Flower Cupcakes for Mother's Day

Now that Easter is over, it is time to think about Mother's Day.

 This year it will be interesting celebrating Mother's Day, because not only do I live in a different state than my mom, I now also live in a different state than my kids who are college age.

We will probably spend the day with my boyfriend's mom that day.  She is like a bonus mom to me, so I might be making some of these flower cupcakes.   I made them a few years back for one of my best friend's birthday which is right before Mother's Day, and she loved them. 

After you bake and frost your cupcakes (I used a box mix), it is time to make the candy flowers.  You will need a bag of candy fruit slices, which you can find reasonably priced in most candy aisles.   Sprinkle some granulated sugar on a flat surface, and lay the candy piece on it.  

 The sugar is needed to keep the candy from sticking when being rolled out.  Make sure both sides are covered with the sugar as you flatten it.  It should about 1/8 th of an inch thick. 
 

Cut the flattened candy in half lengthwise.  You will need to have about 3 strips per flower, so if you make a dozen cupcakes, plan on making at least 24 strips. (12 pieces of flattened candy) 

 Once you have all of your candy pieces flattened, it is time to assemble the flowers.  Start by rolling the pieces, and pinching the bottom as you roll to make it stick together.  Use about 3 pieces for each flower, or until you get the size flower that you like.  It's okay if it looks little blobby at this point, because it looks much better when it's placed on a cupcake. 

Once you have made the flowers, it is time to make the leaves.   To make a leaf, you will use green chewy candy. To be honest, I can not remember what kind I used on my cupcakes, but light green color was a pretty addition.  Place the chewy candy in the microwave for a few seconds and until it is soft enough to shape in the a leaf. 

I added the leaves to the cupcakes, and also some red sprinkles to a few plain cupcakes.   My friend was definitely surprised and loved her cupcakes.  

Another gift idea for mom to give her in addition to the cupcakes is to give her coupons.  I have several versions like this one, and some other Mother's Day printables in my Etsy Shop if you are interested in checking them out. 

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A Mother's Day Treat for a Special Mom

Disclosure: I was sent these treats by Shari Berries to share with a mom in my life.  All opinions in this post are 100% mine. 

I was recently given a great opportunity that I could not pass up.  I was asked to write a post about a mom in my life.  While I am close to my mom, she lives several states away and I do not have the chance to see  her very often.  I knew right away of another mom that I wanted to write about, my friend Rhonda.  I met Rhonda almost six years ago when we were both volunteering at our kids' elementary school.   We were both greeters who sat in the front hallway, and  welcomed parents when they came in the building.  I had the first shift of the morning, and she had the second. We started talking and realized we had a lot in common. Both of our boys were about the same age, and are very similar  My son had already been diagnosed with Aspergers, and her son was just starting the process. Not only did we become good friends, but our kids did as well.   Do you remember the milestone birthday Garden Party I shared a few years ago? How about  the It's Not a Party Until Someone Throws Up post?  That was her special birthday, and our kids having a great 4th of July holiday together.   

She has become one of my best friends, and is like an older sister to me.  She is a nurse who loves to take care of others, but doesn't always have the chance to do things for herself. This time of year can be a little hard for her.   Her mom is no longer with us, and she does not have a lot of family. I know she really misses her mom, and it is hard not to think about her with the constant reminders that are everywhere this week.  She has done so much for me over the years, and I really  wanted to something special just for her. She recently had a birthday, so I chose a day between her birthday and Mother's Day to celebrate.  I told her I had something special planned, but did not tell her anything else other than  she should come over hungry.  

Originally we were going to have lunch, but with our schedules it ended up being later in the day.  I knew we were going to have a decadent dessert, so I planned for a healthy meal.  We had chicken salad with cranberries and almonds, and homemade pepperoni pizza salad.  There was a little problem though, I forgot to pick up the pepperoni at the store so it was just pizza salad.  Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we also had blue chips in with individual bowls of mango salsa. (Aldis's has an excellent mango salsa for under $2!)  It was starting to get dark when we started to eat, so the lighting was not the best for pictures.  

Luckily I was able to take pictures of all the great goodies sent to me by Shari's Berries before dinner.  What they sent was amazing! Gourmet Dipped Strawberries that we gigantic, chocolate dipped cherries, and cheesecake bites. 

In addition to all of the other goodies, we also got Mother's Day Chocolate Covered Oreos. Yum! 

Everything looked so good, we had to try it all!  It tastes as good as it looks! It was the perfect  way to finish a special dinner.  Do you have a mom friend that might need a special treat this time of year?  

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Sharing is Caring Mothers Day Blog Hop

After our Sharing is Caring Easter Hop was a success, we decided to do it again for Mothers Day.
This post is part of the Sharing is Caring Mother's Day Blog Hop hosted by Life With Lovebugs, Powerful Mothering and Feeding Big!

I am going to share a way you can  give a great Mothers Day present, even when you do not have much money.

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Flower Cupcakes

Today was a big day.  Not only was it Kyle's 13th birthday, it was also the birthday of a good friend.

Kyle insisted on plain chocolate cupcakes, with NO theme.  He didn't have a party, but ate at one of his favorite restaurants, and hung out with a friend.   His friend also happened to be the son of my birthday friend.  She told me that he if didn't want themed cupcakes, she would love some..  Hmm...  what kind of theme should I do.

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Crafting with Kara- Cardboard Tube Flowers

We finally had the chance with Kara's busy schedule to fit in another installment of Crafting with Kara. This week she thought it would be fun to try a craft she saw in the March issue of Family Fun.  Using just a few supplies, she made vase filled with spring flowers.

The supplies you will need to make this craft are; one toilet paper tube per flower, and an extra tube if you want to make leaves, paint, bamboo skewers, and tissue paper.

Paint the tubes in your desired flower  colors.  If making leaves, paint one of the tubes green 

 Both the inside and the outside of the tubes need to be painted. We found it to be easier to paint the inside after cutting it.  Paint the skewers green, these will be the stems. 

Mark off the center inch of the tube 

Mom helped with this step.  Cut slits up to the mark off point on both sides of the tube. There should be about 1 inch of tube left uncut. 

Once the tube was cut, it was easier to reach inside the tube.  She also painted all of the petals on both sides of the tube. 

To make the leaves, flatten the green tube, and cut into strips. 

Once all the flowers are dry, stuff the centers with different colors of tissue paper. 

Using a push pin, make a small hole. (this is another step that might need to be done by the parent) 

Insert the pointed end of the skewer into the hole.  You might use a little bit of glue to keep it in place, but we did not have to. 

Because of the vase Kara decided to use, we did not add the leaves this time.

We found the pretty purple vase at the dollar store.  They sold other colors like pink, yellow and blue as well.   One thing that I love about these flowers is they will stay pretty a lot longer than real ones. They would make a nice Mother's Day gift or just a spring decor pick me up.  

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Mothers Day Candle

I saw this really cute craft on Craft Gossip today.  ComeTogetherKids  has a great tutorial on how to make customized candles using paint and your childrens fingerprints.   This would make a great gift for a mother, grandmother or even a teacher.   To see how to make one,  go to ComeTogetherKids.com  here.

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Mother's Day Cake

Can't decide between flowers and a cake for mom for Mother's Day?  How about  both by making a flower cake.   Family Fun   has the recipe to this really cute gumdrop flower cake that woud be the perfect treat for Mother's Day.   You can see how to make it here on FamilyFun.com

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