Get your PINK on - it's Spring time!

What's not to love about Spring? The sun is out, the weather is warm(ish), and pink is back in fashion on baked goods! When dessert extraordinaire, Christyn of Bead Up! posted her most recent pink creations on Facebook, I knew it was time to bust out the Spring features on Cupcakin It Up!

Christyn is great at making the best out of the materials at hand - something that Cupcakin It Up most certainly values in every creation! Christyn enrolled in a cake decorating class at Michael's Arts & Crafts to learn these mad skillz. Across the country, I've only heard good things about these cake and fondant classes.

"I made the bow at my first cake decorating class, all the instructions are here... I had some pink fondant left from making the daisies, so I decided to polka-dot the thing up. The bottom of my fondant was all wickety-wack, so I covered it up with a thick pink stripe," Christyn said. Now that's resourceful!

"As for the pink cake... I made it super chocolate-y with a box of Jello Devil's Food Cake Instant Pudding Mix (any kind of pudding mix adds TONS of moisture - now you know my secret)! I torted the cake with some blackberry jam I had in my fridge, and I decided to make the icing match!"

Well done, Christyn! I would say this is a pink-tastic Spring success!!

Cupcakes are Forever!

In honor of my cupcake buddy (BeadUp) moving 1,627 miles away (yup, I googled!), I have decided to drown my buddy blues by Cupcakin It Up again. Ok, well nothing here at Cupcakin It Up is ever blue... its more like a sad grayish-pink! But the saddest pink you've ever seen!!

Before Bead Up left, we exchanged what true sweet freaks do... friendship cupcake plates!... and cupcake sugar holders... and cupcake aprons. haha Oh, fellow crafters, you don't judge us! I mean what is more friendship forever than CUPCAKE PLATES?! We discovered this sweet find at our favorite haunt - a Ross/Marshalls plaza in suburbia next to our local Michael's Crafts store. It was meant to be! Although I typically find the manic clothing free-for-all at Ross a little overwhelming, I have found true joy in the Home section at the back of the store. We all know how much I adore Michael's, but Ross sells some of the same stuff for HALF the price. It's amazing - frames, vases, fake trees, you name it!

Now this adorable apron was a BeadUp find at ikea of all places! Who knew the Scandinavians loved cupcakes as much as the sugar high Americans do?! Now I won't get every shirt I bake in dirty! I'm definitely one of those cooks who come out of a baking session with pink sparkles and sprinkles in places where sprinkles should never be! Get your mind out of the gutter - I mean my toes and on my new white shirt!

The apron looks adorable. Great work, Bead Up! I look forward to our new adventures in the Kansas City Ross when I drive the 1 day and 2 hours Google Maps claims it will take me to get there - expresso by IV, here I come!