An All-Inclusive Celebration

Although the weather has been unusually beautiful for this time of year on the good 'ol prairies there is just something about Spring Break that has me longing for a hot, all-inclusive getaway. I actually long for a hot, all-inclusive vacation approximately 295 days of the year, but who's counting?! Regardless, here I am, stuck in landlocked Winnipeg this week, catching up on some reading and getting the oil changed in my car... jealous? Ha!

All of this all-inclusive business makes me think about indulgence and that makes me think about the triple threat... cakes, cupcakes and cookies. Annnndddd.... a couple of weekends ago I made all 3 goodies for a double-y delicious 1st birthday celebration. An obvious, yet clever, segway if I do say so myself! See how it all comes together in my head ;)

The story of this 1st birthday celebration is a pretty cool one. My friend Kelly had her son, Makai, a year ago. Her sister was pregnant at the same time with her son, Kian. The two boys were born just days apart and so the joint birthday party madness began!

Kelly contacted me about making cupcakes, 2 cakes (one for each birthday boy) and favour cookies for the party. They had chosen a space theme and requested star cupcakes, rocketship cakes and #1 cookies. And so the all-inclusive {Sweets 'n Sprinkles style} birthday party madness began!

The cupcakes and cookies....

...and my absolute favourite cookies that I've ever made EVER!!!

Warning - I took a lot of pictures of these cookies! They were so cute and I was excited!!

Please bear with me :)

I never miss an opportunity to put a monogram {or 2} on anything!

All packed up and ready to go! How cute is this?!

A table full of cookies at the door for party goers to grab on their way out!

I am such a huge fan of the cookie party favour! Who doesn't like to get a delicious sugar cookie to take home {or eat in the car on the way home.... or maybe that's just me}?!

Check out the cupcakes I made for Kelly's baby shower when Makai was just a babe here.

For those of us "lucky" enough to stay in the 'Peg for Spring Break a triple c all-inclusive party might be just the cure for all this vacay-envy going on right now!

Just checked the weather forecast for the week...snow....awesome...

Mila's Baptism Celebration & an alternative to pink!

A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of making cupcakes for Mila's baptism. Mila's mom, Carla, emailed me requesting pretty, NOT pink cupcakes for the occasion! I do a lot of pink for baby girls so this was a nice change and a bit of a challenge at the same time.

We decided on shades of white, cream and ivory for the overall look. Carla was also incorporating lace into the theme of the party so I suggested lace cupcake wrappers. Definitely very classic and elegant... not to mention, very cost effective!

Mila's cupcakes were lemon with buttercream icing and vanilla with mocha icing - delish!! The mocha icing added a nice pop of colour.

Stamp embossed crosses...

...and, of course, {my favourite} stamped monograms with the baby of honour's initial!

What I absolutely l.o.v.e. about this cupcake stand {see here} is that it can

hold a sign! How fun is that!! Admittedly I am much better with fondant

than photoshop but I may have a new cupcake stand sign obsession!!

Everyone Loves a Monogram Cookie

I love a monogram cookie. Really, I love a monogram anything, period.

I especially love a monogram cookie with a fun letter! It's probably the teacher in me but some letters are more exciting than others. Take, for example, "L". Circa - Sex and the City I decided I wanted a Carrie-esque necklace with a pretty L on it... you know, the loopy, curly, handwritten kind of L. The problem with L though is that there are necklaces out there with the boring, right angle, uppercase printing kind of L. Not nearly as fun. So maybe it is actually the font that makes a letter interesting - either way a cookie with a monogram is always a good idea!

Waaayyy back in the Fall my cousin, Heather, and her husband, Ryan, welcomed their second bundle of joy, sweet little Margeaux, to their clan. I finally got the chance to meet baby M over the winter break and, of course, had to take some goodies with me! M is definitely a "fun" letter... couldn't resist a little zebra print either!

Not to be left out of any cookie situation big brother Hudson also got his very own polka-dotted H's!

Both brother and baby are adorable! It was great to see the family and I can't wait for summer so we have an excuse to go for ice cream... ha!

Piping letters is actually a lot easier than you would think. For tips and tricks click {HERE}. Bridget does a really great job of pointing you in the right direction!

fondant stamping 101

I created these cupcakes for Aimee for an engagement party a couple months back. I can't believe that I am only getting these pictures up now! I suppose there is something to be said for being so busy that the blog gets neglected!! Haha!! Regardless, here they are now...better late than never!

I made the decorations by stamping the couples initials onto fondant hearts with food colouring. It was a bit tricky to find the right amount of food colouring to get the look I was after. But, after a few tries, some failed attempts and a bit of a learning curve I think they turned out really nice. The cupcakes themselves were lemon and strawberry with buttercream icing - delicious!

I hope you enjoyed them Aimee!

something old, something new...

Sooooo...this much I know is true...I am a HORRIBLE blogger :S Ugghhhhh!!!! Seems like the cupcake life gets away from me sometimes and before I know it I am 3 or 4 (or more) blog entries behind. I suppose that it a sign of booming business so I shouldn't complain! Haha! I am weeks away from the last year of my twenty-somethings so I figured I should make a birthday resolution this year...to keep up with the blogging!!! As for right now I will get caught up :)

First out of the gates are some absolutely adorable bridal shower cupcakes for my friend Jennifer Webber over at Wink Wedding and Event Planning. Jen ordered these cupcakes for her friend Vanessa's celebration. I LOVE monogrammed cupcakes for a personalized touch. The hearts were pretty cute too!

Hope you enjoyed the cupcakes! Congrats Vanessa!!

hannah banana

These very special cupcakes were made with my (not so little anymore!) Hannah for her ballet recital. She wanted to help make the cupcakes for her instructors and ballet class so we had a blast putting them together after school last week. She was a HUGE help!! The cupcakes were vanilla with vanilla buttercream icing. The fondant decorations included pink ballet shoes, tutus, music notes and flowers.

THANK YOU HANNAH!!! You can help Auntie Lori anytime!!

frogs and snails and puppy dogs' tails

What are little boys made of? Chocolate buttercream of course!! These adorable baby shower cupcakes were made for my friend Diana for her friend's baby shower. They were vanilla and chocolate with super yummy chocolate buttercream icing :) I have to say that I LOVE the baby blue and pale yellow, green and white against the dark icing...so pretty! It is a little hard to see in the pictures but the monogrammed cupcakes spell out "Welcome Riley".

Welcome to the world little Riley!! Just wait until you try your very first cupcake!!

baby blues

So I have to admit that I have not been a very good blogger this month :( Life has been crazy and the cupcake business has really taken off! All of which makes me very happy but just means that I have to learn how to manage blogging better.... or not leave it so long!! Haha! I apologize for not being on top of things... so today I begin the ambitious task of posting all my April confections. Bare with me...there are some goodies :)

Let's start today's blog madness with a very exciting event! The birth of baby Makai to our friends, Kelly and DJ. Gerardo plays pool every week with Kelly so we have been watching this little guy grow for quite some time! It was VERY exciting when he arrived 2 WEEKS past Kelly's due date!!! Well worth the wait... he is beautiful :) Congrats Kelly and DJ and welcome to the world little Makai!!

For Kelly's baby shower I made both vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing and fondant decorations.

I also made mini cupcakes for the ocassion... also vanilla and chocolate with chocolate buttercream icing and fondant decorations - tiny stars monogrammed with a "M" for baby Makai :)

wedded bliss

I was recently contacted by Dorota, a friend of mine from University, who needed cupcakes for a bridal shower. Her friend, Chelsea, is getting married this summer to Chris and the theme of their wedding is C-squared... SO cute! Their wedding colours are chocolate brown and Birks' blue...beautiful! We decided that brown and blue monogram wafers on top of chocolate buttercream icing would look great and taste absolutely decadent. I think they turned out amazing! I am a huge fan of monogrammed cupcakes...they look really sharp and I love the way they look stacked on a cupcake stand :)






Dorota also asked me to make bride sugar cookies as take-home gifts for the bridal shower guests. The cookies were decorated with a blue flower and brown ribbon to match the wedding colours. This was my first attempt at fancy sugar cookies and I was really very excited with how they turned out. What a great idea for a bridal shower, baby shower, birthday party or any event where a small token of appreciation for your guests is needed. Who doesn't love a delicious sugar cookie?!?!





The cookies were packaged in clear bags and finished with brown, stamped "thank you" tags and a Birks' blue ribbon...