You all may not know this, but I work for Jenni Bick Bookbinding, an Internet company that sells a variety of items from Italian leather photo albums, moleskine notebooks, day planners, calendars and so much more! And every once in a while we get in a fabulous cupcake item, and this one takes the (cup)cake.

We recently got in our 2012 Calendars, and lo and behold there it was, Martha Stewart Cupcakes 2012 Wall Calendar. Anything of Martha’s is visually stunning and very well done, this calendar is no exception. It was designed and put together with us cupcake bakers in mind.

They’re two elements that I absolutely love about this calendar– At the bottom of every month/page there is a baking tip or fact. One of my favorite tips is –Save Butter Wrappers for Greasing Pans, rather than discard the wrapper after you’ve used a stick of butter, stash it in the freezer inside a re-sealable plastic bag. When you need to butter a baking dish take out the wrapper, let if soften slighty, and use.

The second element that I love, is the recipe cards that are provided for the scrumptious cupcakes displayed within the calendar.

You could give Martha Stewart a run for her money with all the knowledge that this calendar provides.

Oh Boy, do I have a craving for cupcakes now!

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.

I am so excited to introduce you to Sara Varon, the immensely creative, cupcake lovin’ author and illustrator of this new graphic novel, Bake Sale. Its intended audience is ages 8 and up, but Sara was sure to include some cupcake recipes for mom and dad.

The book was released on August 30th and is already making its mark with an evocative story about a cupcake who works in a bakery, while dreaming about traveling abroad to meet the pastry of his dreams, whom he saw in a cookbook, of course!

This is the perfect gift for the cupcake lover in your life! (And if you are shopping for a child, you might like to know that educators find graphic novels to be incredibly helpful to reluctant readers!)

If it weren’t for Betty Crocker, my family would starve, so I was pretty excited to discover The Big Book of Cupcakes! This soon-to-be-classic cookbook offers 175 cupcakes, most of which are simple reciples using common ingredients. Many of the recipes can be done using cake mixes and store-bought frosting, and of course, they can all be made from scratch for all you ambitious bakers out there! There’s also a chapter dedicated to kids’ parties. Here’s a sample tease for you, the Chocolate Moose Cupcake:

While reading one of my favorite blogs, Paper Crave, I noticed a post about a recipe book complied by over 50 bloggers.  All proceeds from the cook book, titled Recipes to Help, go to The American Red Cross.  Cupcake recipes included in the book are a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with nutella, almond butter, and vanilla cream cheese frosting by Good Life (eats) and derby cupcakes from The Polka Dot Chair.  The book is available in print or as a e-book, each are $10.00.

For my birthday I was given Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper.  The cute children’s story is about a sad plain vanilla cupcake who with the help of a candle searches for a topping that will make him be as fancy as all his brother and sister cupcakes.  The end of the book includes a recipe for Deliciously Plain Vanilla Cupcakes and Butter Cream Frosting. The book which is published by Disney and Hyperion Books is available on several websites including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Target with prices ranging from $8.24 to $13.49.

So my daughter is about to have a birthday, and she’s getting this! (Shh… don’t tell!)

Newly released in May, the Princess Cupcakes kit includes cute cupcake liners and reusable crown wrappers, a book featuring recipes (including one for “Pink Velvet”), and decorating tips. It was only $16 at Barnes & Noble, and I know she’s going to love it. (Okay, so I’m a little excited as well!)