Crafty Cupcakes

I'm constantly visualizing what the inside of my storefront will look like.  I imagine a shop filled with vintage treasure and handmade goodies, styled with bright colors and a very kitschy feel.  In the meantime, I've got my kitchen decorated with cupcakes all over.  Photos, paintings and drawings cover the walls.  I've made cupcakes out of socks, thrifted fabrics and containers.  I've turned tea cups and saucers into cupcake display plates.  Then there's my cake stands, created from thrifted plates and candle sticks.

There was a blog post on Oh Mandie about a week ago, where she discussed making a wreath out of cupcake liners.  I proceeded to freak out and then decide I simply must make one for myself.  I found a wreath (with some UGLY paper on it that I promptly ripped of) at the thrift store for 45 cents and then discovered a cake supply shop in town that had these lovely papers for 40% off (there's orange on them... nuff said).  I really like her suggestion to use straight pins instead of hot glue (hot glue and I DO NOT get along).  I scrunched and pinned and scrunched and pinned some more...

And... TA DA! I haven't quite decided where to put it, so I just took some quick photos of it on the table. I dug through my (VAST) button collection and found this beat up old metal button for the center of the white paper flower!

I got a package in the mail last week and squealed in delight upon opening it! My mom has been crocheting and knitting like a mad woman and these little cuties found their way to my house!

And look... they are interchangeable! You can mix and match the tops and bottoms!!!!

Exciting news on the business front... I am officially Food Manager certified and babee cakes is a registered business with the county. I'm still searching for a kitchen to work in. I sent some emails out last week and haven't gotten responses yet, so I think some phone calls will be made this week!

Laying the groundwork

The Black Apple

I have been subjecting friends, family, co-workers (mine and my hubby's) to the trial and error of recipe testing. I will say there has not been too much complaining going on! If it doesn't taste good, well then, nobody is going to buy it. I have very specific ideas in mind for the flavors that I will have available, but I'm always thinking of new things I want to try.

What really got me going on this whole idea, was a comment by a wonderful new friend I made at my former job (I neglected to mention in my first post that I was recently laid off after being back to work full time for only 6 months, another reason I'm really pushing for this now). Ms. Joanne shares my love of baking and we "hit it off" straight away in the food department in general. After bringing in some cupcakes to share, she pointed me to the website of a local cupcake shop and said that she thought I could compete with this place. That's when I spilled the beans about wanting to do this for a living. I would sit and daydream about what it would be like, how I would decorate my shop (sometimes when I was supposed to be working, sssshhhhhhh...) I never really let myself get past the daydreaming.

A few months ago, my mom was in town while I was recovering from surgery, and the subject came up. We sat for a good 2 hours bouncing ideas back and forth and the REAL framework for what I wanted started coming together. We're talking a business name, slogan, logo ideas, flavor combos, what to have available on a daily basis, flavor of the day specials, seasonal flavors and even what I would do with what cupcakes didn't sell at the close of business. I even went so far as to decide that each flavor would have a personality and a name. By this time, I was completely consumed and determined to make this happen.