So, let's talk some more about cupcakes. Remember that baking post from this weekend? These are the end result: Pink and turquoise cupcakes with red accents, decorated with the helpful assistance of Mary Victoria, sis-in-law-extraordinaire. They turned out EXACTLY as I had hoped they would, and once again fulfilled my need to make pretty little cupcake-works-of-art. They tasted amazing, too!
Now for the really cool part:

Click
HERE.

Can you believe it? All my cupcake dreams have been validated by my favorite cupcake website! I was scrolling through the site during a 3 a.m. baby feeding, and my half-asleep eyes lighted on that picture and I literally had to shake myself to see if I was dreaming... How cool!! I had uploaded my pretty cupcake pictures to Flickr, including to a couple of cupcake groups, and they noticed them among several dozen other cupcake pictures that day. So. I am tickled. I am delighted with my new hobby. Come on over and we'll make another batch. What color shall they be this time?

Co-Hosting a Baby Shower

On Saturday, I helped my friend Gina host a baby shower for our fellow friend and ward-mate, Alecia. She is expecting a baby girl in less than two weeks!

Gina and I split the food duties, and between the two of us, I think we came up with a pretty tasty brunch spread:
My Job-- cupcakes, muffins, cream puffs, and lil' smokies.
Gina's Job-- breakfast casserole, fruit, and beverages...

The cupcakes were, of course, my favorite part of the preparations... another chance to get fancy and artistic with frosting! Plus, how cute are they, displayed on my wedding-gift cake stand?

The prizes for our games were these Bath and Body Works hand soaps, which are, as Gina puts it, "an affordable luxury." I'd be tickled to get one of these as a prize, wouldn't you??

As for decor, my sister-in-law Mary and I spent a couple of hours the night before, gabbing in my kitchen while cutting out snowflakes and hearts and stringing them together... I figured since the shower was in winter, close to Valentine's Day, what better theme? Mary and I were both SO pleased with how these garlands turned out! (She's a master snowflake maker, to be sure!)

The OTHER master snowflake maker in my house, hands down, is Joe, who puts so much thought and effort into each snowflake that it's probably good we didn't use him for the mass production part. Hee hee! However, he did grace us with several of his more amazing creations to add to the final decor. My favorite? The one below, featuring baby bottles in its design. Can you believe it??

The party turned out wonderfully, the guest turnout was amazing, and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I know I did! And I bet Alecia did... I mean, look at that haul!! (And that's just the first armload!)

(here's the invite I prepared for Alecia... Some info has been erased for privacy, and the color scheme doesn't really match the final look of our shower, but at least I got it done in time to hand out to our friends!)