They made me do it...

I swear. They did.

That PC team and those Go-to-Gals... they kept me up all day, daydreaming brainstorming my woefully small noggin to pieces with topics like future articles, hot techniques, even hotter trends, etc. (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and they kept me up nearly all night with games like What If? and topics such as Just-What-Does-It-Mean-When-One-Person-Friends-One-Person-On-Facebook-But-Suspiciously-Does-Not-Friend-Everyone- Else? (Dude... even typing that out gives me a feeling of uncontrollable giggling that threatens to bubble over so much so that my husband and children would be sure to ask me why I am am laughing uncontrollably at myself.).

Ah, good times, good times.

I'd love to give you all the dirty details about how it was so incredibly painful to be creative all day and how the world of Paper Crafts is secretly like a soap opera behind the scenes and it's all just an incredibly well-crafted cover-up (get it... well-crafted? Yeah... I totally kill myself, I know.) but I can't.

That would be waaaay more interesting than telling you that there were times when I thought my abs would actually stop functioning due to the laughter that they kept being subjected to. Not to mention the fact that getting to see the Paper Crafts team work together in all of their different capacities, with each of their different gifts being so well utilized, as well as how much they actually love what they do... well, it was just totally cool.

But back to how they made me do it. So, I came back from the Editorial Board meeting totally and 100% energized to make, to create, to become more crafty, to immerse myself even more completely in creativity during the time I have for creating... and at the same time, totally wiped out and at the same time needing to focus on a few other necessary things (i.e. baby shower... more about that in a sec) right when I got back. So, it's their fault, I swear (riiiiiight)... but here I am, finally blogging again. Miss me?

So, on to the baby shower. Can I just tell you... I've been a part of many, many, many baby showers. Quite a few. I swear. Trust me on this. Have to say, though... I think this one might top the list of all-time favorite baby shower themes.

Why? you ask.

Cheap and easy, my friends. Cheap and easy.

Not to mention completely stinkin' adorable. (And I just want to say, that for some reason that phrase sounds way better when you say it really fast. It does. Try it. I like how all the words just seem to fit together.) That part is important, too.

This shower was thrown in honor of a friend of mine who is having a baby girl, but is not so terribly into a ton of baby girl stuff. She is, however, a teacher. Pair this with another friend whose husband is a childrens' pastor and voila... you're probably set with everything you need to pull off a school-themed baby shower. Jars stuffed to overflowing with new yellow pencils... stacks of vintage flash cards set in tall apothocary jars sitting next to old locker baskets full of school books... spinning globes as the centerpieces on the buffet table... love it.

So, remember how I came back home to about a zillion things to do? 48 of those zillion things were cupcakes.

That is a lot of tiny little things to do. So, I was brainstorming on how to get these 48 things knocked out of the way quickly. Now, I don't claim brilliance often, but hear me out people, cause what is coming next is brilliant. Seriously. It has the potential to change your entire baking life. I know... you're totally on the edge of your seat now, right? (Yeah... I know you're not, but that's ok, because I promise you... you will soon be indebted to me forever for saving you hours of slaving over cupcakes in the half hour before you're supposed to leave for your kid's 3rd grade party which he or she oh-so-inconveniently completely forgot to tell you that he or she signed up to bring 100 cupcakes.)

Here's the long and short of it. Ready?

Take a can of ready-made frosting. You know... the kind in a can. Yeah, that one. (Disclaimer... I am not the biggest fan of ready-made icing. I am, as you know, slightly perfectionistic and slightly OCD and those two things combined with baking makes for an all-from-scratch kind of baker. However... ready-made frosting definitely has a place and by golly, I've found it!)

So, take the said can.

Take off the lid.

Tear off the foil cover.

Place the said can in the microwave. Yes, I said microwave. (Looks kinda odd in there, doesn't it?)

Heat for 30 seconds on 50% power. Stir.

Heat for 30 more seconds on 50% power. Stir.

And now... for the piece do resistance...

dip the top of your cupcake directly in the melted icing while it's still in the can.

Just dunk it in a bit until the top is covered. Pull it up and let the excess kinda drizzle off for a second. Then turn it over. And marvel at the perfet shiny glazed masterpiece that you have hand-crafted in less than 3.5 seconds.

(Now, disregard the funky little droplet on the right side because you will not be trying to dunk the cupcake with one hand while balancing your camera and taking a picture with your other hand, so therefore, yours will look perfect.)

It's a thing of beauty, my friends. No need to even dirty a single bowl. Incredible. They're good to go. Just let them dry and be amaze all your friends with your lovely little cakelets.

Now, if you wanna get super creative you just let those bad boys dry, then pipe on a bit of something. Me? I don't draw. However, I do write. So, I went with something simple.

And, yes, I did set them out on school lunch trays. Because really, doesn't everyone love school lunch trays?

After I baked and decorated and scratched 48 of the zillion things I had to do off of my to-do list, that left making a card for the other hostesses to sign for our guest of honor. Except I was running out of time so I downgraded the card to a tag to hang on the gift. The tag was a big one because the gift was a stroller. So... a few minutes later...

...and done. Super fast. I think I could use that saying from Bitty Baby Blessings (PTI) on probably every baby card I'll ever need to make. Love how the buttons somehow kind of go along with the school theme. I used an alphabet set from the now gone-by-the-wayside Paper Salon for the name. (I'm sorry, I have no idea of the name of this set or if it's even available anymore, but I've kept it around because it's super versatile.)

And so I end yet another post in which I said to myself, "Gee, I'm sure that won't take more than a few words to explain everything." Ha! Foiled again.

Later, friends!

{baby} tag

Stamps - Bitty Baby Blessings & Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up)

Cardstock - Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink)

Buttons