CoCo Levine, Cupcake Queen: Fabulous Adventures in Cooking, Crafting, and Friendship is a story about a little girl that lives inside a cupcake.  This children’s book includes more than just a story, it also activities like crafts and baking recipes.  Growing up my mom always incorporated us kids into the cooking and baking.  Even if it was small jobs like pouring or mixing we were asked to assist.  I like that this book encourages involving kids in the activities of the kitchen at an early age.  I also like that it starts creating the love of cupcakes early on!  The book is available on Amazon for $11.99.

Taste of Home has a free monthly cupcake newsletter where each month you will be emailed a new cupcake recipe.  I haven’t signed up yet but I have feeling they will be themed like the the Memorial Day Ice Cream cupcakes we shared with you

It went from being 90 degrees one day to 60 the next here in South Carolina.  I can’t help but want to throw on a scarf and enjoy a cup of tea and eat a cupcake.  This poster that says “All I really want to do all day is just eat cake” is so true for how I feel today.  The poster is by Jessica Ford Design and costs 40.00 euro.  Also I know it says cake but it shows a cupcake and really who doesn’t want to eat cake or cupcakes all day?

Check out ATC sponsor Piktorama’s fun, new iPhone cases below.  Piktorama is a company that specializes in lots of fun graphics–everything from buttons to posters to iPhone cases like these.  They even have lots of cupcake art that is worth checking out.  Be sure to also take a look at some of the work that Piktorama’s owner, Amaranta Martinez, did for MTV and Nickelodeon.

Let us know if you tire of hearing about Katy Perry, but she is just such an efficient cupcake queen! Here she is again in all her cupcake might!

It’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC, and one of the hot hits is the cupcake dress by young designer Giovanna Randall, head designer and CEO of Honor. Here comes 2012!

Look what I just found … these Sweet Cake Vessels are amazing! I found them on fab.com.

There are so many things that you could do with these! Toys, dog/cat bed, laundry… the list goes one. I was thinking that you secure a piece of glass on the top and make it a see through coffee table!

Have an extra $20,000? This titillating piece will be part of the Made in Polaroid benefit auction tonight at Phillips de Pury and Company in NYC. The piece is done by Will Cotton, the artist who, famous for his candy-infused landscapes, created the art used on the cover of Katy Perry’s album Teenage Dream. This new piece is called Silver Cupcake Paper Dress. You can also see his cupcake tiaras here.

I just finished reading the book Modoc, it’s the true story of the greatest elephant that ever lived.  The elephant works in the circus for several years and when talking about the sounds and smells of the circus the smell of popcorn is mentioned.  These caramel popcorn cupcakes sound like perfect circus food, or since state fair season is approaching, I also think they would be a great state fair treat.  I have yet to see cupcakes at my local state fair, the NC State Fair but if they had these I would be sure to try one! The cupcakes were created by 6 Bittersweets and the cupcakes are made with creamed corn and cornmeal then topped with caramel buttercream.

With cupcakes growing in popularity over the past few years, many people have been substituting cupcakes for cakes at large functions.  Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries- all with cupcakes as the main dessert and centerpiece.  And that is where cupcake towers have blossomed in popularity as well.   They display your cuppies without taking up a lot of space. 

Our giveaway this week is from Penguin Cupcake Towers.  One winner will get to choose either the Humboldt or the Emperor Cupcake stand.  The true beauty of these stands is that they are made to be decorated to match your event theme.  Spray paint it, cover it with ribbon, flowers, fabric, glitter- whatever you want! 

To enter this giveaway, click on the comment area below and tell us how you would decorate your cupcake tower if you won.  One winner will be chosen on Monday, September 19th.  Thank you Penguin Cupcake Towers!

I love this DIY Birthday Wreath made out of cupcake liners and paper plate flowers!  It’s such a fun idea and the perfect way to show how old the birthday child is turning on his or her special day.  The instructions make this project sound easy and all you need in addition to the liners and plates is cardboard and a hot glue gun.

Today in remembrance of September 11, 2001 the Los Angeles location of Canter’s Deli is offering free cupcakes for servicemen.  This is Canter’s Deli’s way of saying “thank you,” so if policemen, firemen, or military personnel show up in uniform or provide some form of ID they will be presented with a free cupcake!

My daughter has discovered, much to my dismay, a new interest in Spiderman. So, on a quest to make this as painless as possible for me, I decided to turn her new hobby into a cupcake. While trying to figure out how to do this, I found this uber-neat idea from Crave Bakery.

Since I saw this Wilton decorating bag holder on Oh Hello Friend, You Are Loved I have been thinking about buying it, especially because its under $12.00.  It would not only be helpful in the kitchen while decorating cupcakes but it’s also great for using at parties.  I love that Danni painted hers (pictured left)with chalkboard paint and wrote the frosting flavors directly on the stand.  At the same even Danni used a cupcake pan to display the sprinkles.  These are great creative ideas for taking the baking supplies out of the kitchen and into the party!

Say goodbye to summer with this interesting combination: raspberry cupcakes with peanut butter buttercream.  It’s not a combination I would naturally think of, but when I got to thinking about it, peanut butter goes great with lots of other fruits (apples and bananas, for instance) and also with jams and jellies (like strawberry and grape).  So why wouldn’t peanut butter frosting make the perfect topper for a raspberry cupcake?  And just for the record, this cupcake was voted #6 on a list of the top 9 best birthday cakes and cupcakes.

I recently watched a Candies commercial staring spokes model Vanessa Hudgens.  In the commercial they describe  Candie’s Girls with “Candie’s-isms.”  One of the descriptions is that a “Candie’s Girls insist that sprinkles are a food group.”   Are sprinkles a food group? I’m working on my master’s in nutrition so my studies say no but as a cupcake lover I say of course sprinkles are a food group! What about you, do you agree with Vanessa?

Do you have a sweet tooth? I know I do!  I think it’s almost a requirement for cupcake fans to have a pretty big sweet tooth. I love these creative Sweet Tooth Cupcakes by who other than Erica from Sweet Tooth! How fitting! She also made these Mickey Mouse Cupcakes we blogged about in March.  She comes up with some very creative ideas! I think these tooth cupcakes are super cute and really look like teeth except they look good enough to eat! In her post she shares her recipe for marshmallow fondant and the directions for how to make these cupcakes.

Usually I am a huge Etsy ‘window’ shopper and I usually do a weekly cupcake search and this weeks cupcake search showed me something AMAZING…I never thought I would see anything like this, EVER!

Be prepared …

Cupcake ukulele from Celentano Woodworks Etsy Shop

Amazing!

Jacob Bromwell manufactures authentic campfire, kitchen, and fireplace products.  These products include cooking and baking equipment such as sifters, cheese graters, pie plates, cooling racks, and more.  All Jacob Bromwell Products have a 100% lifetime guarantee to show how strongly they support their products.

Trista Sutter, former star on ABC’s The Bachelorette, has come together with Betty Crocker and concocted her own cupcake recipe using Zinfandel wine.  This TV-star-turned-cupcake queen says, “The cupcakes are a great choice if you’re preparing for a TV viewing party with your girlfriends.”

Our winner this week is…

Ellyssa
My favorite is the Rainbow Sprinkles girls and baby Pettiskirt!! It’s so adorable and every time I look at it, it reminds me of cupcakes!! :D My little one would love it!! Everytime she gets something with a cupcake on it, she does the “Cupcake Dance”, the dance you posted here on all things cupcake a long time ago in 2008. So it would be really cute if I could see that dance come back again!! Her birthdays coming up too, so a 25 dollar gift certificate would come in handy!

Congrats!  You have won a $25 gift certificate to Posh Little Tutus.  Please email us as [email protected].  Thanks to all who entered and thank you Posh Little Tutus!

I love getting unexpected packages in the mail! Like this belated birthday present that came last week.  It’s a teal cupcake poster from AllPosters.com that says “Eat a cupcake then eat another.”  The poster is surprisingly large measuring 24×36 inches and is surprisingly inexpensive costing only $4.98!  At that price you could easily make someones day by surprising them with a little cupcake mail!

These sweet cupcakes were baked by Cupcakes with a Heart, an organization started this summer by two Yale students.  Proceeds from the cupcakes go toward different charities, and right now they support New Haven Reads, an organization that encourages literacy in New Haven.

Have you seen these My Little Cupcake POP Cake Pop Molds?  They are cupcake shaped molds that are used for making cupcake cake pops! This little gadget looks like it simplifies making Bakerella’s cute little cupcakes on a stick!   It costs $5.95 and they ship internationally.