It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

It's been a long time since I updated my last post.  I am so glad to report that our Cupcake-Sell-A-Thon for Brendan and his family was a great success! 

I made the following flavors for the Cupcake-Sell-A-Thon last week:

The Summer Cupcake (vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting)

Coca-Pop Cupcake (chocolate and coca cola cupcake with cherry frosting)

Ms. Rosie Cupcake (vanilla cupcake with rose water frosting)

The Dude Cupcake (chocolate cake with bacon bits, PB frosting and champagne pomegrate filling)

The Classic Cupcake (vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream)

The Chocolate Lover (chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting)

Everything was sold within the first half hour, and we even needed to limit people to buy only 2 max. for the first round.  Some people even gave me more money than the cupcake actually cost.  Besides selling those amazing cupcakes, we also have a secret auction for a half dozen cupcakes, which came with each flavor) to boost more funds for the family.  The secret auction went so successfully and it got sold for 100 dollars=)  I hope that the funds we collected during the sale could help Brendan and his family to pay off some of their bills.  Also, glad to hear that Brendan is a very tough little guy.  He has been recovered very well and hopefully, he could leave the hospital by end of this year. 

Ms. Rosie Cupcake without the rose pedal

The Classic Cupcakes and the Summer Cucpakes were both sold out quickly.

Coca-Pop cupcakes are a lot of people's favorites

Ms. Rosie Cupckes got dressed up with a edible rose pedal

The Dude Cupcakes are not just popular among the dudes. 
They were so popular among the ladies too.

Hurry up, only two Ms. Rosie left! 
And Tony (Brendan's dad) shared some recent pictures of the family and Brendan with us.

Gone Gone Gone...

The secret auction.  The half dozen got sold for 100 dollars!

This time, I gave up using fondant for decoration.  I used edible rose pedal for the Ms. Rosie Cupcakes, a small stripe of bacon for the Dude Cupcakes, and a cherry and a straw for the Coca-Pop Cupcakes...they came out as cute as my hand crafted fondant toppers.

I had so much fun of planning and organizing this Cupcake-Sell-A-Thon and I was touched by all the kind people, who came out and support.  This meant a lot to me, Brendan and his family.  You guys ROCKS!

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.

Story of little Brendan -

On June 12th, 2012 Amy and Tony Belello took their 14 month old son into the emergency room due to an accidental fall from a changing table earlier in the morning. A CT scan revealed a “peach sized mass” in the back of his brain/skull and he was rushed into emergency surgery at CHOC hospital in Orange, CA to have it removed and tested. The test came back positive for a type of cancer referred to as Medulloblas toma, a Desmoplasti c style tumor. Neurosurgeons where confident that they had removed most of the tumor and additional fragments. Doctors informed Tony and Amy that he had two weeks to live if the tumor was not removed. Several MRIs, a lumbar puncture and ultrasounds followed and showed a good result with no cancer developing elsewhere in his body.

Brendan has been at CHOC since July 1st and will remain there until December 2012 receiving chemotherapy. The chemotherapy is additional treatment to destroy any remaining cancer cells that may be in his body, which could quickly develop into the original fast-growing brain tumor.

Tony and Amy Belello also have a 3-year old daughter named Collette. The family is forced to be separated during the next 6 months while Brendan undergoes treatment. They also must continue to work full-time jobs in order to maintain medical insurance. Brendan will have one of his parents at his side 24/7 during this process. Your support will help this young family get through this difficult time.

I have never worked with Tony (Brendan's dad) since he had transferred to our San Diego's office when I first started.  However, I did have chance to meet him and his family during our Company's Christmas party last year.  I still remember how cute his two little ones were at the party. It absolutely broke my heart when I hear about what little Brendan has been going through. 

I am always trying to sneak a way to give back to the people in need.  I contacted Tony few weeks ago about a cupcake-sale-a-thon's idea to raise money to help the family.  And Tony was so excited about my idea and very thankful to see someone loves to help his family.  I know that it's not a big event, but I guess every help and every penny count.  And I am glad to hear that Brendan is doing so good at the hospital.  He is such a strong little hero. 

This won't be my last cupcake-sale-a-thon.  I am sure I will organize more cupcake-sale-a-thon in future to help whoever in need. 

Getting Ready for Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, are you ready to party?  I came across this very cute piñata cookies' recipe on a website called, She knows Food and Recipes.  The recipe is great with step by step pictures and clear instruction.  If you want something different for your kids on this Cinco de Mayo, this will definitely surprise them with a pinata cookies filled with mini M&M inside=)

The cookies just like a real pinata (filled with candies)!

Cinco de Mayo is not just for kids, how about some taquila shoot for the grown-ups?

Need party ideas?  Taquila shoot and mini taco for the adults.
(photo from Pinterest)

Precious First Birthday

Few weeks ago, I attended my friend's baby first birthday party at a park; it was a sunny, nice and warm day in April at the park.  First birthday is the most previous for the family and the baby.  I knew my friend and her sisters put a lot of efforts to make her baby's first birthday as perfect as possible=)  I could not believe baby Vai has turned one.  I still remember attending my friend's baby shower last year; it feels like just days ago.  It's so crazy that time has flied so fast that now the baby starts learning how to walk and words. 

Made the paper cupcake toppers for baby Vai's cupcakes

My friend's favorite color, purple!  I put a little bow under the "1" cupcake picker
becauese Vai always has a little bow on her hairs.

I helped my friend of making some paper cupcake picks.  Due to their tight budget, they ordered the cupcakes from a local gocery store and my job was SIMPLE - just dress the store bought cupcakes up nicely.  I also made baby Vai a "I am 1!" sign for pictures (see picture below).  All the settings, decorations, food and cupcakes came out so cute together!  I truely had fun playing all the old school games and enjoyed all the food at the party. 

Here is a little poem I found for my friend's baby Vai Vai:


Posing with the "I am 1!" sign I made her=)

I learned to laugh and squeal,
Then sit and stand,
And I can walk now if you hold my hand.
But the fun has only just begun,
Lookout world, I'm turning one!

My friend included pictures of her dad on the cake table
(her dad just passed away in March).  What a great way to celebrate
baby Vai's first birthday with her Kui (grandpa)

Vai vai likes her tranditional outfit.

Old school games at the park

Happy Birthday, Kayson!

Over the weekend, I made some cupcake pops for my best friend, Ashley's son. I planned to make him little something for his birthday for a while.  I know he likes candies and everything sweet. Ashley told me that every time he went to Starbucks with her, he was telling her how much he wanted the cake pop from the Starbucks.  Based on these two clues, cupcake pops and a jar fulled of Easter's M&Ms will make his birthday even sweeter.

I am glad to see his smil-y face when he received the gift. Even better, I got to see him ate them and enjoyed them; that's priceless.  He is one of the coolest kids I ever met.  He is so beautiful inside and out, I wish he would never change.  Happy birthday to you again, Kayson; Carmen and Chris (he kept asking me where my "boyfriend" [aka my husband] is) love you!

PS.  If you want to send something sweet and special to someone you love, contact us today.  We could craft and design some beautiful cupcake pops or cake pops/balls for you and the one you love=)

DIY Cupcake Toy for Your Kid

I found this creative DIY matching cupcake toy from Naptime Crafters website.  It is a smart way to teach your little one about colors through playing the game.  Remember when we were little kid, our parents were a lot more creative than us.  They made things for us to play or encouraging us to make our own toys. 

Also, a lot of kids grow up in a world, which filled with technology.  I don't know it's 100% a good thing for the parents or for the kids (I guess this is a too serious topic to discuss on this blog=p).  If I had kid in future, I just wanted them to have a simple childhood with less technology toys involved.

OK, back to the topic - if you are interested in how to make this cute matching cupcake toy for your little one, go and check out the Naptime Crafters website. 

Picture from Naptime Crafters

Picture from Naptime Crafters

If you are new on crafting and sewing, and want to have a easier instruction of making your toy cupcakes, here another website, you might be interested.  The website calls "Hoogli Art", they have step by step tutorial and easier way to make your cupcakes.  Below is their final production.

Picture from Hoogli Art



The Bigger The Better!

In America, people has this theory "The Bigger The Better".  I found the largest gummy worm and gummy bear in the world on Vat 19 website.  Hey, Christmas is around the corner, these may make your kids the best Christmas gift they ever received!

The World's Largest Gummy Worm is 128 times more massive than a traditional gummy worm. Measuring twenty-six inches long and weighing in at approximately 3 pounds, the World's Largest Gummy Worm is the most delicious 4,000-calorie candy worm in existence.

The Giant Gummy Bear on a stick is 88 times larger than a standard gummy bear. Each Giant Gummy Bear weighs half a pound and comes on a stick for easy, mess-free snacking.

This five-pound beast is the equivalent of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and

packs a whopping 6,120 calories.