Looking for some creative party ideas for St. Patrick’s Day? Entertaining expert & cupcake guru Jeanne Benedict has some fabulous ideas in the dessert department… my favorite being the “Beer Cupcakes” pictured above – how fun are those?!

And don’t worry… these clever treats just LOOK like beer! This design is all about the presentation, so you can still stick with traditional cupcake flavors topped with a generous helping of vanilla or cream cheese frosting.

For the “beer” wrapper, look for scrapbook paper with a similar motif or purchase a beer background stock photo and print & cut them yourself.

(Side Note: This would also be a great dessert for an adult birthday or “big game“ party… or even a DVD viewing of The Hangover!)

For the little ones, how about Jeanne’s cute Leprechaun Hat cupcake idea (above), or a traditional cupcake topped with green frosting and mini chocolate chips:

And these next 2 are pretty for all ages:

Use food coloring to turn white or yellow cupcakes bright green…

… or use clover leaf images and shamrock fondant cutters to create fun wrappers and toppers for decadent chocolate cupcakes!

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For more fun ideas from Jeanne, visit her website: www.jeannebenedict.com

I’m loving the designs in this 17 Frightfully Good Halloween Cupcakes gallery from BHG for 2 reasons: 1. They’re clever & creative. 2. Most of them seem pretty simple & easy!

A few favorites pictured above, {clockwise from top left}:
1. Peeking Monster – would actually be great for Monster birthday parties year-round, too… and could even be modified for a dinosaur theme!
2.Who’s There? – also great for an Owl Theme baby shower or birthday party… might even be cute without the coconut.
3. Witch Feet – definitely modifying this one to “Santa Feet” for Christmas!
4. Green Goblin – cutest goblin I’ve ever seen!

More favorites… pictured above: Frankenstein and Under Wraps cupcakes.

Pictured above:
1. Spider Crawlers – a little more time-consuming, but guaranteed to make a statement with guests!
2. Spooky – Jordan almonds + cocoa puff cereal = spooky eyes…doesn’t get much easier than this!
3. Little Witch – with adorable sugar-cone hat!
4. Bare Bones – use licorice pastels & mints to create tiny skeleton motifs!

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Have fun!

Etsy is such a great place to look for unique embellishments for your party! The Stock Paper Scissors shop is another great example. They offer adorable cupcake toppers/favor tags, coordinating banners/party hats (all custom), mini notecard sets (great for party favors!) and more great stuff.

I’m especially loving this fun Monster Mania design… and thinking they would be super cute for an Ugly Doll themed party!

Picture at top: Pink Dots & Birds cupcake toppers/party favor tags. Pictured below: cupcake-themed Birthday Party toppers/favors:

Stock Paper Scissors also carries a wide variety of cute hang tags/gift tags for all sorts of occasions. A few are pictured below – check them all out here.

After an exhaustive (in a good way) search for margarita cupcakes on flickr, I noticed that tons of people were crediting “VCTOTW” as their recipe source, which was a bit perplexing at first. Google came through as always though and quickly helped me decipher the strange code – which turned out to be shorthand for the title “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World“.

I’m not a vegan myself, but I did notice that this book happens to have a shiny 5-star rating from over 200 reviewers on Amazon (in addition to great reviews on this particular recipe), and I’m definitely intrigued…

All 4 of the margarita cupcake images pictured here credit VCTOTW as their recipe source (get the recipe below) – but a couple of the bakers that aren’t vegan substituted real butter & milk for the shortening & soymilk. Bottom line – make the recipe work for you – and ENJOY!!

Pictured at top: Margarita Cupcakes by LaundryGirlPhotog. Pictured above, clockwise from left: Mucho Margarita Cupcakes by Seitti; Margarita Cupcakes by Crumbs&Pixels; Margarita Cupcake by t.sullivan photography.

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Margarita Cupcakes
(from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil , tequila, vanilla and sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

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Tequila and Lime Frosting
1/4 cup butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, softened
1 tbsp soymilk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
coarse sugar for “rims”

Cream together shortening, soymilk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable.

Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse, colored sugar (poured into a small bowl, so it’s easy to direct it).

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Mint Juleps are a “must serve” at any Kentucky Derby party, right? Well, now there’s another fun way to serve this traditional Derby favorite: sweeten up the party with tasty Mint Julep Cupcakes – cleverly garnished with short straws and fresh mint leaves, of course!

We made these cupcakes for a local news segment today… and they were a hit! The recipe is adapted from Cooking & Booking and was first discovered via YumSugar. Even though the recipe calls for a full cup of alcohol, (1/2 c each Creme de Menthe and bourbon or whisky), the flavor of the cupcakes isn’t strong on the alcohol at all. Instead, it’s more of a sweet, buttery vibe with a subtle minty kick. Bake them in silver foil cupcake liners for that “silver julep cup” vibe. (Full recipe below. Enjoy!)

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MINT JULEP CUPCAKES
{adapted from Cooking and Booking}

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
4 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup bourbon (or whiskey)
1/2 cup Creme de Menthe

Icing
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mint extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
milk

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Directions:

Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350º F, and grease or line 30 cupcake cups.

Combine salt, baking powder, and 1 3/4 cups of the flour. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and extracts in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the milk and liquors to the batter, then the rest of the flour (1 cup). Mix as little as possible, just until the batter comes together. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool.

Icing
Combine the powdered sugar, salt, extracts and melted butter and beat until creamy. Gradually add milk until the texture is right for piping. When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe or spread the icing on top. Garnish with cake sparkles or sprinkles, a straw (trimmed to size), and mint leaves.

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I’ve finally found the perfect dessert inspiration for this Owl Baby Shower theme: these adorable red owl cupcakes from baking guru hello naomi! And the red robin design would be perfect for a “Love Birds” bridal shower or Birdie-themed baby shower. Swoon.

Parenting.com has a fabulous birthday cake gallery/tutorial that is nothing short of AMAZING! Each of the 31 cakes in this gallery comes with step-by-step instructions on how you can recreate it at home. There’s some serious creativity & resourcefulness going on here!

Pictured at top: Castle cake – featuring ice cream cone turrets…SWEET!

Pictured below: Pirate Ship and Soccer Ball cakes. (The use of Oreo Crisps for the soccer ball is GENIUS!)

This Lion cake design is adorable too… especially the chow-mein noodle “mane”!

More favorites pictured below: Purse Cake with Giant Tootsie Roll handle, Train Birthday Cake – Engine (also check out the entire train cake) ,Ladybug cupcakes, Snake cupcakes, Dump Truck cake, ridiculously clever French Fries cake (toasted pound cake slices with red frosting dip!), Shark cake, and Monkey cake.

Click here for a thumbnail view of all 31 cakes!

I’m seriously head over heels for this gorgeous red, white, and butterfly theme from Pacific Weddings magazine! How lovely would this look be for a bridal shower too?!

For a stunning centerpiece, tons of faux red butterflies mixed with gloriosa lilies, roses and crystals hang from a manzanita branch, and pretty party favors are created from red & black favor boxes by Midori, adorned with ribbon and embellished with the sentiment: “Je t’aime”.

For dessert: red velvet cupcakes topped with white frosting and an edible red butterfly! You can pick up the fabulous butterfly cupcake wrappers pictured below at Estilo Weddings…

In keeping with the theme, red Pomegranate Martinis make for the perfect signature cocktail, and the menu and invitations feature a pretty red floral design.

Click here for full “Madame Butterfly” details – and find lots more inspiration over at PacificWeddings.com!

{Photography by David Murphey and Kara Matsunaga}

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and a great Valentine’s Day!

To kick off the new week right, we’ve got another fantastic Surprise Giveaway from Estilo Weddings – a chic online shop that strives to make it easier for women to show off their sense of style when it comes to weddings, bridal showers, and other special occasions. This week, Estilo is offering up a $100 Shopping Spree towards anything on their site to a lucky HWTM reader!

Whether you’re in the wedding market or not, there are tons of pretty things to shop for at Estilo Weddings, including contemporary invitations, custom stamps, cool guest books & photo albums, unique party favors, stylish shower & wedding decorations, sparkly cake jewels, clay flower cake toppers, beautiful jewelry, wedding party gifts, and more!

The cupcake wrappers in particular have always been a favorite item of mine – and Estilo recently added several new designs – like the “Circle of Love” pattern pictured above.

And if you or a loved one is in “Big Day planning mode” right now, you might especially appreciate The Ultimate Wedding Planner by Mindy Weiss ($85 value!) or one of the other stylish organizational tools available at Estilo.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Post a comment here telling us about one (or more!) of the items from the Estilo Weddings website that you think is especially fabulous.

• Giveaway ends Monday, February 23rd at midnight PST. Winner is chosen randomly and will be announced Tuesday, February 24th. Good luck, everyone!!

SPECIAL DEALS:

• Get 5% off all orders at EstiloWeddings.com (through next Monday, February 23rd) with promo code: HWTM09

• Estilo is also currently offering free standard shipping in the US and $5 off shipping to Canada (through Feb 28th).

This week over at Simply Stated – check out the details on Karen Tack & Alan Richardson’s super creative Hello, Cupcake! book – featuring some of the most clever & adorable cupcakes you ever will see! (Great price too)