No, this post is about celebrating the green-thumbs in my life. Though I originally made the following cupcakes for the back-to-back birthdays of my sister-in-law, Ali, and mother-in-law, Robin, I cannot continue this post without offering up a shout out to my sister Arica, who is turning 25 today!

Happy Birthday, Seester! I LOVE YOU!

Now, Arica is a gardener for sure. She gets it from my Grandpa. I, however, get cupcake baking skills from my Grandma (and the book Hello, Cupcake).

This set is meant to resemble garden rows, complete with veggies, tools, and cookie crumb dirt!

The shovels were made from pretzel sticks and candy melts. The “seeds” were candy-coated sunflower seeds.

Heads of lettuce were made using green Tootsie Rolls and icing-covered corn flakes.

The peas were made from green Tootsie Rolls and M&Ms.

Radishes were made from red and white Tootsie Rolls and icing-covered corn flakes

The carrots were my most favorite veggie to make…orange and green Tootsie Rolls. The carrots were then scored with a knife and rubbed with cinnamon to give them a fresh-pulled look. Yum!

So what if I don’t have many outdoor gardening skills…these ‘veggies’ taste better anyway.

When they had their ultrasound, they had the technician write the gender down and place it in a sealed envelope. Then they took the envelope to a cake baker, who made a cake revealing the baby’s gender. They borrowed the idea from a friend, and as a cake baker, I can only wish I would’ve thought of this! Perhaps one day someone will want me to bake them a special announcement cake like this. Enjoy the video:

Boy? or Girl? from Cheyenne Schultz on Vimeo.

Geoff and Cheyenne: I am SO THRILLED for you guys! You are going to make terrific parents!! Congratulations, again!

***

Today is my dear friend Megan’s birthday!! It’s been 9 years since we first met in a Survey of Western Arts history class in college. We hit it off immediately and it didn’t take us long to become close pals, especially when we figured out our apartments were just one mile apart! So many of my fond college memories (and beyond!) include Megan. She has such a sweet disposition and is the kind of friend a friend would like to have. Despite the several states that separate us now, she has continued to put forth the effort to keep in touch and continue our friendship…including traveling to Oklahoma to be one of my bridesmaids!

After nearly a decade, Megan remains one of my favorite people to talk to and spend time with. She’s an incredible artist and if she were here, I would make here these cupcakes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN! These are for you! ((After this baby is born, we should get together for REAL piña coladas…and maybe some turkey/spinach tacos! haha))

***

The first step was to cream together butter and sugar and then add eggs one by one.

Next, pineapple juice and rum combined to make the ‘liquid’ part of the batter.

Dry ingredients and the pineapple/rum mixture were alternately added to the butter/sugar/egg mix.

Pretty yummy looking batter, huh?

Next, a scoop of coconut was added to increase the Piña Colada effect.

Then, egg whites were beating within an inch of their lives…

…until they formed stiff peaks:

The beaten egg whites were gently folded into the batter.

And the little suckers were ready to be baked.

Mmmm.

Then, there was more beating of egg whites…

to which powdered sugar was added…

to create the icing.

And, yup, more coconut.

Then, these morsels of sunny goodness came into play. Oh man, do I LOVE dried pineapple!

Each cupcake was iced and topped with a wedge of dried pineapple.

Yes, ma’am. This round’s on me!

And just to be sure they were tasty enough to share, I took one for a test drive.

All that’s missing is a little paper umbrella!

Here’s a photo montage of each title and its inside facing pages. My main goal was to match colors and, if possible, theme.

This last one is probably my favorite…not only a cool book title:

But the perfect excuse to use this ethereal scrapbook paper.

Thanks again, Kendra, for asking me to make these for you!

Admittedly, I’ve never seen a single episode of the show, but I do have the power of Google working on my behalf, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out what kind of cake I was supposed to make.

I started by printing out the logo at the size I would need for the cake (a 12″ round, which I cut into an octagon).

I then used all the bits and pieces from the template to create black fondant pieces (thanks, Anya, for generously giving me your leftover black fondant!! You are awesome!)

I allowed those to dry overnight on hunks of waxed paper, then transferred them over to the octagon-shaped, buttercream-covered cake.

The waxed-paper-backing technique worked really well and allowed me to get everything lined up almost perfectly!

Then, all it needed was a little buttercream lettering to round out the logo.

Not bad, huh? Especially since I have no idea what this logo represents. HA!

Stephen, happy 33rd birthday, pal! Glad to hear your party was a smashing success! Happy to have been a part of it in this way!

Old books are so awesome because the covers feature different variations of embossing or debossing. So neat!

Since this was an old hymnal, I used sheet music scrapbook paper for the inside paste pages.

I also added a ribbed brown ribbon bookmark.

Sing it with me, y’all: Joy to the world, this book is done!

Teddy will be turning 4 this month, and in Anne’s words, “he would love a personalized field journal to write down ‘observations.’”

How cute is that?! Anne did some research about Teddy’s favorites and as luck would have it, he loves green frogs! I happened to have the perfect fabric for his book!

To jazz up the fabric a bit, I added orange brads to give the frog’s warts some texture (eww?)

I also used silver embroidery floss for the bugs’ flight patterns.

I love the depth that the sewing gave both the wings and the swirls. I’d been wanting to try this technique for a while, and this fabric was the perfect opportunity!

Teddy’s favorite color is red, and since no observation journal is complete without a writing utensil, I added a red ribbon pen loop and a red mechanical pencil.

Teddy also loves the alphabet, so for the inside paste pages, I used lettered paper in coordinating colors. Anne also included the verbiage for a personalized inscription, so I added that to the inside cover as well.

Anne, thanks for asking me to make Teddy’s book! It was such a fun change of pace to make a child’s journal!

Teddy, HAPPIEST OF HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!! May this book house all your big ideas!

***

Halloween?! Yes, I know it’s April now. I didn’t choose the names for the cupcakes I make…I’m just working my way through the book. Never mind the timing, or the title for that matter, if it bothers you that much. Besides, the finished product doesn’t look Halloweeny at all. So there.

First, of course, I creamed together butter and sugar.

If you EVER need to zest something, get yourself a microplane zester. It will change your life (at least in the kitchen). Promise.

I zested the living daylights out of this orange, being careful not to shave down into the bitter pith.

Then, I squeezed the juice from the zested orange,

added some lemon juice,

and then added some water to make 2/3 cup.

I gathered together my dry ingredients, including the orange zest.

Dry and wet ingredients were alternated into the mixer with the butter/sugar combo to make the batter.

The zest was folded in,

and red food coloring was added to make the batter a deeper orange color.

Now, if these aren’t the most fun papers…makes me feel like singing and dancing around in the summer sunshine! (oh, wait, it’s only April.)

The final batter reminded me so much of the orange sherbet push-up-pops from my childhood.

And the color was so pretty after the cupcakes baked, too.

Next, orange juice and powdered sugar formed the basis of the “icing”, which you’ll soon see isn’t much like a frosting at all.

In fact, after it boiled, it was more like a jelly.

Few things make a cupcake cuter than a jellied fruit slice.

Each cupcake had a corresponding slice and they waited to be merged using the jelly topping.

Again, to deepen the orange color, food dye was added.

THAT’S more like it!

A dollop here, a dollop there, here a dollop, there a dollop, everywhere a dollop dollop.

Ta Da! Looks like a tropical drink of some sort!

So many neon orange cupcakes…

and they just looked so cute, I couldn’t stop myself from posing with one of them.

Nor could my husband avoid jumping in the shot after I peeled the paper in preparation for the “bite shot”. Ha!

The jelly topping definitely made for a different experience, but if you like orange-flavored foods or jelly-filled donuts, you’d probably dig these.

Boo! (had to get some sort of Halloween reference in there!)

That said, it can be difficult to decide on a nursery theme, but Sara and Jay have done a great job by choosing a jungle animals theme: cute lions and tigers (and bears? Oh, my…don’t bears live in forests, not jungles? haha). Monkeys and elephants and giraffes round out the mix.

Sara and Jay wanted to write down thoughts, dreams, and predictions during the pregnancy and they asked me to make a book they could give to “Baby Blueberry” once he/she is old enough to appreciate it.

I found the most perfect fabric for the cover and created a 6×6 journal with a ribbon bookmark.

I used a neutral burlap pattern for the inside pages and added a place where Mom and Dad could add a personalized note/dedication to Baby.

I also made Sara and Jay a photo album that would hold all the snapshots they are sure to take of Baby’s first year (or months or weeks, if they are extra camera-happy!). The fabric matched the smaller journal and included a label holder which will house a name placard with Baby’s name once they find out the gender (placards not shown…wouldn’t want to spoil the name surprise!)

The album also included a sticker for an inscription/dedication.

The pages hold two 4×6 photos, but the plastic covers could also be removed if Sara and Jay decide they want to have some larger pages incorporated into the album.

It was so fun making these. I feel honored to be a part of Baby Blueberry’s keepsake collection…before he/she is even born! I guess I’d better get crackin’ on making an album like this for my own Baby! The clock is ticking!

Sara and Jay: Congratulations on your little blessing. Can’t wait to see him/her!

It’s…a bowling ball!!

And no bowling ball would be complete without pins! M was going to celebrate her 4th birthday by going bowling with her friends, and M’s mom called me to request a bowling themed cake.

I cut a 11 x 15 sheet cake into a ball-and-pins shape using a template I created on my computer. The whole cake was then iced with classic butter cream in white and hot pink. The ‘holes’ in the bowling ball were actually dark cocoa Candy Melts.

M’s mom send me a photo from the party. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a kid blow out the candles on a cake I’ve made!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, M! Hope you had a great time at your party!