a better was to do this, but I printed several maps, sliding the view between each print job. Then, I took those pics down to our copy machine and enlarged each copy 4 x zoom. Of course it only prints a portion of the enlarged copy, so I had to move each copy into four quadrants to get all of the map. I then cut each quadrant of a copy and painstakingly pieced it together like a puzzle on a piece of 30" X30" foam board. Here are the results, try not to laugh.

30"X30" You say? Now why would I confine myself to a mere 30 inch square when the contest rules clearly state that I am allowed up to 36"X36"? Go big or go home, right? The first Gingerbread project that I worked on for this Charity was back in 2007. Chef David Harvie & I slaved over a replica of the Club for countless hours on a bold platform of 36"X36" only to find out that every exit from the kitchen was 36 inches.....unfinished. We had to tilt the house 45 degrees to get it out of the kitchen. Twice. That project survived that mishap, this one will not. But I digress, back to the project.

After some careful consideration, I decided to go with two separate scales for this project. The streets and the parade would have to be larger if there will be any chance of seeing detail. The buildings would have to be at a smaller scale in order to get more than one on the platform and for them not to stand four feet off of the table. I used my level as a template to make the streets and as a straight edge.