Tuesday Tutorial - Christmas Tree Cupcake Toppers + Candy Bracelet Ornaments

I keep it real. Yes, I have these awesome tutorials and party photos...but there is a dark side. The failures. The coulda-shoulda-wouldas.  The 'If you could pan wide and see the destruction around this pretty picture'.  When a project goes sideways, I think it's fair to share.  I really wanted to title this post 'PINTEREST FAIL'.


In fact, if you follow me on Instagram, you saw my initial excitement.  It all started with this cone shaped cake tutorial pin from Better Homes & Garden.  I said to myself, 'Self, these would be super cute as Christmas trees with piped frosting. Let's do this!'

I followed the set-up directions...got the cake batter in...stressed out a little that they would tip over in the oven so I sat in front of the oven for the first 12 minutes.  Which they didn't, so I thought I was on easy street.

After the allotted time, I took them out, did the toothpick test, they were perfectly cooked.  So I let them cool and put them away since they were for this week's Enrichment Club, and no worries, I would frost and decorate the demo the next day.


Enrichment Club was at 1:00 pm.  At 11:00 am, I got all my sprinkles out, filled up frosting bags outfitted with #21 star tips and prepared to unwrap and frost a cone.  But instead of having to peel them off, they fell out of the cone.  And then my heart stopped...because the toothpick test was perfect for the majority of the cake, but it did not reach the bottom tip, which remained in the cone COMPLETELY RAW.


Yes, raw.

All of them.  Raw.

I am assuming the beans that support the cones did not conduct heat well to bake the batter.  Longer baking would have dried out the rest of the cake, so I have NO idea how they got around that in the original recipe.

So after I stopped mentally screaming...and a little out loud because I'm home alone...I remember a super-cute idea from Tablespoon frosting sugar cones and turning them into Christmas tree cupcake toppers.  I could do the same thing with a quick trip to the store for the cones and cupcakes. Pinterest win!



And that's what we did!



Some of the kids were piping pros and were knocking it out of the park but they all picked it up fast. The #21 star tip is the perfect size, not too large but small enough to keep them focused and engaged.

Armed with my stash of SweetWorks' Sixlets, Pearls, silver and gold stars and Wilton's Christmas light shaped candy, they had so much fun decorating their trees.  Full disclosure, too many candies, like a real tree covered in too many ornaments, will tip over.  We had a casualty or two.  Those trees look sturdy but they are still hollow.



We also made candy bracelet ornaments inspired by Parents' version and the kids decorated a glassine envelope to gift them.  Sorry, I didn't get any shots of the kids' creations but they were super cute.


Whew...talk about a love-hate relationship with Pinterest.  I really want to make this cone cake thing happen, so I'm going to have to do a little digging and figure out what I did wrong.

If you are looking for a couple of last-minute holiday crafts, these are right up your alley.  In fact, we are spending Christmas Eve with friends and the kids will be making their own trees.





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