Down in the Swamp...

I have got something very exciting to share with you! I mentioned yesterday that I was working on a cake for a 4 year olds birthday party! From time to time my mom and I like to make cakes for special occasions! My mom has made several wedding cakes! I have to admit it can be very tedious, but once you see the finished product it is all worth it! For this party I was making an alligator cupcake cake! I have listed below each of the steps I took when creating my masterpiece!

1.      I began by buying a square piece of thin board and some brown spray paint at Lowes for only $5. In order to create the visual that I wanted for the cake, I needed a thin but sturdy platform to set the scene on. The theme for the party that I was making the cake for was "Gators in the Swamp." I wanted to really bring this theme alive in my presentation!

2.      Next, I went to Hobby Lobby...(Never a good idea for me! I will stay in there for hours! And I did!) At Hobby Lobby, I got some brown Easter grass, a wooden snake, a wooden lizard, decorative grass, and 2 styrofoam circles. I also went to Wal-Mart and bought a box chocolate cake mix, white icing, m&ms, marshmallows, yellow gummy candy, green cupcake holders and green food coloring.

3.      I prepared my board by spray painting it about three days prior to the party. I wanted to make sure it had plenty of time to dry. I also lightly spray painted the styrofoam circles to look like stumps in the swamp. I then painted the wooden snake and lizard I bought with some wood paint we had lying around the house.

4.      The day before the party I baked my cupcakes and arranged them on the board before attaching anything else. I did this so that I would know how much space I had to work with for other decoration on the board. I also put a very thin layer of icing on my cupcakes just to seal them for the night. Using the glue gun, I attached the styrofoam circles to the board diagonally from each other at the corners. I then individually glued the decorative grass around each styrofoam circles and on the edges of the board. In order to hide the not so pretty bottom of the grass, I used a paint brush and painted regular Elmer’s glue on the board directly underneath the grass. I then filled in the bottom of the grass with the brown Easter grass.

5.      At 5 am this morning I awoke and put the finishing touches on my alligator! First, I colored my icing green and piped it on to cover the alligator. After I finished the piping I connected two marshmallows with a toothpick inside and also iced them with the green icing. DO NOT FROST THE ENDS OF THE MARSHMALLOWS! On each end, add one brown m&m for the eyeball. Attatch the Marshmallows eyeballs to the head of the alligator. Add two more brown m&ms at the tip of the alligator head as the nostrils. Also add the Marshmallow teeth to the sides of the cupcakes. Lastly, I added the yellow gummy candy as the alligator’s fingernails! Finally, I was finished!

This recipe can be found in the "Hello Cupcake" book. It has so many cute cupcake ideas in it! It is definitely worth investing in! Here is the finished product below! I also added some toy lizards as a finishing touch!