Robyn Campanelli said she had been “cursed” in previous gingerbread house-making attempts, but this year converted a “Halloween House” kit to suit a Christmas theme, with the house intentionally off-kilter. 

The house is a personal joke for the silly season – Mrs Campanelli suffers from dystonia, making her head involuntarily tilt towards her shoulder.

She posted the house on her Facebook page to the delight of other people with dystonia, who joked that the house really didn’t look slanted from their perspective. 

She initially started delicately decorating Christmas cookies as a way to retrain her brain into creative activities, which has evolved into building houses – a kind of therapy.

She became enchanted with the “magical” feeling of the season after she experienced her first white Christmas in 2006 on a trip to Canada with her husband, and has attempted to capture a European feel in her culinary creations. 

Mrs Campanelli said icing a gingerbread house was a fantastic bonding experience for family, echoing the sentiment of other Tamworth locals who are trying their hand at the Christmas tradition for the first time.