Phillies Cupcakes

It will indeed be another Red October!!

You may recall from an earlier post that I am a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan, and I am proud to say that my team has yet again secured themselves a spot in the post season. To commemorate this achievement and also celebrate my roommate's 30th birthday (she is a huge fan as well), I made Phillies themed cupcakes.

I made 30 cupcakes -15 chocolate and 15 french vanilla, rotating between chocolate and vanilla icing.

• On top of each cupcake I sprinkled either blue or red sprinkles on the icing that I piped out of a pastry bag using a large round tip. 
• I found red and blue cupcake cups at the party store to keep with the theme.
• For an extra added touch I tried out something new this time. I piped out the trademark "P" using red candy melts. This was surprisingly easy and added so much to the team spirited little cakes.

Decorating with chocolate melts. 

• Candy melts (I prefer Wilton's) -You can purchase these at any grocery store, although you will find a broader selection of colors at a craft store or even some party stores. They are about $2.99 but I almost always find them on sale at Micheal's Craft store. They do store well so you can hold onto the leftovers until Christmas.
• Wax paper
• Decorating squeeze bottles -You can also pick these up at your local craft store. When you are finished with your project try to dump out as much of the melted candy as you can and then stick the bottle in the freezer. After a few hours crunch and shake the frozen candy out of the bottle. 

Melting the candy:

Fill the squeeze bottle with the candy melts and secure the lid and little orange cap. Place into a small sauce pan filled about halfway with warm water. Keep the burner set on LOW mixing and shaking the bottle often until the candy is melted. Add more candy melts as they turn to liquid and fill the bottle. Make sure the tip of the bottle remains out of the water and dry at all times. You do not want to get water into the bottle. When you are ready to squeeze out the melted candy shake it all the way to the tip with the cap on. You want to remove as many air bubbles as you can.
Lay out some wax paper and patiently squeeze out whatever shape or letter you want. Practice and allow yourself enough so that you can choose the nicest looking shapes to use. Allow them to harden (about 30 mins) and gently pop it off of the wax paper and place on your cupcake. That's it!

This new little trick has opened up so many possibilities for future cupcake toppers. If you decide to try this yourself, please post a comment below and let me know what you made and how it worked out for you. I am always open to new tips, tricks and ideas!

Baseball Basement

Sometimes when I cannot sleep I find myself "window shopping" on the web imagining the purchases I would make if I were decorating the house I have yet to own. What am I mentally designing tonight you ask?

My baseball basement! Anyone who knows me knows that I am a baseball fan and MY team is the Philadelphia Phillies. I will have a baseball themed basement someday. A place where I can display my team spirit while cheering on my World Series Champs.

Having just spent about an hour looking on the web for ideas I realized that it will not be as simple as "Googling" the Phillies with my credit card in hand. I don't want a giant red leather recliner. Anyone can purchase everything they find with their team logo on it but it will be expensive and unoriginal. I will take a classy approach to my baseball basement. Of course I will have items with my team logo but there are also just as effective yet cheaper ways to work your theme. I will have some sort of small corner beverage area. Probably built by hand and stained a nice dark tone. I will have pilsner glasses adorned with the red "P". I have no desire to try to duplicate the "ballpark feel" by trying to make my basement look like the ballpark. That is a feeling that is reserved and savored for game day. My basement will never hold 45,000 people so why try to pretend? I WILL NOT have green carpet or a giant mural of the outfield bleachers. I will not glue tiny baseballs and bats to my walls.
I say all of the time that I try to look ahead. I know what I like. My style will always evolve but I know a good piece when I see it. So until I have my baseball basement, I will just continue to collect items knowing they will eventually have a home.
It will be a place where I can drink a beer, cheer on my World Series team surrounded by memorabilia, ticket stubs, pennants, newspaper articles plastered with grand slam moments, and jerseys commemorating players that have come and gone. A place where I will hang pictures of games I have been to with my friends and family over the years.

Ah... my baseball basement. I can curse my team in the 4th and praise them in the 9th. How sweet it will be.