easy homemade cupcakes

1. Buy a box of cake mix and a can of frosting

2. Prepare according to directions on box

I'm only semi-kidding with the above post! I haven't made from-a-box treats in a very long time, but as Room Parent who needs 2 dozen cupcakes for the class holiday party tomorrow and Mom who needs 2 dozen more for her daughter's 6th birthday party on Saturday, this is the route I am forced to take. It is still better than buying them at the store, and I can decorate them with love!

For the class party, I am going to frost vanilla cupcakes with white frosting and decorate with baby carrots and raisins to make snowmen. They look adorable in my imagination, let's hope they turn out the way I plan!

For my daughter's birthday party, we are going with a cooking theme. The girls will make individual pizzas and I will be throwing some Whole Foods pre-made pizzas in the oven for the adults. We are going to decorate canvas aprons and make Fruit Loop necklaces. For the cupcakes, I bought a bunch of frosting tubes and sprinkles and am going to let the girls go to town decorating their own. I may actually bake a cake too, depending on what kind of time I have left. I have a great chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream recipe! I haven't found a really good yellow or white cake recipe, but this chocolate one rivals bakery cakes with it's moist, spongy, richness.

Happy, party eating!