If you knew me a little better, you’d know why I’m quite so excited about this. You see, I have a small obsession with John Deere. Not that I would know what to do with a tractor in any practical sense, I just think the colors and logo look really cool–like t-shirt, knick-knack and pot holder cool. So, I’m very excited to find these John Deere baking wrappers and cupcake picks on Amazon for only $1.79. And when I make my John Deere cupcakes, I will be sure to use green food coloring and bright yellow frosting!

I love the looks of this fondant art, which will soon be displayed in a hardware store–see, cupcakes are everywhere! Here’s what the creator has to say about this masterpiece:

A local hardware store is running a cupcake competition this month…I thought long and hard and this is my contribution, inspired by the beautiful work of Hello Naomi, and an illustration seen on Shutterstock. I’m not entirely satisfied with them though, so I think I might have to make a second contribution…

Ah, the true artist is never satisfied!

What’s a party without a pinata? I just found these cupcake pinatas hanging out in our local Walmart. Similar ones are also available online for $12.99.

Are you looking for something sweet to bring along to your Labor Day picnic?  These hamburger cupcakes look savory, but they are really sweet.  The recipe calls for yellow cake mix for the hamburger buns, chocolate cake mix for the patty, shredded coconut dyed green for the lettuce, yellow fondant for the cheese, red and yellow frosting for the ketchup and mustard, and sesame seeds for the top of the bun.

I love how the top looks just like an ordinary cupcake with sprinkles, but from the side it definitely looks like a hamburger.

Our family does a lot of camping (sometimes, I think, more than we need to) and this Labor Day weekend, we are gearing up for our last hoorah of the season. And these cupcakes from Angelina Cupcake actually make me excited about the trip.

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In celebration of New York Fashion Week, Magnolia Bakery in Bloomingdale’s on 59th Street will be selling these lovely treats.  If you live in New York, hurry over from September 10-16 to try one out.  The rest of us will just have to imagine how lovely they taste.

I am teaching (ahem, trying to teach) my five-year-old to play the piano. Do y’all think any of these cupcakes might persuade her to be a bit more interested in tickling the ivories?

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I’m not sure which I love more–dogs or cupcakes. That’s why I’m quite so taken by these adorable “Westie Cupcakes” (Westie being a nickname for West Highland White Terrier) from Angelina Cupcake of Towcester, Northamptonshire. Almost too cute to eat! I recently participated in an adoption expo for our local animal shelter, and I wish I’d thought to bring along a batch of these! They would’ve found forever homes for sure!

1 Fine Cookie is at it again with these party cupcakes. These cupcakes are the party! Apparently, these candies are soaked in alcohol before being strung together. I want to know what she used for string…

 If you haven’t visited (and shopped from) Massachusetts’ 1 Fine Cookie, you should! The website is fun, funny, and tantalizing!

My little princess’ birthday is coming up soon and I am thinking the Disney Princess Cupcake Party Game may be the perfect gift.  In this game, little ones work with the Disney princesses to make cupcakes before the fancy party.   Players follow recipe cards to pick the a pretty liner, frosting, and topper.  It is available from Target and Toys R Us for only $16.99.  I can’t wait to play!

Check out these alcohol-inspired (and infused) cupcakes being offered by The Sugar Shack in Lansing, Michigan this week. Feel like a drink? Have a cupcake instead!

The “Fuzzy Navel” is yellow cake with oranges and peaches baked in, and is frosted with a peach lemon butter cream. Yum! I think I’m going to attempt a batch of these!

And the innocent looking “Tooty Fruity” is a yellow cake loaded with rum soaked fruit and topped butter cream, sprinkles and a cherry.

Eat responsibly! ;)

I know, I know…it’s not quite September yet.  But, it’s not too early to begin thinking about Halloween costumes.  Toys R Us has a new one this year, and it would be super cute for a baby girl’s first Trick or Treat.

With so many choices for baby shower themed cupcakes, it seems unnecessary to serve any other type of food at your next shower. Here is the latest contribution to our database, from Rebecca’s Tastebuds. These are so cute–love the little pillows!

Primrose Bakery

For my birthday last month, my family and I went to London to celebrate! Since we were celebrating my birthday and London has several favorite cupcakes shops, I made sure trying the shops were on our to-do list! The first cupcake shop we visited was the famous Primrose Bakery.  We stopped in the location near Covent garden and enjoyed two classic flavors, chocolate cake, or sponge as they call it in London, with vanilla frosting and vanilla sponge with vanilla frosting.  Both cupcakes were delicious and I would say they lived up to their reputation.

Hummingbird Bakery

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Growing up I remember my siblings and I always played with the same monopoly movers, for some reason I was the thimble.  Now that I’m older Hasbro has made my cupcake loving dreams come true! Monopoly Junior Party has crazy cupcake movers! If you look at the picture above you can see the green and yellow cupcakes that are used to move around the board. The games only $10.99 and there are four different colored cupcake movers!

The end of summer is quickly approaching, before it gets here I recommend everyone gets their fill of peaches.  I spotted this peach cobbler cupcake recipe on Une-Duex Senses and am tempted to combine two delicious desserts into one awesome cupcake!

I think I just figured out how to get my kids to eat their peas and carrots. Who needs a turkey dinner with all the fixin’s when she could just have this kind of turkey dinner? Complete with buttery mashed potatoes and cherry pie! So clever!

These cupcakes were created by Sir Ritz Creations of Cedarhurst, New York. This photo is a recent addition to Flickr, but I’m going to store it away for use on turkey day. November will be here soon enough.

Cookie Monster is no stranger to the cupcake scene, but these might be the cutest Cookie Monster cupcakes I’ve seen. I love the color of the frosting, and I’m always on the lookout for cupcakes my kids can help me decorate. And these look pretty kid-proof. Kudos! Check out PaiCakes Flickr stream for even more cool cupcake ideas!

I am loving this Cupcake Stepping Stone Kit I found on Walmart.com today.  Each kit comes with enough supplies to make one 12 inch stone.   I would love a whole path of these cupcakes leading up to my front door but for $16.47 plus .97 shipping for each, I may just have to settle for one accent stone for my garden.  They also come in flower, star, turtle and many other shapes and have been spotted at Michael’s too.

If you’re like me, then you really love eating cupcakes, but the thought of decorating them scares you just a little bit.  It’s a lot of pressure to get the design just right, and if you’re making them for a party, then you don’t want a last-minute disaster in the kitchen.

I really like this tip that I found on the Huffington Post because it sounds pretty fool-proof to an amateur cupcake-decorator like me.  It’s also completely free if you have some lace or doilies laying around the house (or know someone else who does).  Next time you want a fun or elegant-looking cupcake, just lay a piece of doily or lace or something similar over your cupcake, dust with some powdered sugar or cocoa powder, and you’ve got a nicely and intricately designed treat.

Do be forewarned, though: you will need to dust them immediately before serving, as the dust gets absorbed into the cake over time.

With so many recipes available to us through the internet, cookbooks, and magazines, sometimes I have a difficult time choosing the best recipe.  I want the recipe that will give me the best looking and tasting cupcakes but not all cupcake recipes are the same.  I found this yellow cake comparison on The Way The Cookie Crumbles website.  The blog post compares three yellow cake recipes from Cooks Illustrated, Martha Stewart, and Smitten Kitchen to see which is the best.  The Cooks Illustrated recipe was the winner, for the recipe and to read more about the comparison check out The Way The Cookie Crumbles.  There’s also a chocolate frosting comparison if you need help choosing a frosting for your cupcakes!

The other day my dad brought home cannoli and as I ate one I thought they would make great cupcakes.  I thought the outside tube would make a good cake, top it with the filling as frosting, throw some chocolate chips in there and you would have a delicious cupcake!  Then I found Tide and Thyme’s blog and realized some one else already had the idea for cannoli cupcakes! The cannoli cupcakes Tide and Thyme made look as good as the ones I had dreamed up in my head!

Ever since I was a kid, I have had a big sweet tooth. I can remember going to the grocery store with my mom and just drooling over all the candy bars and sweets.  Just last year, my hubby and I ventured to Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York and I truly felt 8 years old again.  Just walking in that store you get a sugar high from the sweet smell!  They had pretty much every kind of candy you could ever dream of.  And they had cupcake stuff too! You must check out their site to see it all but here’s two of my irresistible favorites.  FYI- The store was started by Dylan Lauren, the daughter of famed designer Ralph Lauren.  Love this family!

These would be a great DIY cupcake for a birthday party, or just for a fun and edible project.  Have fun searching the aisles at your local supermarket to find just the right foods for each of the parts.  There’s no right or wrong way!   Your kids will love the fact that it’s edible!

Edible Arrangements now has a cupcake collection!  Ranging from $55-$93, and available in small, medium or large sizes; the arrangements feature cupcake-the traditional fruits, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes in addition to cupcake shaped pineapple dipped in white and semisweet chocolate.