Ah, Pinterest.
Like all other forms of social media, I avoided it for a long time. I’ve only recently started an account. Apparently it’s a huge marketing tool for freelancers. Since I’m a freelancer, it made sense to give it a try.
So Ellie and I were snuggling on the couch this morning looking recommended pin after recommended pin. One of them caught her eye.
It was a cake.
Sort of.
Actually, it was a whole bunch of cupcakes that were arranged and decorated to form a beautiful princess dress. Words won’t do it justice, so here’s the link to the original home of the picture we were inspired by.
Ellie jumped up and asked if we could make one. Since Jayme’s taking a cake decorating class for art this month, I thought it’d be a good extra project for her. And fun for everyone else. So I agreed.
Family Fun
Jayme mixed up the cupcakes with Ellie and Sydney. She used the go-to vanilla cupcake recipe. We always double it (to make 24 cupcakes) and it’s really good.
After the cupcakes baked, we tried out several different arrangement ideas. We settled on one and mixed up a large batch of buttercream frosting. Jayme added three drops of her good blue food gel, and one drop of pink. Great color choice!
She got out her decorating kit, and piped frosting on each cupcake. Then, she swirled more frosting over the top, to give the appearance of a connected look.
The little girls loved watching her frost, and lick the spoons of course! Jeff said he didn’t like dresses and didn’t want to help decorate. But, once he saw Ellie and Sydney licking the spoons with blue frosting he changed his mind. He came into the kitchen and sang with us as we worked.
After the cupcakes were frosted, we sent Ellie and Sydney off to find a tiara and a wand.
They came back with a little tiara, and Ellie’s Elsa wand from Frozen. They made cute decorations for our princess cake. The color made Ellie think of Elsa, so she went and got on her Elsa nightgown to eat in.
Spending relaxed time in the kitchen with some of my kids was an excellent way to spend part of my Saturday!
Picture Time
Once all the cupcakes were ready, my husband brought out his photography gear and took some photos for me.
I think 2016 just maybe the year he finally launches a business of his own, in photography. He actually has time again, now that he works closer to home and isn’t spending over two hours in the car each day.
Who knows–by next year we may both have successful home businesses, or perhaps will have joined forces and become an unstoppable team. We’ll see what the Lord brings.
Here are Ellie and Sydney enjoying their princess dress cupcakes.
Simon loved the cupcakes. He wanted to take just one more…
Even Brynna got in on the cupcake action. She didn’t get much frosting though–too messy!
In Conclusion
Pinterest can easily become a time suck. It’s amazing how many pins there are out there.
Remember to spend time with the family bringing some of your favorite pins to life. Your results may not be Pinterest Perfect, but you’ll have had a great day of family fun. And that’s what your kids will remember.
They don’t care if the frosting is piled too high on one cupcake, and it ruins the perfection you were going for. They just want to be the one to eat that cupcake.
Do you have any other cute cupcake projects that aren’t too complicated? We’d love to try more!
