april fool's fun

last year i had a great day of pranks & goodies planned for the kiddos at school, so this year i was anxious not to disappoint! i went old school with the jokes- a water-squirting flower pin and a whoopie cushion. hilariousness ensued.

an april fool's day craft for everyone to make:

and what birthday celebration would be complete without cupcakes? these just happen to look like real food.

vegetable lo mein:

fried rice:

and fortune cookies! 

all made with caramel, cereal, frosting, and lots of candy!

 

 i wish it were my birthday every day!

halloween cupcakes!

i made some halloween cupcakes. 

they're wolves, hooooowling at the moon! {i resisted the urge to set up a photo shoot with three cupcakes and a fake moon a la this shirt}

i used marshmallows for the ears and muzzle, m&m's for the eyes, fruit rollup for the mouth and chocolate sprinkles for fur {instead of piping all the fur on. too much work for a whole batch of cupcakes!}

now of course my biggest problem is what to do with all these cupcakes! i think i'll send them with hubby to share with his officemates this time.

cupcaking

i made some more of martha's cupcakes yesterday. i tried some new things {like candying orange slices} and they turned out great!

i present, orange-vanilla bean cupcakes with candied orange slices and swiss meringue buttercream:

these are some yummy cupcakes, even without the delicious toppings. heavy cream, lots of vanilla, and fresh squeezed orange juice and zest in the batter. i may or may not have had a couple for breaky this morning.

my kitchen smelled good all day from those orange slices.

i just wish i didn't always make the biggest mess possible. i spend as much time cleaning up as baking, and that's no fun at all.

{good thing it always tastes good!}

look who's back...

i think i'm finally back to my not-so-stressed normal self. well, i'm still a bit cranky, but i'm working on that...

anyway, i thought i'd begin the school year by making cupcakes for the staff at work. which  sounds much more generous then it really was. in truth, i was given these wonderful gifts by my summertime kiddos, and they were burning a hole in my pocket. or cooking cupboard. whatever.

{martha stewart cupcakes and silicon cupcake papers}

i used martha's recipe for fresh strawberry buttercream, and piped that on top of lemon cake. so yummy! although, i don't understand why martha has to be so hoity-toity about things. i'm sorry, but not all of us have a stand mixer. i myself am getting by just fine with my little hand-held. of course, it did break while mixing the batter.....but that's not the point!

paper and design love

i wanted to post a couple adorable new items i've gotten recently.

 first is the sukie iron-on book {from my mom} technically i got it for christmas, but she temporarily lost it until a couple weeks ago when she finally gave it to me. 

 a notepad style book with 30 iron-on transfer pages by british design studio sukie.

 

such cute designs! i've got so many projects planned, i'm excited to get started.

i bought myself this stationary set yesterday. because i decided i needed a treat. 
and it has cupcakes and mustachios- how cute is that?! 
plus, i always stock up on {and make} cards and such, but i don't have any plan ol' stationary so i've had my eye out for something irresistible.

designed Blanca Gòmez. you can see her other {very cool} work at her web site Cosas Mínimas 

 i can't wait to send out some of these cuties!

last day of school cupcakes

today was the last day of school. we had so much fun! and one of the things i did with my kids was give out "awards" {you know, stuff like best laugh, mr. nice guy, miss congeniality, ect} so to go along with the little certificates i made up, i gave out these "award ribbon" cupcakes.

{fruit roll-up ribbons and white chocolate and sprinkle letters}

don't they look cool all together?

and if you're wondering how i carry all these cupcakes around, it's in this awesome carrier my mom gave me a few years ago. 3 stack-able tiers that fit inside a carrier with handles. very awesome. {and for me, a must-have}

t

they were a hit! and a lot of fun to think up. definitely not perfect, but then again, i wasn't really going for perfection :)

april fool's day fun

oh friends, i had a wonderful birthday! thank you for all your lovely wishes and comments yesterday :)

so, lets start at the beginning of the day, shall we?

i began my birthday day by scaring all my students with the most realistic fake mouse you've ever seen:

it was awesome!

and then i went home, decorated some cupcakes, and went back to school and had an april fool's day party, with all kinds of themed games {like word searches with no answers, and joker scavenger hunts} and of course prizes {like whoopee cushions, groucho marx glasses, and water-squirting rings for everyone!}

and what party is complete without snacks?

to drink: lemonade {or lemon jello}

it got lots of laughs.

to eat: mashed potatos:

peas, carrots and corn:

and chicken drum sticks!

yummy!

and then, if you can believe it, the day got better.

i came home from said awesome party, and hubby said he was taking me out to the lake for a little cook-out-birthday- picnic.

wonderful.

amazing.

perfect.

so i grab my jacket, a blanket, and my book and hop in the car {telling him what a wonderful idea it is} and then we get there, and all our friends are there, with cake, and all kinds of other goodies.

 it was awesome awesome awesome. and a wonderful birthday, indeed!

and, if i do say so myself, i have the most wonderful husband. {and he's dreamy to boot!}

spa night cupcakes

last weekend my mom gave me this book as an early birthday present.

{i have a thing for cupcakes} 

it's completely adorable {crack it open next time you pass it in the bookstore}

 so, i was inspired to make these for our girls' spa night:

mint lifesavers = cucumbers, m&ms = hair/curlers, green frosting = facemask

i used ziplock bags to pipe the nose and lips

 we had lots of food, did facials, made salt scrub, did our nails, played a hilarious telephone-meets-pictionary game, and rockband. it was a good time.

{the ginger with the ginger cupcake}