Happy Birthday On A Budget Mini Cupcakes

Here is an easy, yummy and special way to celebrate a birthday for someone you care about.

 

Assemble The Following:

 

cake mix (grocery store)

candy cake decorations (grocery store)

sprinkles (grocery, Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

icing tip #1M (Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

disposable 8" x12" cake pan with cover (Walmart $.97)

mini cupcake pan (grocery, Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

mini cupcake papers (grocery, Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

empty Pringles can (for holding icing bag while loading icing)

2 disposable icing bags (Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

 

 

Use first disposable icing bag to add cake mix to mini muffin cups without spills or mess.  Make 40 muffins.

 

 

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  When they are still warm, squeeze muffins into the disposable cake pan.  Ensure that at least one row has 8 cupcakes across so that you have enough individual muffins to add the letters "birthday." 

Wait for cupcakes to cool completely in pan.  Apply icing.

 

Basic Cream Cheese Icing Recipe:

 

16 oz. cream cheese, softened (two packages)

2 tbs. milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla

8 cups powdered sugar (one package)

 

Slip 1M tip into second icing bag, load icing into bag using Pringles can and begin to decorate leaving cupcakes in pan. 

Keep bag perpendicular to pan and squeeze gently until star shape emerges. You can go back later and apply another star on top of the first one for a fuller look. 
 

(It's always a good idea to practice on a plate or an extra cupcake before applying icing to final cupcake.  You may need to add more powdered sugar to thicken or a drip or two of water or milk to thin icing.  Should be as firm as possible and still go through the tip.)
 

 

Add sprinkles and candy decorations.

 

 

 Add plastic lid for easy transportation.  When ready to serve, add candles.

 

 

 

Voila! Now you have a delicious, beautiful, hand-crafted and unique Happy Birthday on a Budget celebration cake for a special person in your life.

Happy Birthday on a Budget Vintage Happy Birthday Cards

Are these vintage Happy Birthday cards ever cute?  Available here:
ETSY Vintage Happy Birthday Cards

Happy Birthday on a Budget Personalized Silver Chopsticks for the Sushi Lover in your Life!

Really, really special personalized silver-plated chopsticks come with a silver chopsticks holder and are dishwasher safe.  On sale for $23.05 plus shipping.  I know someone who would love them.

 

 

 

Personalization Mall HB Chopsticks

Happy Birthday on a Budget 3-D Card For Him

Here's another example of a handmade 3-D Happy Birthday on a Budget card.
I found a toy fishing pole with four fish at CVS for $6.99. 

Got a clear vase at the Dollar Store.  Cut a piece of blue glitter card stock paper to fit the inside of the vase.  

Glue-gunned the fish together at the fins so they would fit inside the vase.

Glue gunned the pole to the side of the vase.  Used my Happy Birthday craft stamp and ink (from a former post) to make a gift tag.

 

This adorable Happy Birthday 3-D card could be used as a table decoration along with his other birthday gifts or could be a cute Happy Birthday on a Budget stand-alone gift for a friend or co-worker.

Happy Birthday On A Budget Single Rose

Here's a simple and thoughtful but beautiful and delicious Happy Birthday on a Budget gift idea: a single rose made of cake.

 

You will need a rose muffin pan, a green dowel or a regular dowel wrapped in florist tape and a four artificial leaves - all found at Hobby Lobby. 

 

 

 I used a NordicWare muffin pan that I got on sale for $19.99 and which I have used over and over for other projects. 

 

 

Below is a silicone rose muffin pan that looks great for $9.89 on Amazon.   Here's the link: Silicon Rose Muffin Pan

 

 

 I used a red velvet cake mix for the rose. 

 

Decorate rose for Happy Birthday presentation with a clear cellophane gift bag (Target, Michaels, Hobby Lobby), add a ribbon bow and a gift tag and you're good to go!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday on a Budget Cookie Bouquet

This is a really fun and rewarding Happy Birthday on a Budget project, but it takes a little more patience and energy than my previous Happy Birthday on a Budget handmade ideas.  Here's the 20,000'  flyover.  Take your time on this.  Don't try to accomplish everything in one day.

Gather the following items:

·         1 cereal bowl (Dollar Store)

·         piece of florist foam (Dollar Store)

·         cookie dough (find sugar cookie recipe in previous post)

·         sugar cookie icing (find sugar cookie icing recipe in previous post)

·         5  plastic disposable decorating bags (Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

·       5 decorating couplers (Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

·         3 decorating tips in size #1, #2 & #3 (Michaels, Hobby Lobby)

·         4 decorating colors of your choice (plus original icing of white makes five colors) (Michaels,  Hobby Lobby)

·         1 empty can Pringles chips

·         4-6 cookie cutters (these can be B-day cutters or simple circles or squares or a combination)

·         2 small art brushes (for correcting icing) put in a water glass with water

·         small spray bottle (for correcting icing)

·         wet washcloth (your hands and spills)

·         barbeque skewers

First Step:  Make cookie dough; make icing; decide on color scheme; which cookies will be which colors; hot glue florist foam into plastic cereal bowl.

 1.  Bake cookies.  After removing cookies from the oven, set them onto a cooling rack with a spatula. One cookie at a time, gently place cookie on a hard surface and insert skewer; place skewered  cookie back onto the cooling rack to cool (as it cools the skewer will embed tightly into the cookie).

 

2.   Divide and color icing (place icing in separate bowls or plastic containers) and add drop of desired color, mix and set aside.
 



3.  Begin basic icing (first layer) of cookies.  One by one, place coupler in each of five decorating bags; place #3 tip on bag and add icing to bag using empty Pringles can to hold bag.  Ice cookies.  With wet art brush, touch up any icing

smears or icing boo-boos.

 

4.  When first icing layer is complete, leave cookies on waxed paper uncovered for some hours or overnight until completely dry; cover with waxed paper.  Keep icing refrigerated until cookies are dry.

 

5.  Retrieve refrigerated, filled decorator bags, let warm to room temperature.  Attach tip #2 on bags, start second icing layer:  add lines, dots, etc.  Once this layer is dry, attach tip #1 and write "Happy Birthday" on designated HB cookie (third layer).

 6.  Final Step: Assemble cookies in cereal bowl.  Take clipper and cut skewers to desired heights.  Insert cookies into florist foam inside bowl.  Fill in gaps with shredded paper or tissue paper.   

   

Total price of this Happy Birthday on a Budget cookie bouquet is under $10.00.  Take your time; your Happy Birthday cookie bouquet will be beautiful and delicious as well. 

 

However, if you like the idea but don't have the time or patience to create a cookie bouquet, here are some places where you can purchase some amazing cookie bouquets starting at about $29.99 plus shipping.

 

Shari's Berries

Cookies by Design

 

Happy Birthday on a Budget Special Cookie Cutter

This B-day gift idea is quick and special at the same time.  I bought a large cookie cutter 4" x 6."  On my computer I wrote Happy Birthday for the tag.  On the same page I wrote the sugar cookie and icing recipe from one of my previous posts in Word.  I printed everything on one page of card stock.  I reduced the font for the recipe to 6 so that it would fit into a 2" X 3" space. I printed half the recipe on the front side of the card and the other half on the back side of the card.  (It's a printer setting.) Then I took a paper cutter and cut out the text as seen below.

 

Front:

 Back:

Now your birthday person can either make themselves some great sugar cookies or use the cookie cutter and the recipe to make a special B-day cookie for one of their friends or loved ones when their birthday rolls around.