Pink Party!

My second set of parents (my in laws) came to visit this weekend and we had a wonderful time, as always! My sweet mama-in-law helped me decorate cupcakes and put together our new composter while Brian and his dad watched sports and did all that guy stuff. We had a little birthday celebration for his dad yesterday...a scenic horse farm ride out to Windy Corner, a charming restaurant that literally sits on a very blustery corner. Then we had pink strawberry cupcakes and played Scrabble...simple pleasures are the best!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Now time to snap back to reality and get to work...

Cupcakes and bunnies du jour :)

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am right now. I battled severe back pain for about 12 days and yesterday, I was finally pain free and functioning normally. So, first I cleaned the house and then made some cupcakes :)! I also went cat trapping to try to finish TNRing a nearby colony but had no luck...won't even go into the wild goose chase debacle that occurred :(. And today, I am thrilled to be back at the art table. Thank goodness!

Here are the cupcakes of the day...chocolate mint!



and two custom rabbits completed and ready to go to their new home.

It's all about cake lately...

Cake toppers, cake decorating, cupcake baking.....my life seems to be all about C-A-K-E!! After cats, it is my favorite thing :). I started my second session of cake decorating at Hobby Lobby last week. It is the "Flowers and Cake Design" class. So far we have dabbled in making fondant and royal icing flowers. In addition, I am starting to make cupcakes weekly from my new vegan cupcake book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. My husband, his professor colleagues, my cat lady friends, my art buddy and her daughter are all my taste testers. So far, so good...getting stellar reviews! And I just finished up another cake topper. One of my Cheshire Cat on the Mad Hatter's hat pieces for an Alice themed baby shower.

Here is a little peek at everything "cake"!



S'mores cupcakes in leopard print holders...



Chocolate with peanut butter icing....



Final cake from first decorating class...

Learning some sweet new skills....

I have been taking the Wilton Basics Cake Decorating class at Hobby Lobby this month. Ever since I got hooked on the Cake Boss show, I have been dying to learn how to decorate cakes!! I have always loved to bake, so I figured it was time to acquire the skills to make my treats look colorful and whimsical.

Last night, we finally got to the fun stuff...experimenting with different types of icing flowers. Next month, I will be taking the fondant and gum paste class which should be even more exciting. I am really anxious to start sculpting SnipPet-y critters with sugar!

Here are my "shaggy mum" cupcakes...

Storybooks and Sweets Baby Shower

I hosted a very special baby shower for a dear friend of mine. She is having a little girl who will be named Olivia Anna-Lucille. I decided upon a "Storybooks and Sweets" theme since I collect children's books....built in decorations :)! And I wanted to fill the house with all sorts of colorful candy in glass jars and fun homemade cupcakes. Needless to say, I had a blast preparing for the party. I love creating a wonderland feeling in my house. The day turned out perfectly delightful...a big turnout and perfectly gorgeous weather too!

The invitation and miniature vintage children's books wrapped and inserted in the envelopes....


Bunnies, cupcakes and candy galore....



Olivia the pig with red velvet cupcakes and her favorite candy...



Splat the Cat and The Wizard of Oz...



Puss in Boots and his Swedish Fish...



Alice in Wonderland...



ABCs and 123s...