Carousel Cupcakes

What better cupcake to serve at a circus party than a carousel cupcake.

There are so many baking blogs I follow that will be incredibly disappointed to learn my cupcakes were made from a box.

There, I've said it.

I've never claimed to be a baker.  Believe me, I am sure my guests were happy I didn't attempt to make these from scratch :)

Here is how you can make these 'semi-homemade' carousel cupcakes.

Supplies needed:
Animal Crackers {perhaps you don't need the industrial sized tub of animal crackers}
Cupcakes {feel free to show me up and make your cupcakes from scratch}
Icing
Cocktail umbrellas

To decorate:
Ice the cupcakes.  Arrange 3 animal crackers upright around the perimeter of the cupcake. Add a cocktail umbrella to the middle.

Isn't everything better with a cocktail umbrella? 

Be warned:  If you make the mistake of inviting some rambunctious neighbor boys over, to enjoy a carousel cupcake, make sure they don't use the cocktail umbrellas as weapons :)

*You may also enjoy, Mental Party Pictures from a Circus Party.

Cupcakes and Paint Chips

Grace and I made some cupcakes for a friend's birthday. Don't be too impressed, the credit mostly goes to Duncan Hines, lets not forget, I am not much of a baker. The only problem we had was we found ourselves with cupcakes to spare...tempting.

Now, I am more of a salty snack kind of a girl BUT if there are sweets in the house, I feel personally responsible for eating them and as quickly as possible.

I decided to remove the temptation and deliver cupcakes to some neighbors. So, I grabbed some paint chips {which I have quite a collection of} to write out a quick note to go along with the cupcakes.

I liked the orange, it felt festive BUT wish I could have used a paint chip with a cute name like 'pumpkin patch'. Looks like I already used that one for Grace's painter palette birthday invitations.

With the note written, a few gourds for good measure and the cupcakes wrapped up, the only thing left to do was deliver them.

Temptation thwarted...ok, maybe not completely, I did save a few for myself, I mean for Grace.