Birthday Cupcakes

As I said before, my birthday was not on the first day of school, but I did still have to be there. I decided to make a special birthday treat...CUPCAKES! Are you surprised? I made my favorites...Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese frosting and a new flavor Pink Lemonade. They both turned out wonderful and were all gone by the time I was ready to leave at the end of the day.

Do you love my little display? By the way, I made the cupcake pedestal. So cute and easy!

Banana Cupcakes

Last week I hepled with registration at school. I watched earlier in the week as our two wonderful secretaries pulled everything together for these crazy and long days. As a treat of appreciation, I decided to make some mini cupcakes for them. They always support the staff and students and I figured it was the least I could do for them. Plus it gave me an opportunity to test out a new cupcake and frosting flavor.

This recipe consisted of banana cupcakes, which tasted a lot like banana muffins, and honey cinnamon buttercream frosting. The sweetness of the frosting balanced the mild flavor of the banana cupcakes. I was really happy with how this turned out.

Tomorrow I'll share the egg carton revamp I did for this thank you gift as well as a cute and simple card that accompanied the cupcakes.

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

I went to another birthday party this weekend and I wanted to bring the birthday girl a special treat. I asked about her favorite flavors, but she told me that if it was a cupcake (any flavor) she would eat it. I decided to try something that reminds me of summer...Creamsicles.

These turned out pretty good, but I think I can make the cake part more moist. Frosting was pretty good too. I put orange slices on the regular sized cupcakes, but I made a bunch of mini cupcakes as well. My friend Kurt suggested that the mini cupcakes should have a orange gumdrop garnish. This one my be a summertime contender. Next cupcake to make...Pink Lemonade. Yes, please!

Egg Carton Revamped

Not only have I been on a cupcake making spree this summer, but I have also been on Pinterest non-stop! I'm totally addicted. One really cute idea I found on there was recycling egg cartons into adorable packaging for guess what...Mini cupcakes or muffins. Oh bliss! I decided to give some yummy Chocolate cupcakes with Nutella frosting to my school BFF, Michelle, who is our German/Spanish teacher. We were planning to have lunch so I quick put together a little package of mini cupcakes for her. I used the Beyond the Garden DSP to create the piece to go over the top of the egg carton. I also made a quick matching tag with some of the DSP scraps.

Needless to say, she loved it! But let me say, what's not to love?

Happy 30th Nick

Today is my hubby's 30th birthday. I believe that birthdays shouldn't be forgotten or glanced at as "just another day," but celebrated and enjoyed. Approaching 30 is scary and I will be doing it in September so you can hear more about my feelings about turning 30 then.

My husband, Nick, has been a part of my life since I was 17. It is both scary and funny to think that we have known each other for so long. Anyone who knows Nick well, knows that he is quietish, has a smart (most of the time pretty darn funny) comment for everything, and is mostly a car guy. We argue a lot, but I think that's what makes us... well us. I love him very much and I am glad that he has been a part of so many of my almost 30 years.

Enough mushiness...here's the card I put together for Nick. I cased it from Tessa Wise, as she is a brilliant card creator. She has an eye for layout and I love her simplistic style.

If you've been reading my past blogs entries, then you are well aware of my cupcake love and obsession. For Nick's birthday I am making Carrot Cake cupcakes with a Maple Cream Cheese frosting. These are to die for and one of the definate cupcakes to make it on my must-have list for the someday cupcake shop. He loves carrot cake, so these are an easy choice! I hope my hunny has the best birthday ever! Mwah! I love you Nicky!

Cupcakes for a Friend

My dear friend Kiley just had her 27th birthday on the 17th and I decided to make her some cupckes. In past posts I have mentioned someday wanted to own a cupcake shoppe. I don't think I'm the best cupcake chef every, but practice makes perfect right?

Kiley loves Amaretto & Coke when we go out so I tried a variation of that as a cupcake. I tried to make a chocolate and coke flavored cupcake (didn't really taste the coke, but it made it super moist) and amaretto buttercream. I loved the flavor of the frosting, but it didn't set right and it started to seperate. Boo!

 The second cupcake flavor I tried were Butterbeer since she and I have a desperate love for Harry Potter. These cupcakes incoporated butterscotch, cream soda, and butter flavoring. They were by far my favorite and the best cupcakes I've made so far. So exciting! Kiley loved the cupcakes!