Antoine Dodson Cupcakes

I am sure by now you all have heard about Antoine Dodson, the overnight sensation thanks to a crazy interview, a few kids with no jobs and some music...if you have not, you MUST click HERE!

Well, I have a good friend who is a Statistics professor {with a PhD. behind his name} and also has a, well for lack of a better word, ghetto-ness about him! ; ) 

His birthday was today and I thought it would be quite hilarious to mix both statistics with a silly little rap...

And, my first rap cupcakes were born! {Antoine Dodson inspired - Rapping expertise from the hubby!}

The rap goes a little something like this:

he's climbin' in your window  snatchin' your number's up  so hide your pens  hide your calculator  and hide your spreadsheet  cuz Nick's statistic-in'  up in hur!

These are my moist chocolate cupcakes filled with creamy chocolate fudge and topped with vanilla buttercream. All details are done in my homemade marshmallow fondant and I used edible markers for the writing. 

This was such a fun project, I literally laughed through the entire process {yes, all by myself!}  ; )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!

Exciting *NEW* Cupcake

One of my most popular cupcake flavors is Red Velvet. The mixture of buttermilk, cocoa and cream cheese frosting is beyond perfection to so many people!

Red Velvet has one problem amongst recent clients, though...

...it's RED!

There are growing numbers when it comes to baking {and eating} as natural as possible, so adding THAT MUCH food coloring to a product is starting to turn a few off. Not to mention, the color red just doesn't fit in to all weddings!

Well, my dears - I have a solution!

These luscious confections are a super light buttermilk cake {with or without} fresh raspberries baked in and topped with a smooth almond cream cheese frosting & a mini amaretto cookie. 

With this cupcake, you still get an outrageously moist buttermilk cake with everyone's favorite southern cream cheese frosting - only without all the extra dye. White Velvet is the perfect alternative and addition to any cupcake tower!

Bowling 5th Birthday

Today, a handsome little guy turned the big 5!

He, as well as friends and family, celebrated with a few games of bowling!

This is what I created for Mr. 5!

His favorite color is yellow, so that along with blowing balls and pins were my inspiration!

This is a Mexican Hot Chocolate cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache filling and Vanilla buttercream. Marshmallow fondant balls and stars decorated the tiers. The bowling ball topper and pins were sugar cookies and marshmallow fondant.

As apart of the adorable favors boxes were my bowling ball cake pops. They were also Mexican

Hot Chocolate dipped in yellow White Chocolate. I used large black candy sprinkles to make the "finger holes."

I loved how this turned out!! It was the first time I had ever done "floating" decorations, so I was super excited and proud of how it all came together!

It's a Princess Party!

A very sweet, super cute little princess turned 5 today!

And, of course celebrated in style!

I was lucky enough to be apart it - providing cake, cupcakes and cookie pops.

The Topper Cake

A fresh banana cake filled with vanilla cream cheese and iced in powder pink buttercream. A

marshmallow fondant crown adorns the outside of it. The topper is Miss Princess' vintage tea

cup with a fresh banana cupcake sitting inside.

Cupcakes In Vintage Tea Cups

The birthday girl was not the only one who had her own tea cup...in fact, each guest received one with their very own cupcake inside. {The vintage tea cups were part of the favors - too cute!}

Princess Wands

These little confections are sugar cookie pops with marshmallow fondant decoration and pearl

dust for shimmer. {Also apart of the favors!}

I had a blast putting these princess treats together! A perfect way to start the weekend, for sure!

February's Book Club Meeting

I purely enjoy wrapping up in a warm blanket and diving into a good book. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time between PB&J's, play dates and bath times to do any of that lately...so, I

thought maybe with a little motivation I could get back into the practice of making time for

something I like so much.

And, Sweet Reads was born!

Yup, I started a book club! :) But, we're no ordinary book club...you see, I am not what you would call an "intellectual." hehe - I get into contemporary {fun} reads. And, by no means will it be anything like Oprah's! In fact, if it's on her list, it's not a book for us. ; )

{I can hear the gasps!}

Really, though, it's about us girls getting together once a month and enjoying each other's

company...with a little healthy discussion about each book's topics here and there - and maybe a cupcake, too. It's all just for fun!

Well, tonight was the first meeting and I'd have to say it went very well! As members arrived,

they were greeted with the Suggestion Box. This is our anonymous recommendation/voting system. {Just in case a not-so-interesting book is suggested and then voted in, no one will know who did what!} Members simply fill a little piece of pretty paper out with the book they wish to read and it's author. The vote takes place a little later on in the night.

Then, they made their way in to the yummy dessert/coffee table! I came up a way to make the BIG REVEAL of each month's book super fun! I will decorate whichever goodies adorn the table with hints to the book's title. The first person to guess it correctly wins a small $5 gift!

PLEASE DO NOT HOLD THESE CAKE POPS AGAINST ME!

Ugh!

They are quite possibly the ugliest confection I have ever created!

{The white things are suppose to be wings.}

I struggled with posting them on here...

Whatever you do, do not tell Miss Bakerella!

; )

Sooooo, they are suppose to be Bees...yeah, I know! Looks nothing like the tiny creatures!

BUT, they tasted good! So, I guess that's all that matters, right!?

I also made Chocolate Mint cookies with words like, "Shhh" "Hush" & "Cross My Heart"

Can you guess this month's title?

The Secret Life Of Bees

The winner tonight was Christy! Yay!!

The very last thing we did was vote for our next read. The members voted on Bitter Is The New Black by Jen Lancaster and The Commoner by John Burnham.

We had a great first meeting! I'm already looking forward to March and finding out which book was voted next!

VDay Gift Idea For New Couple

Valentine's Day

Is ALMOST Here!

Are you ready, yet?

My sister came into town for the night so I could help her put together a fun {and not too serious} gift for her valentine this year.

They have been friends for a few weeks now and while they were having dinner the

other night, he asked her to be his valentine.

Everyone with me now: Awww!

Since they are not officially dating {and by that I mean it's not FACEBOOK OFFICIAL}, she didn't want to go over board with a mushy-esque gift. She's more of a bud and burger kind of gal, anyway! I ALWAYS say go with food if you're unsure of the perfect gift!

And that's exactly what we did...

His favorite food is tacos, so we definitely needed to include that in his gift - there's a box of taco shells behind the jerky - and whats more manly than beef jerky!? The Altoids and gum are for kisses, of course!

Supposedly, her valentine sweats a lot {?not stinky sweat, she assures me...?} so she wanted to buy him deorderant sorta as a gag gift...see what we wrote? Too funny! Thank goodness he's a good sport!

These tags are all scrapbook paper I had on hand that I simply hot glued conversation hearts to and wrote letters on with a sharpie. We also decided to tie each gift with twine...that's more manly than a gift bag, right!? ;)

She was so excited when we were finished...she wants to give them to him early!

Here's to a fabulous Valentine's Day!

DIY Artwork

I am not an artist.

In fact, fairly far from one!

But, I saw this on The Nester and thought,

"Heck, I can do that!"

Plus, I needed something for my mantel...something with texture...something that would pop without the use of color...but, mostly something cheap! So, with a glue gun in one hand and spray paint in the other, I created a little artwork. It's not beautiful, by any means, but it's super cool!

This.was.so.easy.

The hardest part was waiting for the paint to dry!

I took a small canvas I had on hand and painted it with Elmer's glue. While it was drying, I took a fork and scraped from top to bottom to mess up the smoothness of {what would soon be} the background. When that completely dried, I made the large lines with a little hot glue, not really worrying about making them perfect. Then, I sprayed it ivory!

I think it's adorable and fun...just love how different it is! Not to mention, this project cost ZERO moolah because I already had everything in my craft closet! Whoo Hoo!

How awesome would this be done on a huge canvas for an empty wall!?!

Parties I Linked To:

Someday Crafts

Shortbread

I am on this simple kick.

Vanilla is my new favorite!

Pure ingredients with subtle flavor.

Shortbread is one of those cookies that just never gets old...and has an array of variations.

Today I made traditional Shortbread as well as a kicked up version with Earl Gray Tea.

I.heart.tea.

Iced and sweet or hot with cream...but I am in no way as much of a tea enthusiast as my sister-in-law. She has been on this super strict cleanse for the past 21 days. The poor thing has been eating rice cakes (as in the plain, unsweetened kind) with almond butter and sliced bananas on

top for dessert. Wow, right!

Well, I wanted to make her a treat so she could indulge a little on her final day of the diet.

Here is my recipe: Earl Gray Shortbread

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp earl gray tea leaves

1/2 cup powder sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor, blend flour and tea. {I removed tea leaves from bags, but loose tea works just as well!} Add sugar, salt and vanilla - blend. Add butter and mix until the dough just comes together. Roll into a log and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Cut into 1/3 inch discs and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Makes a baker's dozen. {13 cookies}

These are so good - super sweet and buttery with a slight earl gray favor that doesn't over power. Not to mention, they're gorgeous with little tea specks running throughout the cookie!

Variation Ideas:

• Green Tea with Orange Zest
• Replace Tea altogether with Nuts: Crushed Almonds, Pecans or Pine Nuts
• Omit Tea and sprinkle tops of cookies with Granulated Sugar before baking and dip cooled cookies in Melted Dark Chocolate
• Roll out and cut into heart shapes for your Valentine!

Happy Baking!