Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave

Remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country so that we may enjoy our freedoms! Tomorrow, It is the day, and should be everyday, that we should be thankful to those who have laid their lives down for us. Happy Memorial Day from Lacey Cakes and don't forget our men and women who are still fighting for our opportunity to enjoy our BBQs and family time!

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Busy Busy!!

I have been quite the busy body the last couple of weeks with my cupcakes toppers.  A birthday, tea party, graduation and baby shower have all been on my list of toppers to design and create as well as a special one for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday and a 3D cake topper for my daughters 3rd birthday in a couple weeks.

Mother's Day weekend, I thought I would throw a ladies tea party for all the lovely ladies, mothers,  and friends in my life.  I designed some super cute, button/vintage inspired tea party cupcake toppers that turned out so cute and looked even better on the Peanut Butter and Jelly and Boston Cream Pie cupcakes they went on :) Yes you read right, Peanut Butter and Jelly AND Boston Cream Pie cupcakes!  They were divine!   I also took my first stab at decorated sugar cookies.  They were not the greatest, but for my first try, I think they turned out great and tasted even better.  I think they were the biggest hit of the party. The party turned out wonderful and everyone, including myself, had such a fabulous time.  It's always nice to develop an idea in your head of a party and see it come to life! Here are some shots of the fun party:

 I gave you all a quick sneak peek of the Starbucks and Twilight inspired toppers a couple weeks ago that I created for my friend Carrie's birthday and added to that with a set of shopping/purse toppers and Iphone inspired toppers.  They turned out super cute and I got tons of compliments from the folks at the restaurant where her birthday dinner was held.  It's always nice to hear that your work is admired, especially after the hours that go into creating the pieces.  I also have been working on more graduation toppers for my upcoming trip to Washington state to see my little cousin graduate from high school.  Can't even believe the day has come!  I still remember her toothless grin singing LFO's Summer Girls many, many years ago.

 

The baby shower toppers I have been working on were a first to me.  I took some inspiration from Lynlee's Petite Cakes and also from several other pics on Pinterest (my go to for inspiration).  I have a couple more in mind to create as well and will give you guys a peek when they are all done.  Here is a small sneak peek until then ;)

My Memorial Day topper is to be revealed the day of and has got to be one of the most detailed toppers I have worked on to date, and the one with the most meaning.  It's difficult celebrating holidays without my hubby, but this one is particularly hard because there are so many men and women who haven't and won't come home to their families so that we can spend this holiday BBQing with our families and enjoy the company of the people we love in a free country. On a weekly basis, I hear of ceremonies my husband attends to honor the fallen men and women as they take their final trip back to their families.  I can't imagine going through that and that is what this holiday is about.  Remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice!


Lastly, I have been working on my first 3D cake topper, inspired by Rapunzel.  She stands about 6 inches tall and will be the topper of my daughters 3rd birthday cake :)  I was pretty pleased by how she turned out. Hope you like it ;)

Until next time,
Lacey Cakes :)

Sneak Peek

Just wanted to give you guys a sneak peek of what I have been working on this past week.  Had a fun time making these and I think they turned out super cute!  More to come :) Check out more work and follow me on Facebook!!

Crumbs VS. Sprinkles

I have had the pleasure to taste cupcakes from several different well known cupcake bakeries.  While in Beverly Hills this week, I made it a point to visit the first ever cupcake ATM at Sprinkles, just blocks from the well known Rodeo Drive.  On my walk to Sprinkles, I passed by Crumbs, which is also a well known cupcakery that started on the East Coast.  Crumbs was my first experience with the cupcake craze when my hubby's brother brought us a few of them when we were living in VA.  They were huge, sweet and came in all sorts of crazy flavors.  We decided to get a few from Crumbs and do a little comparison with Sprinkles, which I had only once prior to this visit.

From Crumbs, we went out on a limb and chose cupcakes that weren't the typical vanilla or chocolate.  We chose Chocolate Sundae, Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Cup, and Apple Cobbler.  We then went to Sprinkles, where there was a line just to get into the cupcakery.  We decided to try the ATM, but it was having technical difficulties so back to the line we went.  Inside Sprinkles, we chose Cinnamon and Sugar, and Pumpkin cupcakes, as well as a Pupcake for my other child, Chanel, an Australian Shepherd. :)

We divided the cupcakes up and had a little taste from each one.  I will have to say, although Crumbs has tons of different flavors that are more unique to the cupcake world, the taste test for me had to go to Sprinkles.  I am not a fan of the overly sweet cupcake and the extra garnishes on the Crumbs extra large cupcakes was a bit much for me and the moistness of the cake wasn't quite as "there" as Sprinkles cupcakes.  In their defense however, I have had Crumbs Red Velvet cupcake while on a work trip to NYC and it was amazing. 

As for Sprinkles, their Pumpkin cupcake was so moist and paired with the cream cheese frosting, it tasted like a little piece of the fall all in a cupcake.  The Cinnamon Sugar cupcake, I didn't think I would like because the frosting is usually my favorite part of the cupcake, and this one didn't have any.  I was pleasantly surprised when the moistness of the cake was enough to not even need the frosting.  As for the Pupcake, I can't give my own personal opinion on that one, but I can tell you, it was gone in a minute flat :)

As for the price of the cupcakes, Sprinkles charges a whopping 3.50 per cupcake.  They are a little larger than the normal size cupcakes, and worth every penny.  Crumbs cupcakes run 3.95 per cupcakes but are significantly larger than the standard cupcake.  When we were in there, they were also running a special where you bought 3 cupcakes and got the 4th cupcake free :)

All in all, I am a cupcake fan, period, and I will continue to visit cupcakery after cupcakery until I can finally open my own :)  Like I saw on Pinterest:  You can't buy happiness but you can buy cupcakes.  And that's kind of the same thing ;) So true! 

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes

M.I.A.

I have been a bit M.I.A. lately, but have a TON to share with all of you!  I had an unexpected visit from my hubby for two weeks!!!  He got to come home from Afghanistan for a conference that we weren't sure he would be able to attend or not.  It was wonderful to see him and break up the long 7 1/2 month deployment.  I have been a busy bee the past month and am changing my focus a little bit.  I love baking, but the thing I have realized I love even more is the decorating.  Since CA has yet to pass a Cottage Food Law that would legalize home baking, I have decided that until then, or until I can rent a commercial kitchen, I will use this time to develop my flavor list and do some experimenting and focus more on my fondant cupcake toppers.  With the exception of St. Patrick's Day, where I used my go to Irish Car Bomb cupcake recipe, most of my cupcakes that I have been making for family and friends have included custom cupcake toppers.  These tiny things are super time consuming and include quite a bit of detail, but that is what I love about making them.  I could spend hours coming up with unique ideas to make a cupcake topper out of :)

I have been developing ideas for my daughters 3rd birthday party, coming up in June and did a set of Tangled inspired toppers that I will tweak a bit when the day comes a little closer.  She took one look at the braid topper and said, "its Tangled".  I guess that's how I knew I got it right :)

I also got the opportunity to work on a custom set of toppers, developed around the birthday boys favorite things.  The turned out so cute and got rave reviews!

My next undertaking included toppers for Easter, which were of precious little bunny behinds and chicks.  They turned out cute and were even better on top of a yummy carrot cake cupcake.

I was then asked by my lovely mom to make some cupcakes for her co-workers birthday....the night before she needed them :)  I came up with these super cute "glam" toppers that turned out cute, especially considering the time I had to work on them!


Most recently, I am working on more Angry Bird toppers for my friend Trish and even better, I have an excuse to take a trip to LA to deliver them.  I think a trip to the Sprinkles ATM is in store! I am also working on custom graduation toppers for my cousin Blaire (more like a sister, being that I am an only child) who graduates in June.  I will test my packing skills as they will make the flight up to Washington state as my carry on :)

Lastly, I got a text last night from my cousin Kilee who compared my Red Velvet cupcake to the Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet Cheesecake!  What a compliment...come on CA pass the Cottage Food Law!!!

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes

Angry Birds

This weekend was my nephew's 9th birthday party and he wanted an Angry Bird theme.  I shared last week the toppers I was working on for his party and thought I would share the final product with those toppers.  We had such a fun time and I had a BLAST making the cupcakes and cupcake cake for the party.  They were such a hit that the kids were lined up to pick their cupcake out several minutes prior to us singing Happy Birthday.  Most of all, Kaden loved them and was all about telling his friends that I made them for him.  Such a sweet boy and a very happy birthday to him!!
(if you are interested in these toppers or any other toppers for your own cupcakes, please email me at laceycalkins@gmail.com)

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes

Fabulous Toppers

This week I took on something that I have been wanting to do for a long time, more detailed cupcake toppers!  I knew I had it in me, but time wasn't on my side when it came to getting super creative on my cupcake toppers.  Sure I have had some super cute cupcakes, but I have been wanting to kick it up a notch.  With my nephews birthday this upcoming Sunday, of course I volunteered to make the cupcakes and his request was Angry Birds!  After doing some research on the birds and putting my own twist on them, I came up with some 3D and flat options that I can't wait to decorate the cupcakes with.  I hope he loves them as much as I do!!

Being in the cupcake topper mood, I decided to try making mini teapots and tea cups for my mothers/ladies day tea party.  I was a little scared to try these because they seem so intricate and detailed, but to my surprise, I think they turned out super cute and come May, I am excited to make more.

Lastly, my birthday is coming up next week as well and of course I will be making my own cupcakes (someones gotta do it!).  I decided what better toppers than some of my favorite things, Coach, True Religion, Tiffany's and Victoria's Secret!!!  I love them in mini version and can't wait to see what they look like on my cakes.

Just a few things I thought I would share with you all!

Until next time,

Lacey Cakes ;)