Two months ago 47 year old Monika Orrey joined the office where they announced a workspace decoration competition. To surprise the peer group a Christmas freak Orrey converted her office into a huge life size gingerbread house.
The financial services manager got so engrossed in the competition that she spent eight hours turning her work area into a festive gingerbread wonderland. The sides and roof of the house was made by herself with cardboard and duct tape that was covered in brown craft paper.
On a Sunday, the mum-of-one visited the office to build her masterpiece as a surprise for her peer group. Monika from Oakley, California explained that in her daughter’s words she was ‘extra’. She herself knows she gets engrossed in decorations at home but knows her family loves it too.
So when the competition was announced in the office she started collecting cardboards. At first she thought her peer group might assume she was crazy and weird but later realised she was the happiest the way she was and forgot about what others would think.
She decided to have something huge and sweet as she had a fondness for sweets. That’s when she came up with an idea of a huge gingerbread house.
She said with cardboards and decorations that were available, the biggest cost was on tape. From the dollar store she gathered bowls, painted pinwheels on them and stuck the bowl to a white cardboard tube covered in cellophane for extra large lollipops. She printed out candy images for decorations and also bought some candy stickers.
When her peer group entered the office Monday morning, Monika expressed they were “speechless”. Monika’s cube won the decorating competition despite stiff competition from the remaining staff.
She said, “It definitely broke the ice. Many colleagues brought their kids in to see my gingerbread house and it brought smiles to many—mission accomplished!”
