I'm not really sure why I like to torture myself, but three years running, that's exactly what I've done.

2nd birthday:

3rd birthday:

Alexis has always picked what kind of cupcakes she wanted to take to school to share with all of her friends (we're talking about around 40 kids, btw). The flowers were an excellent pick. They turned out very cute, but weren't terribly hard to put together. A little time consuming, sure, but not hard.

We don't talk about the panda bears. They might not have been quite as filled with warm fuzzy memories for me. The kids liked them, though, and we'll pretend that is all that matters EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT.

This year Alexis set her heart on High School Musical cupcakes. More specifically, she wanted Mr. Danforth cupcakes. First of all, um, EWWWW! Second of all, um, HOW? I had no idea, so I consulted Dr. Google. He was a tiny bit helpful, but really didn't solve my issue. I found some of the plastic little picks with HSM photos on them, but at $2.50 a package, I wasn't really feeling the love. If I wanted to spend a fortune on this whole cupcake plot, I would trudge down to the grocery store and let somebody else do all the work.

I'm WAY too cheap for that.

Eventually I figured out to ask Alexis to pick out bits and pieces for making the cupcakes. She approved some sprinkles. She approved the concept of star-shaped cookies. She thought glittery gold frosting was pretty. She was committed to pink cake batter. A little WHAM! Some BAM! and VOILA!

Some lessons were learned. They may be boring lessons, but I don't care because next year I need to come back here and heed my own wise words.

1. This stuff? IS FREAKIN MAGICAL!

I was muy dubious, especially because of the $4 per can price tag. I'm too cheap to be paying $4 for something that is $2 if it comes in a regular old plastic tub. In fact, I only bought one can, knowing it wouldn't go far, but refusing to commit to breaking the bank. Then I used the stuff and learned that it is $4 for a can of time. Glorious time! I zipped through that first dozen cupcakes in no time flat.

(Psst . . . if you put frosting in a bag/tip thingy, it's much faster than spreading it with a knife. And purdier. You just go around in a circlish spiralish thing, starting at the outside. Once you finish the first layer, you do another circlish spiralish thing on top of the first one, covering the seams. PURDY! Or, let someone else take the time to shove that frosting in the tube by buying the can. Time! In a can!)

2. The recipe that's on the back of the box of cake mix sucks. Alter that sucker and the cupcakes will be moister and firmer, making them easier to decorate.

1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
whatever cake mix

Mix and bake according to the direction on the box. So. much. better.

3. Put the batter in a storage bag, cut a corner, and squeeze it into the cupcake holders instead of filling them with a spoon. Faster. Cleaner. Easier.

And now to start speculating on what next year's theme of choice will be . . . it just better not be Jonas Brothers because, um, EWWWWW!

P.S. Not a sponsored post, but there is an Amazon Affiliate link up there somewhere.