THE SWEET SPOT

I stumbled upon these adorable cupcake boxes this week; how have I never seen these before?! I make cakes and cupcakes for a living! These are truly some of the cutest cupcake boxes I've come across, and I've seen many. They're sized for cupcakes, but could surely house party favors, candy and anything else you care to put in a 3.25" wide x 3.75" high space. They're available in several different kid-friendly themes, but I am in a nostalgic mood today so my favorites are: Goodnight, Moon Cupcake Boxes!  These. Are. Too. Cute. Wishing I had a tiny kid at my house right now so I can throw a Little Golden Books party!  Again, so adorable. But the designs are not limited to nostalgic themes; I love this Safari kids theme that would be perfect for your animal cupcakes: Safari Friends Cupcake Boxes You can see more of this cuteness--what a TREAT-- at The Party Works' online cake decorating store or visit them through Sweetest...

I was out of town for a few days attending the always fabulous Texas Book Festival in Austin so did not get to share a few days' worth of tricks or treats, so I will add on a couple of days at the end as a bonus and share some cool stuff I learned at the Festival! Meanwhile, I wanted to highlight a new affiliate retailer on Sweetest Whimsy's Retail Love list: Cross Country Cafe .  What is their site all about?  In a word: Coffee! This is the first retailer on the list that offers mostly edibles (or really, drinkables ) and a nice contrast to the papers and gifts on my other fave sites.   Specifically, they offer ground and whole bean coffee, Keurig Kcups, gourmet coffee pods and a selection of brewers.  If you are coffee lover, this online shop is for you.  I swear when I am browsing this site, I can practically smell the java.  No joke. What I like about Cross Country Cafe: they offer fair trade, organic and sustainable coffees .  Coffe...

We're less than a week away from Halloween, so the time has come to get serious about spooky party planning!  In addition to receiving invitations to some Halloween parties, we are planning our own pre-Halloween pumpkin decorating shindig for the kiddos.  So I was really happy to discover that Punchbowl , one of Sweetest Whimsy's newest affiliate links , dedicates a whole section of their site to party planning ideas!  Punchbowl is a one-stop mecca to get your event organized.  From email invitations and online RSVPs to potluck sign-up and gift registry, they offer everything you need to get started (and finished). Right now, I love Punchbowl's FREE recipes for kid-friendly Halloween drinkies :   Green Slime Soda (from Punchbowl.com) ¼ cup lime juice 3 tablespoons sugar 1 cup sparkling water 1 scoop lime sherbet or 1 scoop lime sorbet Stir the sugar into the lime juice until it is dissolved. Then add the sparkling water. Lastly,...

Well, my bad.  I went to a costume party last night and then sort of injured myself (dumb story), so I didn't get a chance to post Day 16.  So here is Day 16/Day 17 all rolled into one!  I'm crazy about Craftsy , as you've probably already guessed!  They have a new course that I'm totally excited about as well-- Exotic Sugar Orchids with the fabulously talented James Roselle .  I had the pleasure of watching James decorate a wedding cake in a funny 'Cake Wrecks' themed event earlier this year, and he is awesome!  He is also very nice and very patiently posed for pictures after the show. Anyway, he is offering a gum paste Orchids course on Craftsy and it is a mere $39.99.  As some of you may know, I do teach a 4-week Advanced Gum Paste Flowers course featuring some lovely, realistic looking flowers like Gerbera Daisies, Stephanotis and Lilies.  However, I do not teach gum paste orchids so I am happy to learn from James Roselle myse...