Bachelorette

Last weekend my sister and SIL threw me the most amazing bachelorette party, and thought of every single little detail! A handful of my closest girlfriends and I headed out to Palm Springs. From the moment I arrived at the hotel until the end there were so many fun-filled surprises, including customized shirts (design courtesy of my dear friend Marysa!) We had a blast, aside from the fact that I'm pretty sure this is the first time in history it rained, and thunder-stormed, in Palm Spring in August. But, we made the best of it and had some great laughs and unforgettable memories. And if there's one thing I took away from it-it's impossible not to have a blast when I'm surrounded with the girls who have been side my side through it all...I love you girls!

I know, quite the photo overload, but I'm going to want to remember this forever! Thank you to all these girls for heading from near, and very far, to help me celebrate. 

The Easiest " Bakery Shop " Cupcakes!

I'd always wanted to make fancy cupcakes, so when I was tasked with bringing the cupcakes to Katie's bridal shower I thought what better time than now? I did some research, and some trial. I tried making the actual cupcakes from scratch but they didn't come out as good as the box-they weren't bad, but just not as good ol' Betty Crocker. We'll perfect those at a later date... So, I stuck with the box cupcakes (shh) and made homemade cream cheese frosting. With the help of my sister (over at ThingsToBeStroudOf) and her beautiful kitchen, and cupcake display supplies, I would say we were pretty successful!

Wilton Sprinkles (Michaels) & Wilton Decorating Kit (Target)

For the frosting, I used a half a stick of softened unsalted butter, 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1.5 tablespoons of vanilla and 3.5 cups powdered sugar. Mix those in your mixer.

Once you have your cupcakes baked (& cooled--very important!), you need to get your decorating bag prepped--use the largest tip in the kit. When you have it ready, spoon your frosting into the bag. Make sure don't get the frosting on the sides of the bag, especially the top part or else when you squeeze it will come out the top. Once you have a good amount in there, you're ready to decorate!

To start, place the tip in the middle of the cupcake (make sure you're squeezing firmly, and consistently, the entire time you are decorating).

 Then slowly make a circular motion as you move outward on the cupcake, but don't go all the way to the edge.

 Once you have done your final "circle" bring the tip back to the middle and then up--and voila!

The hardest part was figuring out how to get 36 cupcakes to the shower down the street, without them tipping over and/or the frosting melting. But I succeeded, thanks to my sister's "cupcake" holder--lifesaver let me tell ya! I was also able to display them nicely with her cake stands (see them displayed here)

 And, we couldn't have succeeded making these cupcakes without this little helper to keep us entertained :) check out those toofers!