Graduation Cap Cupcakes

So easy, but they turned out very fun. I made mini cupcakes. Frosted with pink and white (her color choice, obviously you could use school colors). Then I used sour DOTS for the cap and Starbursts cut in half lengthwise for the top and pull and peel licorice cut at the end and attached with a dot of frosting...DONE! I did almost a hundred to fill the cupcake tree and they were a big hit at the party.

Baseball Cake

Okay, I went the easy route! Just a round cake frosted in white with red licorice. I was going to go all out and make a 3D circle cake, but if you saw this 6-year old's face when he saw this cake you would have just gone easy, too! He LOVED it!

Harry Potter Cake

For my 10 year old's birthday we had a Harry Potter theme. I was planning to make a cake to look like the golden snitch but when we watched the first movie again for inspiration my son decided it would be more fun to make a cake like Hagrid gave to Harry Potter when they first met! So, that is what we did. I think he was pleased. Just a circle cake frosted in pink and writing is with green gel (spelled just like Hagrid did!).

Dad's Tool Cake

My 5-year old wanted to decide how we did Dad's cake this year! So, he drew out his design and told me what shape the cake should be. I made the cake and we used fruit roll-ups for the saw and wrench and fruit by the foot for the tape measure. He used cookie cutters for the letters (also out of fruit roll-ups). He was so proud of HIS cake!

BYU Football Helmet

Another BYU challenge from my son: BYU themed, no repeat from another year! So, I attempted a football helmet this year. It was much harder than I thought (allow some extra time in your day!) but he seemed very pleased with it. My husband liked it so much he had a hard time wanting to cut it up to serve it!

I used two small circle pans for the bottom of the helmet and a bowl for the top layer. I stacked them up and cut out the front. The pieces were then used to fill in the gaps from the second layer to the bowl layer to round it out more. I had the hardest time finding a dark navy blue coloring for my contrasting colors. I did buy a navy food coloring gel, but it never turns dark so I add a little black and I think I have it for the chocolate I used for the face guard. So, I tried that same mixture in the frosting and it didn't work. So, I ended up using the chocolate that I had colored for all the blue that you see. I piped the face guard similar to how I did this except I just freehanded it instead of using a pattern. Then, I piped right on the cake for the logo and stripes.

Holiday Pretzel Treats

Not cake, but one of the best holiday treats you can make (and eat!). So easy, too. All you do is lay pretzels on a baking sheet. Any shape you like, but big enough to hold a chocolate kiss. Next, unwrap the kisses and set them on the pretzels. Put these in the oven (350 degrees) for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes until chocolate is soft but not melted. Remove from oven and press an M&M on top! Let cool and ENJOY!!!

Butterfly Cake

Butterflies, butterflies and more butterflies! I wanted to do butterflies all over this cake and make it very pretty for my teenage girl. It didnt' turn out too formal but she loved it--that's all that matters to me! And, her brothers enjoyed the candy, so it was great!

I used white chocolate covered pretzels for the wings and sour gummy worms for the body, slicing part way down and spreading apart to make the antennas. I frosted the whole layered cake white and added sprinkles for more color.

If I were to do it again (and have more time) I would add flowers and/or leaves and do a light pink frosting so the butterflies would show up better.