{Tutorial} Turkey Cupcakes as featured in TPD Magazine

With Thanksgiving only a few short days away, it’s time to plan out those fun little treats for the little ones that will make it a memorable holiday.  These adorable turkey cupcakes were featured in the holiday issue of The Party Dress Magazine and they are delightfully simple to make!  In fact, they would be a fun activity to make with the little party guests.  

DIY Turkey Cupcakes 

12 cupcakes

2 cups chocolate Frosting

¼ cup white frosting

6 large marshmallows (halved crosswise)

Crème-filled rolled wafer cookies

Orange decorating gel

24 mini chocolate morsels

12 orange gummy candies (halved)

12 candy corns

Wax paper

2 resealable sandwich bags

Star decorating tip

Frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

Using a microwave-safe bowl, melt ½ cup chocolate frosting for 10-15 seconds. Stir every 5 seconds until mixture is thin.

Dip uncut side of marshmallow halves into the melted frosting, turning to coat.

Place cut side of marshmallows on the wax paper and let stand until set.

Once set, place coated marshmallow half slightly off-center each frosted cupcake.

To create the turkey beak, place a small drop of melted frosting onto the center of the marshmallow. Place the yellow end of the candy corn onto the drop which will keep the candy in place.

Using the gel, pipe a turkey wattle up and around each beak.

Place white frosting into a sandwich bag. Cut a small piece from one corner. Pipe two small dollops on the marshmallows to create eyes. Place two chocolate morsels on top of the white frosting dollops.

To create turkey feathers, break the wafers in half and insert pieces in a half circle around the marshmallow.

Fit the second sandwich bag with the star tip and add remaining chocolate frosting into the bag. Pipe frosting around the edge of the marshmallow.

To create the turkey feet, press 2 gummy candy halves below the marshmallow for each cupcake.

Don't they make for the cutest addition to the children's table?

{Recipe} Back to School Apple Cupcakes!

I was looking in one of my favorite cupcake books looking for a back to school themed cupcake that I could make for my daughter's class.  She is starting kindergarten in just a few short days.  These Apple of My Eye cupcakes immediately caught my attention and I knew they would be perfect!  They are so simple to make that I had to share the recipe with you.

Recipe excerpt from What's New Cupcake?

Makes 1 basket: 7 apple cupcakes

Whether you want to butter up your teacher, keep the doctor away, or tempt Adam, our apples do the trick. The cupcakes are topped with doughnuts coated in red frosting, rolled in red sugar, and adorned with Tootsie Roll stems and fruit-chew leaves. The tines of a fork make the impression of a bite, which is then coated in white frosting. The seeds are candy-coated sunflower seeds.

Ingredients:

7 vanilla cupcakes baked in red paper liners

7 mini plain or chocolate-covered doughnuts

1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting

4 chocolate chews (Tootsie Rolls)

4 green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher, Tootsie Fruit Rolls)

1 cup red decorating sugar

Red food coloring (use paste food coloring for a darker red)

3 black candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds (Sunny Seed Drops)

Instructions:
1. Cut 1/2 inch from the bottom of each mini doughnut with a serrated knife and discard bottom piece.

2. Spread some vanilla frosting on the cupcakes and place a mini doughnut piece, cut side down, on top of each. Place the cupcakes in the freezer for 10 minutes, until slightly frozen.

3. For the stems, cut the unwrapped chocolate chews in half lengthwise on the diagonal and shape into stems. For the leaves, roll out the green fruit chews 1/8 inch thick, then cut into ten 1 1/2-by-3/4-inch leaf shapes. Make a crease down the center of each leaf with the back of a paring knife and pinch one end of each leaf.

4. Place the red sugar in a medium shallow bowl. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the vanilla frosting into a small ziplock bag, press out the excess air, and seal. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting in the can red with the food coloring.

5. Working on 1 cupcake at a time, spread some of the red frosting on the top and sides of the doughnut and cupcake to fill in the gaps and lightly coat, making the doughnut look like the top of an apple.

6. Roll the frosted cupcake in the red sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

7. To create a bite from the apple, carefully remove a 1 1/2-inch-diameter divot from the top of 1 of the sugar-coated doughnuts, using fork tines or a paring knife. Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting and pipe a thin layer of frosting to cover the exposed area inside the divot. Spread lightly with the back of a small spoon to smooth. For the apple seeds, arrange the sunflower seeds, pointed ends toward the center.

8. Insert the chocolate-chew stems with the green fruit-chew leaves at the top of the apple cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes in a basket.

Authors Karen Tack & Alan Richardson share endless imaginative cup-caking with eye-popping creations anyone can make. All you need are candies from the corner store, cake mix and canned frosting. Gorgeous color photos, Softcover, 230 pages

Order your copy of "What's New Cupcake"  HERE.

{Sneak Peek} Aloha Summer Birthday Party!

We celebrated my sweet Annabelle and Madeleine's Aloha Summer birthday party over the weekend and everything was perfect!  It was everything I had envisioned and so much more!  Everyone had a fantastic time and the girls have been talking about their party ever since!

 I wanted to share a little peek of some party pictures with you to get you excited about all the details coming soon along with some fun tutorials from some of the party decor I made. Stay tuned!

 

 I have to say thank you to all of the wonderful contributors who made the most fabulous products for the girls' party.  There are lots of ladies to thank and I look forward to sharing all of the party details with you soon!

wreath/party printables: anna and blue paperie
tanks: modern frills
backdrop: pottery barn teen
cupcake liners: all in one bakeshop
cocktail umbrellas/plates: party city

{Inspiration} Heartfelt Valentine Sweets

Valentine's Day is just a few short days away.  If you are looking for sweet ideas for desserts, I hope that these heart inspired treats will inspire you. Anyone is sure to love them!

Sweetheart Pops

 via Martha Stewart

Heart Cake

 via I am Baker

Heartfelt Cookies

 via Delish

Heart Rice Crispies

 via Skip to My Lou

Heart Cookie Bouquets

 via Woman's Day

Chocolate Heart Donuts

 via Genius Cook

Hot Cocoa with Heart Marshmallows

 via Martha Stewart

Raspberry Heart Meringues

 via Woman's Day

Red Velvet Heart Macarons

 via Delectable Deliciousness

Sweetheart Cupcakes

 via Better Homes and Gardens

My trip to San Francisco!!!

My husband surprised me with a trip to San Francisco for my birthday! It is one of my favorite places to visit. Each time we go, I seem to fall in love with the city more and more! My first time there was for a few days for a second honeymoon that we took and I always am looking forward to going back to visit. We have been very lucky that with each visit, we have had beautiful weather. We arrived on Friday and and left Monday. We did lots of walking, enjoyed a full day of biking which included riding over the Golden Gate Bridge and riding into Sausalito. With traveling by foot and bike, I was able to stop at many stores that I have been wanting to go to including Paper Source, Union Street Papery and lots of cute cupcake shops! Here are a few pictures from the trip!

I love all of the fresh flower stands. Peonies are my favorite!

Visiting Susie Cakes for some cupcake eye candy. It is no wonder it is one of Martha Stewart's favorite cake shops! They had delicious red velvet cupcake samples to try.

On one side of the store you had the cupcakes and on the other side the cutest stationery.







Kara's Cupcakes had adorable Thanksgiving mini cupcakes greeting you as you entered. They had a great variety of traditional and filled cupcakes to choose from.


I loved Union Street Papery. They had a great selection of paper products including ribbons, papers and gifts!







How cute is this girly themed invite with the sparkly purse!







I could not wait to go to Paper Source. We don't have a store location close to us and I have been anxiously waiting to go to this store. I already loved all of their products from their website but seeing everything in person was like a little kid in a candy store. I could have stayed all day!




Aren't these inspiration boards beautiful??












Paper flowers! Gorgeous!



Our last cupcake stop was to American Cupcake. These cupcakes are amazing!
Some of the cutest cupcakes I have ever seen!



We had an amazing time and I can't wait to go back!