Laser-Cut Gingerbread House

Over at sector67.org, Scott Hasse demonstrates the coolest combination of Christmas tradition and high-tech fun I have ever seen. In Scott's own words:

My family has a tradition of making gingerbread houses for the holiday season, the more elaborate the better. So when we got a 150-watt laser cutter at Sector67 one of the first "practical" project ideas I had was to try and laser cut structures out of gingerbread. To keep things fun and chaotic, we invited a number of other families along for the ride and had our event coincide with "Crazy Cooking Day" at Sector. It was interesting to watch candy-coated houses being erected alongside the preparation of sous-vide food and other delicacies like electrocuted hotdogs.

The good news is that it basically just worked, and the kids had a great time. The laser was in generally able to cut the gingerbread and the designs held up well.

Scott describes the process in detail in his posting, including gingerbread recipe and baking tips, recommendations for construction, and things to avoid if you try this yourself. He even provides the source files for his design, should you have access to a laser cutter yourself!