Dollar Store Cupcake Stands

I originally stumbled across this idea here at According to Kelly.  I knew that I just HAD to make some to use at my daughter’s birthday party.  I LOVED them SO MUCH that I left them out for a week after the party!  I LOVED them even more because they were CHEAP and EASY.  Two things that are musts in my craft book. 

 

{Supplies}

candle stick holders
plates
spray paint
super glue

I trucked my butt to the Dollar Tree to pick up supplies.  I got four clear glass candle holders and one painted ceramic squarish candle holder.  Instead of spray painting silver trays, I got already brightly colored plastic plates (seven plates, three green, three pink, and one polka a dot pink).  I also bought the stickiest strongest glue,  Super Glue Fix-All Adhesive.  Don’t worry, just because it dollar store glue, it is totally awesome.

I then headed to Wally World and got some cheap white spray paint. 

 

{Steps}

I proceeded to go spray paint crazy (Confession:  I’ve never spray painted anything before.  And now I’m hooked).  I spray painted my candle stick holders perfectly matching white. 

Wait not so very patiently for the paint to dry . . . .

Supplies painted and ready to be assembled. 

 

Began experimenting with different stacking combinations. 

  
I liked this one with three plates and four candle stick holders (two put together on the base), but was worried about stability. 

 

I also liked this one with one plate and two candle stick holders.

 

This one provided stability and lots of room for food. 

 

The square candle holder with the polka dot plate.

 

 
Ultimately I choose to do two two-level trays using the four glass candle stick holders and one one-level tray using the pink and white plate and the squarish base. 

 

Time to glue pieces together. 

 
Glue, let dry, use heaviest objects you can find in your pantry to help dry.  Repeat if doing several levels of trays.  On the second level, I turned the candle stick holder upside-down, to provide more room for food on the green plate.  

 

 
TA DAAAAA!!!  The finished products!  I love them!  Everyone at the party wanted to know where I bought them and were shocked to find that I made them myself!!  And everything, but the spray paint (which was a buck at Wal-Mart), came from the Dollar Store!  The two taller pink/green stands were $4.00 a piece and the pink polka dot with the square base was $2.00! 

 

 

 

 

Ice Cream Party: Ice Cream Pinata

This weekend we had an ice cream themed party for my newly two year-old little girl.  It was nothing huge and fancy, but I had a few things that I wanted to share.  First up, the piñata.  I LOVED the way it turned out, and was sad to see it brutally destroyed by the little kiddos. 

I got my inspiration here, At Second Street, she threw a Minnie themed party and made a Minnie piñata.  I used her instructions, but with a different shape.  My husband was a little skeptical about not making a paper mache piñata, but it worked out great and was mess free. 

So I figure, no mess, free cardboard I had on hand, crepe paper from the Dollar Tree, and ta da, a cute CHEAP pinata.

 

Filled with candy, ready to be closed up.  Note:  DO NOT for get to leave a hole to put the candy in!  Major oops.    

 

Finished product, ready to be beat and busted open.  

 

 

And if I was in this picture, you could see me shedding a small tear for my darling piñata.  

 

 

 

Ladybug Cupcakes

My friend asked me to make some ladybug cupcakes and a cake for her daughter’s first birthday.  I looked all over, but didn’t find anything that was simple enough or that I liked enough.  So this is what I came up with.

{What You’ll Need}
dozen cupcakes
1 can of vanilla frosting
1 can of chocolate frosting
black food coloring
red food coloring
ziplock freezer bags
mini Oreo cookies
edible eyeballs
black licorice strings

{How To}
Tint vanilla frosting red.  *What I learned:  Use coloring paste not regular food coloring.  These ladybugs turned out being pinkish red, and the picture makes them look orange.  Blah!

Add a few drops of black food coloring to the chocolate frosting.  Using chocolate frosting makes it so much easier to get your frosting a true black

Fill two ziplock freezer bags with black or red frosting.  Snip of the end of each.  Make sure you don’t take too much off of the black bag, you can always go back and make it bigger if you want, but you can’t go back and make it smaller!

Frost cupcakes with red frosting.

Add a head by making and oval outline with the black frosting then filling it in. 

Make a stripe down the back of the cupcake.  I used a piece of thread and laid it in the red frosting to give me a line to follow. 

Add edible eyes and spots.  Split Mini Oreos in half and push into frosting.

Snip black licorice strings and push into cupcake for antennae.  Sorry these aren’t in the picture, I forgot to buy them and then forgot to take another picture when I got back.