Hey there Cupcake~& V-day Giveaway!

Keep Calm and Eat A Cupcake. Can I tell you how happy I was went this phrase appeared in the line of "Keep Calm" products? Super happy. I love cupcakes. Last year at our Funky Junk spring show I dreamed of having a cupcake booth; by the fall show we had Shanwna Leonard of Sweet B Cupcakes from Coeur d' Alene there with us, transforming my life with her maple/bacon cupcakes (among many others!). For Valentines Day I was determined to bake not only cookies, but cupcakes as well. Thank goodness I had a gluten-free mix on hand, and a frosting mix to boot. I like the Cravings Place allergy mixes and I really like the Betty Crocker line of gluten free mixes, it's just so nice to have cupcakes and cakes that don't fall or turn concave when they cool and are three steps to the oven.

Baking was the easy part, my frosting mix was frustrating. The mix I had to make things easier was toffee frosting, so the color ended up carmely, not very Valentines Day much to my dismay. All I had for Valentine-y food coloring late last night were neon colors; pink and purple, so I mixed and mixed but all I came up with was a very tired arm and a salmon/mauve color rather than the gorgeous, bright pink I dreamed of. No matter, everyone ate them happily, and I found some white frosting in the back of my fridge to redeem the last four cupcakes. My favorite tool for frosting cupcakes is a Cupcake Decorating tool from NordicWare that I picked up a couple of springs ago at the Coeur d' Alene Target. It has four tips, so I let my boys choose the design they want on their birthday cupcakes; for Valentines Day I used the large circle to make dots and curves. A few sprinkles and cupcake magic was complete!

I packaged up some of my extra cupcakes for friends and stuck a heart lolli in one of them to up the sugary sweetness. While doing that, I saw my collection of tin jello molds and decided they would be perfect for holding some of my Valentine treats. Now it's time to celebrate and deliver my messages and gifts of love, and it's time for a Funky Junk Hollie Valentine giveaway! I have three vintage valentines from my extensive collection: A 1910 "My Heart to Yours" valentine book of verses; a honeycomb stand up valentine "from Mother, 1929"; and an American Greeting Card in a cut out, stand up dolly shape from maybe the 50's. All you have to do is leave a comment, let me know you are a Funky Junk fan on Facebook and to get a double entry, follow my business partner's blog: http://www.funkyjunkjennifer.blogspot.com !!
Happy Valentines Day to all of my blog friends!
Love, love, love,
Hollie=)