Cupcake Fun

Well, 5 hours and four frosting colors later... the cupcakes were done. (Next time I'm thinking Hy-vee...)

I started by making the cupcake tree that I wanted to put them on. I had found some pre-made ones at the store but I didn't think they were "quite" as cute as I wanted them to be. So I set out to make my own. I started at M!chael's but couldn't find what I wanted. So I moved on to a local little arts and crafts store.

Four cake plates, three styrofoam cake dummies, and 9 yards of ribbon later this is what I ended up with.

Then it was on to the cupcakes. The plan was to bake them all Saturday morning and then to decorate them Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, things often don't go according to plan. Friday night Jake informed me that he had to work on Saturday for at least part of the day so I would have little to no help.

So I started with the easy stuff. I had decided to make at least part of the cupcakes into rattles. (I know, I know... just bake and frost... lesson learned.) So, I started on Saturday morning making the rattle sticks. I thought this would be easy. A little dab of superglue on the end of the stick, pop on a lifes@ver and boyola. I was wrong. (As I so often seem to be.) Superglue does, in fact, bond instantly to everything. Fingers, tables, paper, foil, but not, apparently, to lifesavers. No it just sits there and wiggles about aimlessly.

So I had to prop the lifesaver and stick up and wait for them to dry (about 10 minutes) Then I CAREFULLY had to pick them up and add another layer of superglue to solidify the bond. When that was done I added ribbons. This is what I ended up with....

After nap time (for both of us) it was time to start with the baking. Jake showed up just in time to sit on the couch and nap while I tried to simultaneously bake and watch Zack. Good times. (Oh, did I mention it was our five year wedding anniversary?)

After I got the cupcakes baked, Zack helped me clean up a bit

In fact, he got it so clean I didn't' even have to wash it later. Note to self, when at my house do not use the wooden spatula. (Kidding people... just kidding...)

After cleanup it was on to decorating. I had this grand idea in my head that I would make green, yellow, pink and blue frosting. (Mental note to self, white will suffice next time) In the end, I think they turned out really well, but they were a lot of work and we have a LOT of them left over. (I tell myself it was because they were too pretty to eat.....)