She’s also going to share with us how to make and get the beautiful swirly, sparkly frosting that so many of you have been asking for.

So, Welcome Amanda and I’ll turn it over to you!

Pastel Rainbow Fantasy Cupcakes:

A True Story by Amanda Cupcake

One Starry Starry Night, while everyone else was dreaming, I swirled fantasies on top of cupcakes.

Little fantasies that tasted like vanilla almond rainbows.

Or vanilla almond rainbows that tasted like little fantasies?!

I re-created my starry night on the cupcakes by lightly sprinkling hologram silver disco dust on top of each frosting swirl ♥

My edible paint colors, that I swear by, for fantasy rainbow cupcakes and their frosting is the  Americolor Gel Paste in Electric Pink, Electric Yellow and Sky Blue.

(You can buy these at a local cake decorating supply store or online at Country Kitchen Sweetart).

The “Science” Behind the “Fantasy”

(the recipe for the batter):

• White Cake Mix  (no generic labels, brand names only)
• 1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk  (in place of the water on the box)
• 4 eggs
• 3.9-4 oz Vanilla Pudding  (the pudding gives it that “from scratch” texture).
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• Disposable Piping Bags  (for layering the rainbow colors on top of each other in the cupcake liners)
• Light colored cupcake tin  (a light colored tin works better than the dark so that your bright colors don’t brown when baking)
• White Cupcake Liners  (this recipe makes about 12-15 cupcakes)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in stand mixer and whip together well using flat beater attachment.

Step 2: Using 3 separate bowls, pour about 1 1/2 Cups of batter in each bowl.

Step 3: 

♥ For Sky Blue:  Mix two small drops of Americolor Gel Paste.

♥ For Electric Pink:  Mix three to four small drops of Americolor Gel Paste.

♥ For Electric Yellow: Mix three to four small drops of Americolor Gel Paste. Bowl.

(I use more drops of color for the yellow and the pink so that the colors are really vibrant).

Step 4:  Stop and gaze at the beauty of your bright batter colors in each separate bowl.

Pour each color of batter into a separate disposable piping bag and snip off the tip.

♥ Cover the bottom of your cupcake liner with electric yellow batter.

♥ Repeat by piping electric pink on top of your electric yellow batter.

♥ Repeat again by piping Sky blue on top of your electric pink batter.

♥ Now you can add little swirly swirls of extra color, until your cupcake liner is filled 1/2 full.

♥ Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, then taste test. I did. The cupcake is…gone!

Look how pretty the cupcake liner looks alone!

The Rainbow Fantasy Swirl Frosting ♥

1 lb. of  Unsalted  Softened Butter in my Buttercream Recipe ♥

I swear by Marshmallow Creme as the base for my frosting.

I use 13-14 oz in my frosting recipe.

1 T. Vanilla Extract

Dash Salt (to lessen the sweetness a tad)

8 Cups Powdered Sugar

• Use a spatula to scrape the fluff and the butter out into your stand mixer.
• Mix well until fluffy and well blended.
• Gradually add a pinch of salt and vanilla extract.
• Slowly add the powdered sugar until the frosting reaches desired consistency.
• (The more powdered sugar you add, the stiffer the frosting will be for decorating).

Just like my batter, I separated my frosting into 3 bowls.

Then I mixed each gel paste color into a separate bowl (about 3-4 drops per bowl–you can always add more color if you want the color to come out more vibrant).

Electric Yellow, Electric Pink, Sky Blue and add White as a 4th color.

To pipe a multi-color rainbow swirl:  Stack each color of frosting on top of one another inside of a disposable piping bag. ♥  Your piping bag will look so pretty from the outside, like this!

 For a dreamy puffy fantasy swirl, I use a round Wilton 1A Piping Tip.  Before you stack the frosting inside of the piping bag, cut a hole in the end of the piping bag big enough to fit the tip, and slide the piping tip down into the end of the piping bag.

♥ No cupcake will look the same.  When all three-four colors blend together inside the piping bag you’ll start seeing greens, purples and turquoise colors swirl a fantasy rainbow onto your cupcake!

♥ HINT:  For the brightest colors possible use a fresh piping bag when you need to refill the frosting.  This prevents colors from turning muddy or brown.

The final product.  My signature rainbow vanilla almond fantasy cupcakes.

Thank you Amanda for sharing with us your beautiful Rainbow Cupcakes! Can’t wait to give them a try!

Be sure to visit Amanda Cupcake for more great recipes.

These polka dot glitter eggs are so much fun and, pretty easy to achieve the look.

Strategically placed glue dots and a little glitter will do the trick. Yep,  it’s just that easy!

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Of course, candy is always on the agenda so I thought these confetti sprinkled marshmallows would be perfect.

Everything always looks better with confetti I think, don’t you?

These would be great to wrap up and give as gifts too! Who wouldn’t want to receive these?

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Why not forgo the traditional Easter basket for a fresh new option.

Our beautiful berry baskets are such a fun alternative.

order here

 Just fill with a little grass or shredded colored paper and add candy eggs and maybe an Easter bunny.

Looking for a fun new way to dress up the mantel or staricase?

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Blow-out your colored eggs and string.  So pretty and fresh!

To brighten up your table these cute little napkins will do the trick.

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Love the tails!

I hope these fun ideas have inspired you!

  Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!!!

xoxo Debbie

She’s not a big fan of chocolate (yeah, do you believe it), so I made her a wonderful french vanilla cake with vanilla buttercreme frosting which see loves.   I just knew the rest of the family would be looking for something chocolate so I made this delicious chocolate peanut candy for them. It was actually a very nice compliment to the vanilla cake.

You’ll love it because it goes together pretty quickly and only calls for 4 ingredients: Roasted Salted Peanuts; Chocolate Chips; Baker’s Chocolate and Vanilla Almond Bark.

To begin, empty a 16 oz. jar of Dry Roasted Peanuts in a large bowl.

You’ll need a double-boiler to melt the chocolate so it doesn’t burn. The chocolate melts pretty quickly.

(I use 2 pans. I fill the bottom one with water deep enough so that the top pan just sits on it.)

I begin by melting the almond bark.

Next add the chocolates and stir constantly until all mixed together.

Pour melted chocolate over peanuts.

Mix chocolate and peanuts together quickly.

I used cupcake liners to put the chocolate in.

Depending on how large you want your pieces to be, you can use either the regular cupcake liners or the small candy ones.  I had the regular ones on hand and I like the colors too.

A small ice cream scoop makes the perfect portion.

Look yummy!

Makes a nice Easter treat too. Enjoy!

Kim partnered with Vera Bradley to promote Vera Bradley Baby’s new line and asked a few party people to host events simultaneously with the New York store on Thursday evening.

This event was at the Deer Park, Illinois store and the hostess for the evening was Kelly Lyden, (on the left). Kelly styles amazing parties and  was so gracious to invite me, (on right),  to join in the fun.  Kelly is just adorable and it was so nice to meet her in person

After being greeted by Kelly when we arrived  we received a sweet little gift bag from Vera Bradley with the cutest little stockings from the line. What a way to begin the evening!

  There was a lot of excitement in the store as everyone browsed.

Want to take a look-sie at the beautiful displays that were set- up through out the store?

These soft little bunnies were sweet in the darling Daisy Tote.  Love the size and the beautiful colors, don’t you?

Not sure what I like better, the bunnies or the tote.  Decisions, decisions!

I’m thinking great Easter basket alternative:)

 The onesies were just too sweet!  You can’t see it here, but the backside, to put it politely, is all ruffles. Yes, we love the ruffles!

And the little shoes ,with the tiny white bows, are probably one of my favorite items! (sitting on the pink box)

The teddy bears were just as cuddly as the bunnies.  Oh no, which to choose!

Bunnies, bunnies everywhere!

I  immediately fell in love with these sweet bath towels. Did I mention they were incredibly soft too?

Blankets, towels, bibs, oh my!

 After shopping for a while, all the guests were gathered to play some bingo and win a gorgeous tote.

 No, I wasn’t the lucky winner, but I didn’t walk out empty handed either.

I was having too much fun shopping and the timing was perfect since I’m going to a baby shower this weekend.

I did pretty good with the onesie, shoes, towel, socks and bunny & bear book.

By the way, each item is packaged in colorful boxes that look like little pieces of furniture.

 Doesn’t my purchase look adorable all wrapped up in the colorful bunny gift bag?

I think so too! Can’t wait to give it to the mama- to- be!

This was such a fun evening and us party girls (Sue on right) were so happy we could be a part of it!

Smiles,

Debbie

Not only are these cookies pretty but they are fairly simple to make too.

Lizy B Bakes is the designer behind these cuties and she gives a step by step for you to follow on her blog.

Elizabeth is so talented and I think you’ll enjoy seeing some of her other creations on her blog.

Don’t want to bake or don’t have time.  No worries, you can buy from her Etsy Shop.

Adorable right?  I just might have to order these.

Aren’t they fun? I love the idea of gifting a coffee cup, don’t you?

  Stop by her great blog for the download and for more wonderful inspiration!  Have a happy day!

for the season.

These pics are a real pick- me -up since it’s been snowing here and so gloomy outside.

  So, even though we still have a few months to go, let’s enjoy and see how this fantastic hue,

Tangerine is going to be showing off this spring.

Of course we’ll see it in the party world, yummy!

Party Patisserie Etsy Shop

Always a beautiful choice for weddings, especially in the fall.

Fashion

I love the coat and matching heels!

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 Home Decor

Pillows are always an inexpensive way to perk up a room.

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Accessories

 If you don’t want to commit to a whole outfit in this bright hue, a few accessories will do the trick.

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Hope this post brightened your day too!

There are so many fun ideas that I’ve seen around the blogoshpere and thought I’d share with you in case you still need a few more ideas.

First up, a sweet and easy treat from our “Sweet On You” Valentine Party.

I just embellished a box of Cakesters with little heart confetti. Aren’t they cute?

And of course, our favorite starbucks coffee jars are sweeter with lip stickers. So easy:)

How about getting a lip paper punch, colored tissue paper and voila you have the cutest confetti!

I thought these Take-out Valentine’s would be fun to make and read after dinner.

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Cookie cutters aren’t just for cookies.

Love this idea of using the cutter for ice cream or homemade marshmallows.

Just a few ideas.  Have a fun day!

We’d love your vote for The Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Creative Mom blog. Just 2 clicks. Thank you so much!♥♥

Have you made plans for Valentine’s Day yet?

Why not celebrate at home with your sweetie and some close friends with a romantic, intimate dinner party.

Celebrate Magazine is offering free printables and ideas for a  beautiful pink and gold color palette

with an ombre-inspired Valentine’s Day  dinner party.

I love the idea of celebrating with some close friends and these ideas will make it easy.

Guests would love this Cupid’s Arrow Placecard.

Directions:

 Tie each place card around one of cupid’s arrows with shimmery gold string.

Cupid’s Arrow How-to
WHAT TO GATHER
gold spray paint; wooden dowel; scissors; white decorative feathers (available at craft stores); glue; glitter card stock; washi tape

STEP 1: Spray-paint dowel; let dry.
STEP 2: Cut desired amount from top of feather, then cut down the center. Glue onto end of dowel, holding in place until glue is set.
STEP 3: Cut card stock into shape of a heart, and glue to opposite end of dowel.
STEP 4: Accent dowel with strips of different shades of washi tape cut in half lengthwise.

This pretty ombré cake is fashioned with a gold-tinsel pipe cleaner to spell the word love.

 Download and print here the glamorous party art.

For more ideas on this romantic dinner party, visit Celebrate Magazine.

When I spotted these cookies,

I realized that I buy Candiquik and Wilton chocolates to dip my pretzels,  fill my candy molds and even dip my candy apples in,  but never to frost my cookies.

Hey, why not?

These surprise cookies by Miss Candiquik are loads of fun to make and have lots of possibilities.

For directions click here and happy baking!

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