Cupcakes for The Cupcake - 2nd Birthday

 

The Cupcake turned two in January, and we celebrated with a small gathering at a local ice cream shop. It was a smashing success - though TC wouldn't be tied down in her high chair or pose for any non-blurry photos (2 year olds, sheesh), because she was much too busy mingling.

I chose a very small location (max occupancy 12) and just a few projects to keep the party personal but manageable. Elmo HAD to be the theme, as TC is nuts over him, and I didn't mind the bright fun color scheme the little monster brings. One of the projects I decided to do early on was Elmo cupcakes:

 

They turned out great, and were so easy! Chocolate mini cupcakes were baked from a mix. Red frosting was made from 2 cans of white store brand frosting and a whole bottle of Wilton no-taste red. Yeah, that's a lot, and will probably stain clothes, but I didn't want pink Elmos so I kept adding more and more, and in the end it turned out GREAT (this would totally stain clothes I'm guessing, and will make mouths red - but it's a b-day party, and a toddler - we knew stains would happen).

 

 

Here's the process - I used a mix to make mini cupcakes in foil liners. Then I piped stars as a base (or "fur" for my little monsters), added candy eyes by Wilton that are available at a lot of grocery and Target stores now, an orange jelly bean nose, and a chocolate piped smile. I didn't try to hard to make anything perfect (monsters are messy) and I cranked them out really quickly.

Vampires, Voodoo, Mardi Gras - Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

People have been asking, and I've been stalling, but it's getting to be that time when I've got to be starting Halloween party projects, so I've finally decided to announce the 2010 theme:



Romp In The Swamp 2010

I'm very excited to head down to the Bayou for this New Orleans themed event and have been kicking it around for a while. NOLA is the occult capital of the US with its rich connection to vampires (Anne Rice, True Blood) and voodoo (Marie Laveau, among many others) ; the overall creepiness of swamps, alligators, and other backwoods inhabitants; and of course the costumed spectacular that is Mardi Gras.

There are just so many possibilities for decorations and props, themed food and drink, a lot of different directions to go with costumes, and of course I have a few tricks up my sleeve already :)

Hope you love it, and if you don't - too bad!
It's my party and I'll...not invite you then :-P

"Sweet" Holiday Decorations

I did a bad thing. I meet friends monthly for dinner at our favorite Chinese food restaurant, which is next door to a cute little pharmacy. Sometime before Xmas I was early for our meeting, and stopped in there to grab a birthday gift for another friend. While checking out, I spotted the most adorable tree full of Dept. 56 and OneHundred80Degrees ornaments - all in the theme of candies, cakes, and other sweets!
I fell in love.
But I resisted.

...

Until after Christmas. When I was again early to our meeting. And thought I'd "just take a look." I was sure they'd be gone, and actually didn't see them at first, but when I did...at 50% off...well, you can guess what happened:



I bought them all. Well, nearly. I couldn't help it. They're just too cute for words. These little lolipops are my favorite:



Then there's the blown glass soda fountain drinks:



Goodie goodie gumdrops!



Brownie bites and petit fours:



Several colors of clay candy canes - with just a dash of glitter:



Everything is so adorable, I can't wait to have a tree with just "sweets" next year! I think I'll do the mid size one that was all red & silver this year, and stands on my whimsical Dept. 56 table. I'm dying for this garland to tie it all together:



I'm really excited about it. I spent a couple hours last weekend carefully wrapping up each one and packing it away. I've always had a Candyland or Willy Wonka themed Halloween party on my list - and I about died when I saw THIS PARTY on Bakerella's blog.

I'm dying again just looking at it. Can you imagine the fabulousness?

The play bakery with the dozens of felt cupcakes are just mind blowing.

Of course, my dog would eat them, just as happily as real cupcakes.

But I'm still in love.

Painting the Roses Red...

These are "red velvet roses" and they caught my eye one day when I was in a very "Alice" mood - don't they look just like some industrious card has been painting white roses red?

Were I a rich woman, I'd have these all over my Halloween party - but alas, that probably won't be the case.

Riddle me this...

I start thinking about Halloween pretty early. Sometimes before the current year's festivities are over, I have a million "must do" items for the next year all lined up. This year, since Halloween is actually on a Saturday, meaning our annual party will be on actual Halloween, I sent out some preliminary facebook "save the dates" already in the spring :) Hey, it never hurts to get the word out early, right? I'm not demanding RSVP's or anything, I'd just like to spread the word that the shindig will be happening, so as other offers come up, weigh them carefully :)

Right now I'm torn on a theme. I wasn't rushing it, but I have enjoyed coming up with ideas. I've been kicking some stuff around, but then this past weekend a couple friends pressed me for details - apparently people LIKE having the guidelines of a theme to help develop costume ideas. I can see that - though we don't REQUIRE you dress in correlation to the theme, we "encourage" it (though I'm just happy if you put in ANY effort - COSTUMES ARE REQUIRED!!! This year, no costume = NO ENTRANCE! THIS MEANS YOU, HUBBY's FRIENDS! Not that I'm bitter...)

So anyways, part of my dillemma is this: This year (NYE to be exact) I turn 30. That seems like reason for a party. However, after the Halloween party and Christmas expenses, I'm usually feeling pretty broke and tired out. We never end up doing anything awesome for NYE, despite a few attempts. Last year was okay - despite pressure to host a party, I decided I wanted to be a GUEST at something, so hubs and I got a deluxe room on Lake Superior and went to a multi course wine paring dinner. The food was excellent, and he enjoyed the wine (why don't I like wine?!?! I keep thinking I should, but I never do.), but it was still a little anti-climactic. So do I bite the bullet (and the bill) and have a NYE B-day?

Another ripple - the NEXT year, 2010 is then my GOLDEN birthday...is that bigger than a 30th birthday? Hmmm, I'm not sure. If I have a 30th, am I committing to a golden? Can I afford any of them? Will I even want to?

This weighs into Halloween theme as well, because I've always wanted to have a certain theme party, but I can't decide whether to do it for Halloween or a birthday. It could work for either, but I definitely want to have it at some point...