Frosty the Snowman

Oh my goodness, I know it's been forever since I have posted a new cupcake blog for you and I feel absolutely awful so I am here to make it up to you!

I would just like to say that I can't believe we only have 6 days till Christmas! This year has completely flown by with moving back to Alabama, working at a new job and spending lots of time with family and friends, it's crazy it's almost 2012!!!

For the next few blogs I'm going to blog about cupcakes with characters that make us think of Christmas the most. Starting off the character countdown is good ole Frosty the Snowman. Such a happy jolly soul! For this particular frosty I made my own fondant, which was really tasty and made with marshmallows. Below is the ingredients to marshmallow fondant and instructions. Once you have marshmallow fondant you won't go back :) I hope you enjoy and  hope you're getting in the Holiday spirit! 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided
• 
  

Directions

1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.

3D Cake: No Glasses Required

So yesterday I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a little harder cake for a change. I thought I would try to make a 3D cake and I had decided on a pirate ship cake. All day Friday I read some tutorials and thought about the way I would construct it and it all made me extremely nervous. The cake wasn't for anyone but I just didn't want to mess it up and more than anything I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I was up for the challenge.

First, I baked the cake and then once it cooled I began shaping it the way I wanted. I stacked it twice with two layers of the same shape then added a triangle piece for the front of the ship and a square piece for the back of the ship. Then I added another piece half the size of the square piece I previously added. This made it a total of 4 layers. I then crumb coated is with icing. I did white icing and looking back I should have mixed it with brown dye for brown icing that would match the brown fondant. That way if any icing were to show through it would unnoticeable.

Next I began cutting fondant in the shape of pieces of wood. I cut lines in each strip and two holes on each end of the strip to make it look like nails. I then began to add them to the cake. You must be patient and not get frustrated because I'm warning you that it does take some time- but the outcome is great!

I then added on the small details such as the railing in the front and back, the anchor on the side and the gold port holes going along the bottom.

Finally, I worked on the sails/masts. I took a wooden dowel and got the husband to saw the sizes I needed for each mast. I made the front mast shorter than the back. I glued a smaller wooden dowel to the front dowel and two to the back dowel. I then slipped some sugar paper (which you can find at Michaels and it's edible) for the sail part. I then just stuck the dowels into the cake and made the sails.

And this is the finished product. I hope you will try this and remember to be patient. It's a big project to tackle but the outcome is incredibly rewarding!

Cravin' Cupcakes

So it seems like every time I get on facebook someone I'm friends with is pregnant. No joke! It must be the season for making babies or just that it's now that time in my life where everyone is at that age where they are wanting a family. I know it will come one day for us as well.

As I was looking at all my cupcakes that I want to share with you this one popped out as something that would coincide with pregnant ladies out there. I know that there are certain things that you can't have, like raw eggs, caffeine, and raw fish such as sushi. Which brings me to my cupcakes... Sushi Cupcakes. I know that name doesn't sound appetizing but for the record they aren't actually made of sushi - just decorated like sushi :) So when you have a craving for sushi but can't have it then you can make some of these or order some and it's as if you gave in to the craving but in a healthy kind of way (excluding all the sugar) :) There are always loop holes if you look for them!

I hope this encourages all the pregnant ladies to stay on track when following the things you can and cannot have while pregnant!

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!

I know it's been a while since my last blog post and I sincerely apologize. I got a job and have been extremely busy and allowed cupcakes/mini cakes to take the back burner but I am back. I hope you can forgive me :) If not then maybe I can persuade you with some new cupcakes!

My oldest nephew just turned 3 this month and right now he's into the children's tv show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." So, for his birthday I did some cupcakes for his birthday party at his preschool. I made pirate faces, treasure maps, swords with gold coins and flags with skulls and cross bones. These cupcakes were pretty simple material-wise. All I used was fondant, icing and food dye. These cupcakes are easy so you can look at the design and make them. Also, the possibilities are endless when coming up with ideas for pirate decorations on a cupcake.

The last thing I'll leave you with is the trailer for my favorite pirate movie, The Goonies. But before you see it you have to do the truffle shuffle :)

I &hearts HP

So all you HP (Harry Potter) fans are getting excited about the new and last Harry Potter movie coming out this summer. I started reading Harry Potter in high school when a friend suggested it to me. I read the first book and was automatically hooked from there on out. Each time a new book would come out in the HP series I would be at Books-a-Million waiting to receive my copy at midnight and I would also be at the movies on the opening day when they came out. It's sad to see such a great series of movies come to an end but the actors and directors of these 7 movies have done an amazing job. J.K. Rowling was once writing on little pieces of paper because she was so poor she couldn't afford a note pad. I wonder if she ever thought that this one little idea of a boy named Harry Potter with glasses and a lighting bolt scar would be her best story yet. Her writing had a way of making you imagine things in your head that not a lot of people can do. She told a story that made you want to continue to read and never want to put the book down. I hope that I did this cake justice for all you Harry Potter fans and that you are just as excited as me to see the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie this summer!

Please feel free to post below what your favorite quote is from the Harry Potter books! I would love to see them!

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.  ~  Arthur Weasley

For the Birds

For The Birds (Pixar'dan, HD Video) from Mustafa on Vimeo.

These are my favorite cupcakes to this day. I am very pleased with how they turned out and can't wait to make them again. I did these for a baby shower the other weekend and everyone loved them. They just look so sweet and so innocent which is perfect for a baby shower.

First I drew out a template to follow and cut it out and then placed it on fondant and cut it out. I did three of each bird and then 2 of each initials, which equals 12 cupcakes altogether. I placed the cut out fondant birds aside and then cut out my flowers for the initials. I picked these colors because they seemed sweet. After I cut out my flowers I placed the letter stamps I wanted on the middle of them and pushed down. Once I pulled it up it engraved the initial in the fondant; this takes no time at all! I then added two accent flowers on each one to give it a little more detail.

Next I went back to the birds and started adding the detail to them. I first drew the pink design on three of them with an edible marker. Then I used a yellow marker on the other three. You can change up the design and do whatever you want, and you can also change up the colors too. I cut out the wings for the pink birds with a leaf fondant cutter and then placed a small flower in the middle of each one. For the yellow dotted birds I used a leaf mold that was a little more detailed and placed it on the bird. Last but not least I mixed some icing to get a light green color and iced my cupcakes.

These were easy, fun and everyone at the shower loved them. You should definitely keep these in mind if you have to make something for a baby shower. Your guests will be absolutely thrilled!

There's No Place Like Home

Everyone has a favorite movie and I know this may be one of yours. Some people say it's one of the best movies ever made. It has unforgettable characters such as Dorothy and her dog Toto, the Scarecrow who  wanted a brain, the Tin Man who wanted a heart, and the Cowardly the Lion who wanted courage. Then of course you can't forget about the Good Witch of the North Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West and those sparkly red ruby slippers. I hope my cake below did it justice.

Expanding the Horizons

So I finally tried to make a cake and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I'm not going to lie I was very intimidated by a 4 inch 3 layer cake, but even more intimidated by all the fondant and placing it on the cake. Now that I did one I can't stop myself from doing more! Cupcakes are still my passion but I think mini-cakes will become one also. Here are my first, second and third decorative cakes I've decorated.  I made sure to watch a few videos on how to crumb coat a cake and then how to cover it in fondant. So I have to say thank you to Norman Davis from the SweetLife for showing me what to do and telling me to not be intimidated by fondant! You made my life just a little sweeter :) I'm proud to say that fondant longer intimidates me!

First mini cake to ever decorate with fondant!

Second mini cake to ever decorate with fondant!

Third mini cake to ever decorate with fondant!

Angry Birds

Who doesn't like to play Angry Birds? My husband and I are obsessed with this game and we get so mad if we can't beat the pigs and then they smile at you at the end of that level. All you want to do is get the poor birds' eggs back to them from those mean ole pigs. These cupcakes are very tedious and will take some time to make but the outcome is something to be proud of.

I first started by looking at a few pictures of the Angry Birds to get an idea of the details in their faces and for the pigs as well. I made up my own layout of how I wanted to set them up. I then began to mix the fondant to get the colors I needed for the birds and pigs. I decided to make 4 different birds so I needed white, blue, red and yellow fondant for them, and then for the pigs you make green fondant. Also the size of the character is completely up to you. Your fondant will go farther if you make the character a little smaller. I also mixed brown and a lighter blue for the pigs' structures.

Next I simply looked at a picture and began making the pigs. They will definitely be the easiest because every one is pretty much the exact same. I put a crown on the biggest one and you can add a hard hat on some and mustaches on others as well. Once again, make this your own because I know you can do it! Once I was finished with the pigs I began working on the structure. I started with the TNT box that I wanted a pig to sit on and then moved to the small block towers and then platforms for the other pigs to sit on. I also had a drawn out layout of how I wanted the structure of the pigs to look and followed it. It will help as you go along.

Now come the birds. With each bird I looked at  a cartoon picture and just followed it as much as I could. I will be honest and say that the yellow triangle bird was probably the most difficult to make. I had to redo his body a few times to get the right size compared to the others. You would be surprised how easy it is to follow the pictures when working on the birds' faces. They do have a lot of details but I know you can do it. Just take your time and take a break if you start to get frustrated. I then iced the cupcakes with green icing to make it look like grass and then put the fondant birds and pigs into place according to how I drew out the structure. I tried to put all the pigs as close together as I could and then I set up the birds on the opposite side as them. If you haven't noticed I also put the eggs behind the pigs because that's the whole point of the game.

I really hope you try these cupcakes. I promise that you can do even a better job than me and your friends will love them! Also don't forget to add your on flair to it and make it your own!

The Love Shake

This is one of my all time favorite cupcakes. Every time I see a picture of it, it puts a smile on my face. I call it The Love Shake. It's extremely simply but so much fun! It reminds me of the B52's Love Shack song which I absolutely love. It's a song that will get stuck in your head all day, but I don't mind singing it! I even try to hit the high parts in the song when no one is around ;)

First, I decided to use a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. I put the frosting in a baggy with an 846 icing tip that will give it that whipped cream look on top of a milkshake. I then added a few sprinkles to add some color and make it pop a little. Next I cut 3 1/2 inches off the tip of a straw and put it into the cupcake at an angle. Last but not least, I added the final touch which is the cherry. You want to be careful because they can hold a lot of juice when you get it out of the jar so I let mine sit on a paper towel and dried it off a little so the juice wouldn't get all in the icing.

Like I said this cupcake is extremely simple and wouldn't take long at all to make, but your friends and guests will definitely be talking about it afterwards! I hope you try it and don't forget to add your own little touch to it!

Autism Speaks

April is Autism Speaks month and I was given the idea by someone to make puzzle pieces for Autism Speaks month. I think it's a great cause and was so glad to be a part of it. I know many families that have children with autism and I can't even imagine what they go through so it's nice to know they can have a place to gather information and support through some hard times. After I looked up Autism Speaks I found out that 1 in every 110 kids and 1 in 70 boys has autism and I was completely shocked. That's a huge percent. So these cupcakes are for Autism Speaks and I hope I did it justice!

First I started out by picking what colors I wanted for the puzzle pieces. I wanted a lot of colors and something fun. I picked Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. I then mixed each color with some fondant until I got the exact colors I wanted. I printed out a puzzle piece to be my template. I cut it out and then began cutting out my puzzle pieces out of each color fondant. I cut out 12 puzzle pieces for all the letters in Autism Speaks. Once I was finished cutting out the puzzle pieces I then began icing the cupcakes very simply. I then placed the puzzles pieces on the cupcakes. One puzzle piece on each of the 12 cupcakes. I then piped thin icing of the letters of Autism Speaks, one letter on each puzzle piece.

These cupcakes were a great way to raise awareness for a great organization!

Spring Fever

These three duos will have everybody talking. They are sweet, classy and scream Spring. They could also be used for a baby shower or a bridal tea. Don't forget that when you try these cupcakes you can always change the colors to what you like.

First I took three spoonfuls of icing and put each into separate measuring cups and mixed a little food coloring to get the colors I wanted. Then I heated each measuring cup in the microwave for 9 seconds stirring every 3 seconds. Once I got the icing a certain texture I then took 3 cupcakes and dipped one into each color. So at the end I had one purple, one blue and one white and then put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Next I started on the fondant flowers. I rolled the pink fondant out rather thin and took a very small flower cookie cutter and cut out 3 small flowers, one for each cupcake. I then took a pearl sprinkle and put one in the center of each flower. Once I finished the flowers I put those aside and then started working on my icing.

I cut the tip of an icing bag and put the #5 icing tip into it. I then took a spoonful and a half of icing and put it into the baggy and twisted the top part so the icing is almost coming out of the tip and there are no air bubbles in the bag. I then got the cupcakes out of the fridge and started to pipe the icing. For the purple and blue cupcake I piped icing in a swirl shape. I started from the inside and moved outward. For the white cupcake I started at the top of the cupcake and did zig zags all the way to the bottom of the cupcake. Finally, I placed the fondant flowers on the cupcakes. For the purple and blue cupcakes I placed the flower in the middle where I started the swirl and on the white cupcake I put the flower on the top right corner. But remember to change it up a little. It never hurts to add your own "lil somethin somethin" to it :)

Spring Is Here

Spring time has finally arrived. I am not a winter person and would rather skip winter time and have Fall go directly into Spring. I wouldn't mind having warm weather for Christmas at all! I love spring because everything changes. The days get longer, the flowers start blooming and most of all it brings warmer weather along. My next few cupcakes will be spring cupcakes to show my appreciation to the season. Hopefully you will be encouraged to try some and make them your own!

This cupcake may take a few more steps to make but the outcome is completely worth it. I first took 2 spoonfuls of icing and put them into a measuring cup. I put it in the microwave for 9 seconds, checking on it every 3 seconds. If you forget about it then I promise it will be messy :) You want it to be more liquid than icing so that it's dripping off your spoon or knife. If you try dipping the cupcake and the icing doesn't stick then you can either stick in the freezer to cool it down or try adding a little more icing to thicken it up. Once I got the texture I wanted I added a little bit of dye to make it the color I wanted. Then I turned the cupcake upside down and dipped it. You may want to hold it on it's side to let some of it drip off or it will start dripping down the side of the cupcake liner and that can be a mess. If you see that it's not as smooth as you would like than you can dip it again until you get the smoothness that you desire. Then you stick it in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.

Next I simply took a ball of white fondant and rolled it out. I took my butterfly cookie cutter that I got from Michaels and cut out a small butterfly. I placed it into a shaping cup which I also got at Michaels which will allow it to fold up a little on the edges.

Once I took the cupcake out of the freezer I placed a small amount of icing on the bottom of the fondant butterfly and stuck it onto the top of the cupcake. Because the cupcake it so cold, once you stick the butterfly onto it than you can't really get it off with out making a mark so make sure you place it exactly where you want it on the cupcake. And then you are done and ready to eat or show it off to your friends.

"I Do"

For my last wedding cupcake, this is one of the most simple cupcakes I've done. You can dress it up with the color scheme of the reception or the shower and you can make the lettering as elegant, classic and simple as you please. This cupcake would also be a great topper to you cake. This cupcake is letting everyone know that your name has now changed and you are proud of it!

I simple took an undecorated cupcake and put a spoonful of icing into an icing bag or you can simply use a zip lock bag and cut the tip. I used an icing tip to make the edges a little more crisp. I simply piped the icing on the cupcake, a little to an angle so the letter will be able to sit properly.

As the for lettering, I simple found a font that I like, printed it out and simple traced it onto wax paper with sharpie. Make sure though that you turn the wax paper around because if you don't then you will have sharpie on your letter and it won't be edible anymore. After I traced it and it's the size I want, I melted some black melting chocolate and traced the letter. I put the wax paper letter on a pan and put it in the freezer for a good 10 mins and once I took it out I simply pilled the letter of the wax paper and stuck on top of the cupcake. The icing will help make it steady so that it doesn't fall off.

Also remember that you can make the chocolate letter matching the them color to the party. The melting chocolate can be found at Michaels and they have all sorts of close to choose from!

And The Bride Wore White

This is my second blog for wedding cupcakes. This one is very simple and can be changed to any color that you would want. All you need for this cupcake is white icing, a measuring cup, a small round icing tip, white fondant, a flower fondant cutter, and small pearl sprinkles.

I started by putting 2 large spoonfuls of icing in a measuring cup and heating it up for about 10 seconds, stirring every 5 seconds. If the icing is too runny then add more of the solid icing to even it out. I then dipped the top of the cupcake into the melted icing to give it a very smooth look and then put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. I took my icing tip that was attached to an icing bag and put 1 big spoonful of white icing into the bag, and twisted the top of it to get the air bubbles out. Once the cupcake in freezer was ready I took it out and began using my icing tip on the cupcake. I started in the middle of the cupcake and swirled outwards to the edge. For the flower, I simply rolled out my white fondant rather thin and then used my fondant cutter to cut out a flower. Then I stuck one pearl sprinkle in the middle of it. I then placed the fondant flower in the middle of the cupcake where I started the swirl.

These cupcakes are simple and would look great for a wedding or a shower. Try them out yourself and let me know how it goes!

Going to the Chapel

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day and shared it with all the people that you love. I know I haven't posted a blog since January because we went out of town so I'm getting back into the routine.

It's only February but that also means that weddings are just around the corner. Weddings will be happening before you know it and soon you will realize that you have one every weekend from April 'til August :) I got married in the month of May and so did two of my close friends. Spring and Summer are most popular for weddings. The weather is beautiful which means it's great for pictures and outside weddings.

My next 3 blogs will be about wedding cupcakes and each is a sweet, simple and classic wedding cupcake. It would be great to make them for a bridal shower or for a wedding reception. They are easy to do yourself and to have others do as well.

I started off using white cake but these days it's not quite as traditional, and you can have whatever   flavor cake you love. I first put about 3-4 tablespoons of icing in a measuring cup. I then melted it for 10 seconds stirring it half way. It will be a little more liquid than the texture of cool whip, but it can't be too runny. You don't want it too melted or it will be very messy and drip everywhere. If you find out that you have microwaved it a little too long then stir in a little more icing.

Next, you simply take the cupcake by the liner and hold the cupcake upside down and dip it into the icing making sure that the top of the cupcake is covered. As you begin turning it back to the right side up the icing should drip off a little on the side and then stop leaving you with a smooth top. If you dip once and you find air bubbles on the surface and then you can always dip a second and third time to make it a little more thick on the top of the cupcake. After dipping the cupcake I placed it in the freezer for about 5 minutes while I got the icing ready to pipe. I have a very small icing tip but if you don't have one then you can also just use a zip lock baggy and cut a very tiny hole in one of the corners. Next I took the cupcake out of the freezer and began piping the icing. I made swirls and dots and different designs on the cupcake. I just wanted to make sure that I took up the whole cupcake with different piped designs so there wasn't any awkward open space.

Once I was done piping the icing I was done decorating the cupcake. Like I said it's very easy and anyone can do it. Also remember that you can make the colors different depending on the colors of the bridal shower and the reception.

St. Valentine's Day

People have been exchanging Valentines for over 200 years. Originally, though, it was a day devoted to sacrifice. But in the high middle ages, thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer, it became associated with romantic love. While the message and the presentation may have changed the concept is still the same. Valentine's Day is a day when people give each other gifts to show how much they love each other. This picture is a Valentine from the year 1887.

It's crazy to think that cupcakes like the one in this blog can trace their tradition back so far. All you need for making this cupcake is pink dye and red and white fondant. Remember that you can play around with the colors and make it your own. 

I first dyed some white icing pink and iced my cupcakes. I then began to roll out my red and white fondant. Once again I rolled it out really thin so I will have some left over for the next cupcake I decide to make. Once I rolled out the fondant I cut out two different sized hearts (one big and one small) with my heart shaped cookie cutters. I did this both for the red fondant and the white fondant. this way you have one red big heart, one small red heart, one big white heart and one small white heart. I then placed a small amount of icing on the small red heart and then placed it in the middle of the big white heart and then placed the small white heart in the middle of the big red heart. So the hearts should be opposite colors on each other. After that I simply placed the fondant heart on the cupcakes and I was done. 

I hope you enjoy this cupcake and try changing to colors up if you want. You can't mess it up! Just try and simply make it your own. 

Chocolate on Chocolate

Here is another fun yet simple cupcake for you to do with friends or for your Valentine. Who wouldn't love to get cupcakes for Valentine's day? I know flowers and a box of chocolates are the traditional gifts, but times are changing so do something fun and surprising! It's good to change things up sometimes and your Valentine will least expect it! These cupcakes won't take any time at all to make so you will still have time to prepare dinner or finish shopping for your loved one :)

It's chocolate on chocolate. So for all you chocolate lovers, this is the way to go!

I put about a spoonful of chocolate icing in a zip-lock baggy and then cut a 1/2 inch hole in one of the corners so it would pipe out thick and smooth. I then squeezed the icing onto the cupcake in a spiral motion going upward. I then sprinkled a few white imperials on the icing. It's up to you as to how much you want to put on there, and you can even leave them off if you don't like sprinkles.

For the fondant heart, I dyed white fondant red and then rolled it out rather thin because it will go farther the thinner it is. I took a small heart cookie cutter and cut out a heart from the fondant. I simply placed it on top of the icing. Make sure it's secure or it might slide off and you will have to cut out another heart.

I hope you enjoy this cupcake and I promise you can make these. Always remember to have fun and make them your own!

Mr. Owl

This is such a cute commercial and it's from the 70's so I know you've probably seen it. This commercial always makes me smile :) My favorite animal is an owl so that's where I got this idea for this particular cupcake. So I took my favorite animal and turned it into a Valentine's Day cupcake and I have to say I think they turned out really cute. They were a little more tedious than some of my other cupcakes, so I had to spend a little more time on them.

I used pink icing, fondant and red and pink dye. I first dyed my icing a light pink color and iced the cupcakes. Then I dyed my fondant red and rolled it out really thin. I first cut out the owl by hand but you could also print an owl template from your computer if you need something to go by. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it's something I do all the time! Once I had cut out the owl bodies I set those aside and cut out two small white fondant heart shapes with a heart cookie cutter. Then I put them on the lower part of the Owl body. I then pinched two tiny balls off the white and rolled them up and pushed two of each on each Owl for his eyes and then went back with a black food marker (used for drawing on fondant- you can find these at Michaels) to dot the middle of each eye. The next thing I did was cut out two stripes of the red fondant for the branch for the Owls to stand on. You can cut these however you want. You can cut a straight line or you can split it at the end to make it look more branch like. I put one branch on each cupcake and then added my Owls. I placed them on the cupcakes to make them look like they were sitting on the branch. I added a few white fondant dots to different areas of the cupcakes, but you don't have to that. If you do, you can place them however you would like.

I really hope you try these. Also, don't be afraid to change the color of the Owls and the icing. No matter what colors you use they will turn out GREAT! Don't forget to watch the video above, I promise it will put a smile on your face :)

It's the Simple Things that Count

This is one of my favorite cupcakes. I really enjoy decorating all types of cupcakes but the ones I think look the best are the simple ones and you can't get more simple than this :)

I started off with some whipped vanilla icing (you can dye the icing a certain color or just leave it white, whatever you would like). I put about a spoonful of the icing into a baggy and then cut one corner of the baggy at about 1/2 inch. I then started putting the icing on the cupcake by starting on one side of the cupcake and swirling upward.

For the fondant heart and dyed white fondant red (but you can dye it whatever color you like) and rolled it out. I tried not to roll it out super thin because then the heart would be too flexible and wouldn't stay up. Once I rolled the fondant out I used my heart shaped cookie cutter from the previous blog and cut out a medium size heart. Then I simply placed it into the top middle of the cupcake and I was done.

Anyone can do this cupcake and you can add as many things to it as you would like and try all the colors that you want. Always remember it's your creation :)

Fidelity

regina spektor - Fidelity
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Regina Spektor is one of my favorite artists. She has an amazing voice and all her songs are very original. This is one of my favorite songs by her, and the first Regina song I had ever heard. The cupcakes not only go with this particular song but also go with the next month coming up which would February. And of course the next big holiday is none other than Valentine's Day!

These cupcakes were fun and simple. I only used heart shaped cookie cutter and red and pink dye for this cupcake. I first cut the top of the cupcake off as smoothly as I could. Then I turned the separated top of the cupcake over so the soft cake part was facing up. I then placed the cookie cutter in the middle and pressed down firmly and gently removed the cookie cutter with the heart shaped cake coming out with it. You want to be as gentle as possible so you don't break the top of the cupcake.

I then dyed my icing with red and pink dye to give it the colors of Valentine's Day, but you can use whatever colors your little heart desires :)

I iced each cupcake (one red, one pink and one white). Then I placed the top of the cupcake with a heart shaped hole back on top of the iced cupcake so you can see the colored icing through the heart hole. I then got the remaining icing of each color that went with each cupcake and filled in the heart cut out. I filled it to the top with icing, but you could choose not to fill it, or only to fill it halfway depending on what you and your guests would like. After I filled in the heart cut out I tried to make the icing as smooth as possible and then I was done. It's as simple as that :)

Also here's a little tip. Hobby Lobby has some great cookie cutters to choose from and they are also pretty inexpensive. And Walmart has their aisle of Valentine's things out so you could also look there for cookie cutters. I hope you enjoy and have fun with these cupcakes because I know I definitely did. Also feel free to listen to and watch the video above. You might just become a Regina fan :)

Forevermore

You know how you see something that reminds you of a song and you cant wait to get home or get into your car to turn it on and start singing to it? Well this is the song that this cupcake reminds me of. After I decorated this cupcake this song came popping into my head and I just wanted to play this song on repeat (yes, I am a repeat person) :) It fits this cupcake to a T. It's the cupcake that you could see yourself wanting at a tea party with you and your dolls when you were 10 years old.  It's light, airy and sweet.

This cupcakes was extremely simple. I used fondant for the flowers and the vine. I iced the cupcake with fluffy white icing and then began rolling out the fondant. Here's a tip for you, try to roll the fondant out pretty thin, this way you will have some left over for another cupcake and you won't have to mix more. You can choose whichever colors you like for the flowers. I had these colors already made so I used what I already had. Once I rolled out the fondant I took flower shaped fondant cutters (cookie cutters will work too) and pressed out the pieces. I then placed little yellow dots of fondant in the center of each flower and placed them on the cupcake. I rolled out the green fondant and made little swirls for the vines and placed those on the cupcake and that's it! Like I said, simple but sweet. I hope you enjoy this cupcake and this song that reminds me of it. Every cupcakes fits with a song :)

Happy New Year!

Last week my husband and I went back home (to Alabama) to visit friends and family to celebrate New Year's. While I was back home I got to hang out with some friends that I have missed dearly. We had a girls night of talking, laughing and of course decorating cupcakes. After a while of trying to think of what to make, we all decided to make our favorite breakfast foods. Who doesn't love breakfast?!

Clockwise from the top: Lynette's cookie & mouse, Jennifer's eggs & bacon and sausage biscuit & strawberries,  my Poptarts, Kimberlee's doughnut & cereal, Karly's cinnamon roll & waffle w/ butter and finally my flower cupcake in the middle.

All in all we had a great time. It was fun and rewarding getting to help other people create and decorate super fun cupcakes. My friends did an amazing job and in the end the only things I really contributed were the decorating supplies. After a great night I'm already looking forward to the next girls night with friends :)