Do you ever feel like you need to and want to do everything?  You wish you had a million hours in your day so you could get to every single thing you can possibly think of, and feel that satisfaction of doing it.  Because there are so many good ideas, and so many fun things, so many things to enjoy.  And yet, for me anyways, I want to do so many things that I sometimes feel crippled by the weight of it all and end up doing not much at all. *sigh*  And then if I do accomplish much and someone asks me “how do you do it all?!” I feel embarrassed and show-offy and guilty because I don’t really do it all.  Because if that thing got done then my house certainly isn’t clean, or my laundry pile is 10 feet tall.  And I feel like I’m reinforcing some evil Pinterest-driven guilt women feel about what they SHOULD be doing and don’t.  And I feel bad, even though what I did is just because sometimes I feel like I have so much creative energy that I just might burst, and I did what it took (stayed up late, let my kids watch too many TV shows, actually got organized enough) to do that thing.  I did it because I like doing stuff, not because I’m trying to be something I’m not (*cough*MarthaStewart*cough*) OR because I think everyone else should be doing that stuff too.  Or on the flip side that someone who DOES feel competitive about that stuff would look at my efforts and be all, “Seriously?  You should see what I can do…” *sigh again.*

So with that being said I’m gonna’ post about decorating kids’ birthday parties this week. Not that I even think for one second that you even have to decorate for a kids party.  I just like it.  So I did it.

Last year as I globbed not-quite-red-enough icing onto my {second} attempt at a tractor cake for my son’s second birthday party I muttered through gritted teeth: “I am only buying DQ ice cream cakes from now on.”

Well, in a couple years I may do that.  But this was my daughter’s first birthday party and I still wanted something special.  I just didn’t want to kill myself over creating some crazy fancy cake that I think moms are supposed to make.  And I didn’t want to work with cake moulds or icing again.  *shudder* 

So I made cupcakes (from a mix) and tinted store bought icing.  But for the tops I had an idea… I’d take Starburst candies and make them into little candy roses to decorate the cupcakes.

It was super hot and humid on the evenings I made these so I was able to shape them by just pressing on them with my fingers.  However, if your candies are a bit harder, or your house is cooler, you may want to pop them in the microwave (only a few at a time) for 5-10 seconds to soften them up.  After you do that, you can unwrap them.

And squish them flat

so that they’re thin and delicate, but not too flimsy.

Then tear off a little piece.

And roll it with your fingers

Until you get a neat little spiral.  This is the centre for your rose.

Then tear off more little pieces. You may want to smooth the ripped edges a bit.  The pieces should be sort of oval-shaped.  But if they’re irregular they actually look best, and more like rose petals.

Then wrap the petals, one by one, around the spiral centre.  Squish the bottom of each petal to the base of the flower.

Make sure there is some separation between the petals - I like to flare the tops of each petal out a bit.

And just keep adding petals, overlapping them slightly, all around the flower until you’ve used up the whole Starburst piece.

And there you go!

I laid them out on wax paper keeping them from touching,  They can be a bit sticky when you’re working with them, and when they’re warm they can be a bit melty.  But after you let them sit for a minute they harden up and are smooth.  I stored mine in the freezer until I was ready to put them on the cupcakes.

(The top cupcake in the picture below was made from three Starburst candies.)

Cute, eh?  It’s pretty easy once you have the hang of it.  You could do this with help from a  couple friends, or do what I did: sit down and watch a good show in the evening and work on them.

Just remember to factor in some extras, because you might happen to eat a few in the process.

heartbeatoz:

(via ZsaZsa Bellagio)

thedecorista:

Beautifully rustic

starsmasquerading:

a-ladys-findings

Painted DIning Chairs

prettystuff:

Kate Spade via A Piece of Toast Blog

suziebeezie:

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