Sometimes it is hard to find a cupcake wrapper that suits your needs.  Here is a template so you can make your own cupcake wrappers, that way they will be exactly what you imagined. Below are the directions but don’t forget one essential, the template!

The biggest winner of last weekend’s Cupcake Camp Seattle was the Hope Heart Institute: 5,000 cupcakes donated by 70 bakers and consumed by nearly 1,000 people raised $5,276.50 for the charity in just three hours. Carrie Middlemis, owner of Cupcakes Couture and one of the organizers of the event, says, “For our first year we estimated maybe we would have about 300 people attending. We were blown away by the response and already planning to make it bigger and better.”

As for the competitive prizes, see below or Bella Cupcakes’ post on the winners. There were three competitive categories, Most Unique Ingredients, Best Seattle, and Healthiest, with a Professional and Amateur division within each category. Last but not least is the youth division’s best cupcake prize. And of course no competitive cupcake event is complete without a cupcake eating contest (you can see the video here).

(most pictures courtesy of Barbie Hull Photography)

PROFESSIONAL DIVISION:
Most Unique Ingredients
1st: NY Cupcakes / Limoncello with Raspberry drizzle.
2nd: Rocket Queens /”War Pig” Chocolate cake, smoky chipotle, bacon; topped with white chocolate buttercream and candied bacon.
Honorable mention: Kimm of Spitfire- Kimm-chi (Korean pickled cabbage) with grated carrot, zucchini and ginger frosting. Sweetened with agave nectar.

I guess first and second prize must’ve tasted really good, because I don’t think that those are particularly unique ingredients, though I admit I may be jaded by the flavor proliferation of the Seattle cupcakery scene .  I still say that if you’re giving prizes for the weirdest stuff you can put in a cupcake and still be edible, kim-chi definitely takes first prize.

Best Seattle:
1st: : Bella Cupcakes / Pacific NW Sustainable Granola NY (left)
2nd: NY Cupcakes /Orca Whales and salmon (middle)
Honorable Mention: Rocket Queen Cupcakes / Unhappy Hipster – my favorite! (right)

Healthiest:
1st: Immortal Bakery / Banana with Honey and Cinnamon
2nd: Kimm of Spitfire / Vegan delight Banana-Orama (not pictured)

AMATEUR DIVISION
Most Unique Ingredient
1st: Tina Campbell / Strawberry Pop Rock (right)
2nd: Ronnie Porter and Nicole Lucas / The TCB Velvet Elvis (not pictured)
A banana, chocolate chip cupcake with peanut butter frosting and a slice of bacon on top. A treat the King would have surely loved.
Honorable Mention: Anisha Hathiramani, Rootbeer Float (right)

Best Seattle:
1st: Ani and Amber Butler / Uptight Seattleite (left)
2nd: Melynda O’Brien Captivating Creations/ Ferry, Orca, Seattle scene (middle)
Honorable Mention: Vicki Bushnell / Destination Seattle (right)

Healthiest:

1st: Teigan Walker / Red Goat- Chocolate beet cake with goats cheese frosting and candied beet. (left)

2nd: Jana Bailey-Bailey-Hessler (The Cake Diva) / Vegan Chocolate Mocha (right)

Personally, I think that the Red Goat should’ve gotten an special prize for unique ingredient too – I can’t say that I’ve ever seen goat cheese and beets in a cupcake before.

YOUTH
Best Tasting/Design Kids
1st Choice: ? Unknown, Space Needle with Whale; (left)
2nd Choice Tie between Jazzmyn (middle) & Tycie Engberg (right)

I was particularly impressed by the youth category…kids in grade school did better cupcake decorating than I ever could. I salute the next generation of cupcake makers!

art by Cakespy (who else?!)

In my time writing with ATC, I’ve seen a lot of things cupcake: clothing, tattoos, furniture, events, drawings, and of course the genuine article in many shapes and sizes. What I have not yet seen is a cupcake-themed art gallery.  Until now.

The beloved Emerald City-based and cupcake-themed artist Cakespy just bought her own art gallery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. As of April 1st, Cakespy, a.k.a. Jessie Oleson, and her husband became owners of Bluebottle Art Gallery. They will keep the gallery open as they transition and will have a grand-opening/re-opening party on May 8th when Bluebottle officially merges with Cakespy Shop.  As you might expect, the event will feature cupcakes as art and in their edible form.

Free Printable Easter Cupcake Toppers from Skip to my Lou.

This weekend, why not get crafty and make these DIY Cupcake Stands from Once Wed.  The necessary items and instructions are listed on the website.  The project is affordable at an estimated cost of $18 for 2 stands.  This is the perfect way to put your own personal touch on your cupcake display.  If you attempt this project be sure to share the finished product displaying your favorite cupcakes with us!

Kitschy Digital has a few cute cupcake items on their website; including an Printable PDF Embroidery Pattern.  The pattern is $4.00 and includes sample ideas.  There’s also a cupcake cut-out sheet of stickers for $1.25.

Cupcake Printable embroidery Pattern

Cupcake Cut-Out Sheet

I stand amazed. These cupcakes are little cartoon-y works of art. Works of art that get special points for the cool Futurama reference and the fact that they are delicious (at least, that’s what their creator Alicia Policia claims, and far be it from me to gainsay the words of such an artiste).

Ingredients used: homemade vanilla cupcake base (made from scratch), buttercream icing brains with a touch of grenadine, and gum paste slugs with royal icing eyes and flower stamen attenae. Neat!

I love decorating my house for all the holidays. It is a special bonus if I can find holiday items that are cupcakes too!  I went window shopping on Etsy this morning and found some cute Valentine’s cupcake creations that are very tempting.

Cupcake Dish Towel $7

Read the rest of this entry »

At my place of employment, we have a two little machines known as MakerBot Cupcake CNCs (I think the name comes from how the inventor of the Cupcake CNC originally wanted to make a frosting extruder).  These adorably named bots can print small 3D shapes out of plastic.  It didn’t take much time for the crafter-types who use a machine like this to put together a program (or two) that lets the Cupcake CNC print out cupcakes.  Out of plastic, mind you, but still cute little cupcakes.

Just recently, I heard about 3D bioprinters that can print basic organic tissue, technology that can hopefully someday be used to print full organs.  I also know that the folks at MakerBot Industries have been tirelessly working to create a fully functional frostruder, and may have in fact succeeded. What’s next in the world of 3D printing?  Carbo-printers? Printcakes? A girl can dream…

Back in December I posted a craft idea by Real Simple for using cupcake liners as light embellishments, now Martha Stewart has another creative  craft:  Hanging Bubbly Ball Decorations.  Martha suggests using these festive balls as decorations for New Year’s Eve however they could easily be used for any special occasion.  While Martha stuck to a white and silver color scheme, cupcake liners, as any cupcake fan knows, come in almost every color and pattern.  The best part is these do-it-yourself decorations seem easy and inexpensive.

December 15th is officially National Cupcake Day.  Yes, there are other cupcake days, but they are centered around certain flavors:

National Chocolate Cupcake Day on Oct 18
National Vanilla Cupcake Day on Nov 10

In this spirit, I also want to share my favorite  Monkey Face Cupcakes.  I’ve had a blast making these with my kids, and they had a great time eating and playing with the fondant as if it was Playdoh.

Any cupcake cake or icing would be fine as the fun part really lies within making the monkey faces toppers; hoever,  if I were making this to impress, I would match it with this Banana Bread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

For the topper itself, Aine explains the process:

Another option would be to not make an entire head, but just the face.  The face can then be applied on top of the cupcake and icing similar to these cupcake below from prettysweet boutique.

I have an obsession with making cupcakes out of Perler Beads and I have a TON of them!
They are all really cute and I think they would be great additions to your page!

Love,
Kathryn
Age 16
from: Salisbury, NC

Thanks for sending us your artwork Kathryn! I think if you set these Perler Bead cupcakes inside a picture frame with pastel backgrounds, they would serve as fantastic decoration pieces for any room of the house.

As a fun idea for new uses for old things, Real Simple Magazine suggests using foil cupcake liners as light embellishments.  Now is the perfect time to make them since the minilights are easy to find for holiday decorations.  The instructions are as follows:

For a string of minilights that takes the (cup)cake, poke the pointy bulbs through foil cupcake liners. Use them for the tree or around your little girl’s bedroom mirror to make her feel like a holiday star.

Forever MK Cupcakes recently launched their “Create a Cupcake” factory.

Custom design your own cupcake trinket box and include a pink necklace with cupcake charm, and a certificate for less than $20.

All  cupcakes come in a FMK signature Cupcake Box.  This is a great gift for that cute little pixie of a girl in your life.

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Forever MK Cupcakes
Kristina, Maile & Kaitlin
http://forevermkcupcakes.com/

 This month’s Crafts ‘n Things magazine is filled with cupcakes!  Well, not edible ones but over 20 cupcake crafts that you can make.  The magazine is celebrating 35 years of crafting with this sweet issue.  Cupcake cards, boxes, ornaments, magnets, quilts and much more.   They also included a few cupcake recipes that look quite yummy.    

Visit stayhomecupake’s Etsy shop.

I went to Joanne’s Fabric and Crafts Store last week and was so pleased to find these two new adorable cupcake fabrics.  Look for a 50% off coupon in the Sunday paper and get it for $3.50/yard.  

I bought a couple of yards but haven’t decided what I will make it into yet.  Maybe a pillowcase for me or a skirt for my daughter?  Click on the comment area below and tell me what you would do!

Visit stayhomecupcake’sEtsy shop.

Koko Candles asks you to take a moment and indulge… a cupcake candle!

Chocolate brownie cake (sinfully rich chocolate scented) with fluffy pink frosting (vanilla scented) drizzled in chocolate (wax) syrup, sprinkled with white & red (real) sprinkles and topped off with a jumbo juicy red cherry! what a mouthful!

At approximately 3″ diameter x 3″ height (excluding stem), this cupcake candle burns for up to 25 hours.

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Ditsy Daisies features cupcake soaps from Cupcakes and Cartwheels.  Each set comes with 3 flavors: vanilla, lemon, and strawberry.  Each soap is around 2.5″ X 2.5″ and individually wrapped for safe transit.

At the end cupcakes costumes are overwhelmingly sweet.

Just wanted to share pictures of my daughter’s cupcake costume (instructions from the Food Network). Thought you would get a kick out of it.  I thought it was the most original costume I saw all night…maybe I’m a little biased! ;-)

— Liz

Hello! My daughter was thrilled with her cupcake costume this year, and to have Mommy as her baker!:)

The costume was custom made by Brittany sweetplume.etsy.com
The Pink Sprinkles Cupcakes Earrings were custom by SaintsNSinners.etsy.com
Cupcake Tote(for trick or treating): lmgboutique.etsy.com
My Cupcake Party Hat: tiffytart.etsy.com

Enjoy!:)

First I bought yardage of felt online in light pink and brown, I laid out some guesstimations as to how wide I wanted the diameter of the ‘icing’ to drape outward and the skirt length/volume of the ‘ripples’ for the cup. The rest thereafter was just taking things in to fit perfectly. Also, to add more cupcake volume/goodness, I added a second and third layer of ‘icing’ that would tie on across the bust and back. Felt is a very forgiving fabric and was so fun to work with! I topped off the ‘icing’ with an array of complimentary colored jimmies to complete the ensemble! And lastly, I created a fabulous headband with a giant, bead-adorned strawberry; whipped cream frills and a white ribbon burst for a touch of girly-charm.

– Jocelynn

Some cupcakes do scare me: super dry cake with face crushingly sweet frosting. These dear readers find their own scary cupcakes.  One in a Tim Burton inspired creation, the second as the victim to those seeking her sweetness!

I am an avid follower of the website and I have a huge cupcake obsession that is constantly fueled by the amazing cupcakey goodness I find there! I live in the UK and cupcakes are not as celebrated here as I think they should be. So, with this in mind, I decided to make a personal homage to the cupcake with a Tim Burton-esque cupcake costume for Halloween! It is entirely handmade, from the purple glittery cherry on my head to the handmade bows on my shoes! This is my first attempt at a handmade costume and I was so proud of my efforts that I wanted to share them with All Things Cupcake and fellow cupcake fans.

I hope you like it!

Rebecca Fishwick

So, not only do I have a cupcake tattoo (that you’ve featured) I went all out on a big cupcake costume for halloween.  At each bar I went to, the doormen were sending people to find me because they thought my costume was just so incredible.  Embarrassing and flattering, especially when I was wearing a laundry basket as the base of the cupcake. – Kelly from NY

It isn’t the materials that make a memorable costume,
it is the imagination and soul!

I got cupcake necklace & resin cupcakes at Etsy & glued to sunglasses. Made my hat myself out of styrofoam. I also make the dogs costumes myself also out of styrofoam & lampshades. The real looking cupcakes I made out of insulating foam in a can. – Lisa from Huntington Beach CA (more pics)

Thanks for the inspiration!  I finally got to the fabric store and rigged up this cupcake costume for my adorable niece.  There’s a pink headband with a cherry on top; we’ll see if she actually manages to keep that on for trick-or-treating. – Laura

Made from recycled materials, nothing was bought.  enjoy :) – M.Peralta

My husband and I decided that our baby girl (Avalon, 7 months) would be a cupcake for her first Halloween. I needed some ideas and found your website! I bought her a knitted cupcake hat from Etsy, made her a cupcake shirt and pants (cupcake iron-ons), and since she is too young to walk, turned her stroller into a giant cupcake. Thank you for your website and inspiration!

Thank you for sharing with step-by-step photos of such a innovative concept! – ATC

I love working with my hands to make crafts. There is a wonderful feeling that comes over you when you create something new. I wanted to share with you some instructions I found to encourage you to make your own cupcake crafts. Be sure to send us a photo when you make one of your own!

Make Handstitched Cupcake Purses

This link was posted in one of our giveaways a few weeks ago.  Thanks Nikki!

 Knit Your Own Cupcake

How cute would these be in your little cupcake’s play kitchen?

Make Polymer Clay Cupcakes

These would be great little stocking stuffers!

Spooks
by Sandra Liatsos

There’s a goblin at my window,
A monster by my door.
The pumpkin at my table
Keeps on smiling more and more.
There’s a ghost who haunts my bedroom,
A witch whose face is green.
They used to be my family,
Till they dressed for Halloween.

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As Halloween approaches, we are all gearing up for this special day!

hi there! my husband and I came up with this cupcake monster pumpkin, after our daughter, Brooklyn, whom we lovingly refer to as our cupcake. enjoy! mai and david

Spider cupcakes submitted by Colleen.  Do you dare to eat them?

Based in the great northwest, Cindy of Angel Heart Design specializes in handmade ceramic pieces that speak from the heart.  Some of her cupcake designs include this cupcake clock and cupcake nightlight.

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Angel Heart Designs
Website
Blog

It has turned quite chilly here in Maryland this week and I was thinking about how cupcakes can also keep you warm.    Personally, I want all of these Etsy accessories for my little cupcake and myself too!  I wonder how it might look if we walked down the street with all of these items? I think my friends might really refer me for counseling!   Is there Cupcake Addicts Annonymous (CAA)? 

Each of these crafts are from a different seller.  Just click on the photo to go to their shop.

Cupcake Scarf $42

Cupcake Hat $19

Cupcake Mittens $20

Cupcake Poncho  $32

Cupcake Cozy $10

 Keep your coffee (or hot cocoa) warm too!

Visit stayhomecupcake‘s Etsy shop.