Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for the ‘A Baby Is Blooming’ Category

The cupcakes pictured here are perfect for a Blooming Flower Baby Shower, but you don't have to wait for a baby shower to make them!  The creative designs are so easy that they can be made for no reason at all.  The pretty cupcakes are fun to look at and delicious to eat!  Special thanks to my cousin Ashley - whose cupcake creations are an inspiration to me.  Some of her designs are shown here along with great homemade cupcake photos from Flickr.

The top left design is shared by Frostedbites on Flicker.  The cupcakes are covered with white frosting, then decorated with marshmallows that have been cut into petals.  The sticky inside of the marshmallow is perfect for catching colored sugar sprinkles, and a Pez inserted into the center of each cupcake completes the design.

The remaining 3 photos shown above are all cousin Ashley creations.  The top right photo shows cupcakes dipped in colored sugar and decorated with miniature candies such as jellybeans, mini M&M's and colored candy sprinkles.  To get the teardrop shape, insert an M&M sideways into the frosting so only the edge shows.  The bottom left photo is by far my favorite because I love sunflowers!  The cupcakes were initially frosted with light green icing.  Ashley then used Oreos (regular and mini sized) to create the sunflower bases.  She used a petal tip and decorator's bag to form the petals, and finished the flowers with red M&M ladybugs.  The leaves are gummy candy.  The bottom left photo shows miniature cupcakes, created for a very special birthday tea.  The mini cakes were frosted with a green base using a leaf tip for texture.  Ashley then cut out miniature gum paste flowers and dusted them with edible pearl dust to make them sparkly.  The dot in the center is a small candy bead.

1. The pink and white floral design shown above (far left) is a little more labor intensive than the other designs, but once you get the hang of using candy melts it's a lot of fun!  The cupcakes seen here were made by mommy golightly, but check out bakerella's blog to see how to make these neat cupcake toppers.
2. The orange and yellow flower cupcakes are easy to make, and perfect for anyone who loves licorice!  Here the bakers at Betty Crocker Recipes show us how to create brightly colored flowers using varying lengths of licorice sticks, some white icing and chocolate candy sprinkles.
3. The third design is another use of marshmallows for flower petals.  This time the cut side of the marshmallow is set on top the frosting, so the rounded portion is showing.  The center is made with colored M&M's.  Kids of all ages can help with decorating these cupcakes, which are displayed by Us3Crew.
4. The fourth design (far right) is all in the placement.  The chocolate cupcakes are simply dipped in icing, then sprinkled with colored sugar and artfully arranged on a cake board.  The flower stem is a piece of green licorice, and the leaves are gummy candies.  This floral pattern was created and shared by lars hammar.
5. The sprouting flower design is another one of my favorites - the cupcakes are brought to life with the use of pretzel sticks, miniature flower-shaped cookies, M&M's and gummy candy leaves.  The bakers at McCormick Kitchens will help you through the process on their Flickr page.
6. The final design I chose to spotlight shows yet another use of marshmallows for flower petals.  This time the marshmallows are simply cut in half, then placed around the cupcake in a circular pattern.  The center is again a colored M&M candy.  The hot pink frosting creates a dramatic background for the white flower.  These pretty cupcakes were made by hopskipjump.

As you can see by the designs shown here, it just takes a little creativity to make fun and tasty gourmet desserts for your Blooming Daisy Baby Shower.  Virtually any type of sweet treats can be used for flower petals, leaves or stems.  Even if you're a novice baker or decorator you will be able to make these beautiful cupcakes, and if you make any mistakes all you have to do is eat the evidence.  Happy Baking!

For more cupcake ideas, check out some of the following articles:

• Wedding Cupcake Ideas
• Sugar Free Cupcake Recipes
• Candy Cane Cupcakes
• Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

It's always nice to send your shower guests home with a little baby shower favor to remember the special day.  I love personalized favors that are useful even after the event - like the mint tins shown here.  Our mint tins are all about choices - we offer two tins sizes, 6 tin colors, 8 filling options (breath mints, candy mints, sweet sour tarts, mint gum, candy ducks, bubblegum, sugar free cinnamon candy or sour apple candy) and your choice of personalized message on the label.  Priced as low as $2.50 apiece, these favors are a fun and functional option.

A great personalized favor that ties in perfectly with your Blooming Flower theme are our wildflower seed packets.  Filled with enough seeds to cover 20 square feet, these favors provide a beautiful living reminder of your shower.  The packets are also customized with label designs, colors your own shower message.

You can't have blooming without a little buzzing, which makes our ceramic honey pot favors a fitting choice.  The beehive-shaped pot comes with a honeycomb stick for guests' to drizzle honey over their favorite snack!

Flower cookies are a delicious favor option, you can package them in a simple plastic baggie that is tied with colorful curling ribbon and a flower-shaped tag thanking guests for attending.  Cupcakes are a tasty favor also, but they are more difficult for guests' to transport so you may want to serve them as dessert instead.  Stay tuned for some easy and beautiful flower cupcakes!

Now onto more fun stuff, read about some fun free baby shower games!

When a baby girl is on the way, it's fun to give the new mother frilly outfits to dress baby in!  It is also a great idea to provide bibs so mom can keep these beautiful new clothes clean during feedings.  Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets can help with both gift choices, we carry a wide selection of baby bibs, many of which can be personalized.

If you would like to help decorate baby's room, you'll find an entire line of personalized baby furniture on our website.  We offer dozens of hand painted design options including our bright and colorful blooms and butterflies.  When my first son was born, my best friend gave him a piggy bank that still sits on top of his dresser.  You can purchase personalized piggy banks that come in all shapes and sizes, including a cash box, dinosaur, and blooming flower as shown here .

Other useful blooming flower baby gifts include a flower-themed diaper bag filled with diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream.  Many new mothers appreciate a gift to pamper her, so consider floral-scented bath oils, hand lotion or aromatherapy candles.  Although not necessarily tied into the blooming flower theme, gift cards for local restaurants are a lifesaver when a new baby takes up much of mom's time, and gift certificates for a cleaning service are highly prized by new parents.

Related Articles:

• Handmade Baby Gift Ideas
• Top 10 Personalized Baby Gifts

I may be corny, but my favorite part of a baby shower is game time!  Maybe it's my competitive nature, or my love of winning prizes, but in any case I'm always first in line for game time.  Over the years I've played some fun baby shower games and even been inspired to create a few.  The ones listed below work perfectly for a flower-themed shower:

Flower Word Scramble - Scramble up the letters to popular flower names and have guests arrange them in the proper order.  The first one done (or the one with the most correct answers) wins a prize.  Excellent flower names for this game are gladiolus, daffodil and delphinium, but you'll also want to include a few easier names like rose, daisy and tulip.

Guess That Flower - Visit a flower store or farmer's market prior to the shower and gather a number of blooms.  Make sure you know the name of each flower, and put each flower in a different vase (baby bottles work well for vases in this case).  Number each flower and have guests write down the name - the person with the most correct answers wins.  A great prize for this game is to gather all of the flowers into a beautiful arrangement and present it to the winner.

How Many Petals - As mentioned in my previous post, ask your shower guests to estimate how many petals are contained in a certain bloom (daisies are perfect for this game).  Let mom pull the flower apart and the person with the closest estimate wins!  Present her with a floral-scented candle, bubble bath or hand lotion.

Flower Colors - Announce certain flower names and have each guest (including the mother-to-be) write down the first color that comes to mind (like red roses, white baby's breath, yellow daisy, purple iris, etc).  See which guest has the highest number of matches to the new mom and reward that person with a suitable prize.

X Marks The Spot - Purchase personalized blooming lemonade packets and mark one of these packets with an X on the back.  Place the packets in a basket and make sure your guests select one (or two) as a take-home favor.  Before the shower ends, ask your guests to check the back of their packets, the person who holds the marked packet wins a prize!

Related Articles:

• Five Cheap Baby Shower Games
• Baby Shower Theme Ideas

Perfect for an outdoor or springtime party, your Blooming Flower Baby Shower can be a fun way to introduce the new baby girl to her new friends and family!  With a few simple and colorful decorations, exciting baby shower games and cute take-home baby shower favors, your guests - and especially the guest of honor - will have a great time.

Introduce shower guests to the theme with your blooming invitations.  Purchase themed invitations online or create your own by cutting daisy shapes out of construction paper.  Write shower information such as when, where and what time on each petal, then put the star of the show in the center of the bloom!  If your flowers are too large to fit in a standard envelope, fold the petals toward the center so your guests can watch the details "bloom" as they unfold the invitation.

Decorate your shower tables with large bouquets of colorful daisies.  Use these bouquets for a shower game where you ask guests to count the flowers in each bouquet or count the number of petals on a certain flower.  Sprinkle flower petals across a plain white tablecloth or use a different colored cloth for each table for a bright and cheery presentation.

When guests arrive at the shower, greet them with a large flower-shaped sign announcing "Welcome to (the new mother)'s Blooming Baby Shower".  Make sure to have a corsage for the guest of honor and a refreshing beverage for her to relax with.  I recommend lemonade or a light fruit punch to keep with the theme.

Daisy cupcakes are a tasty and relatively easy dessert option for this type of shower theme.  Either decorate individual cupcakes with daisy designs or frost them in different colors and arrange in the shape of a flower.  I saw a really unique dessert idea at kraftfoods.com (see photo on right) and you could easily put your own unique spin on it.

As guests are getting ready to leave, bring out a basket of blooming shower favors so they will each have a memory of the special day.  Help mom pack up all of her baby gifts and send her home with a beautiful flower bouquet to keep her special theme alive as long as possible!

More Baby Shower Theme Ideas:

• Top 5 Baby Girl Shower Themes
• Top 5 Baby Boy Shower Themes