Cupcake Bites

Cupcake canvas ready for hanging

Sherri Blum Designs offers a variety of canvas reproductions of original artwork designed for nurseries and children's rooms. My favorite, of course, is this 12" x 12" x 1.5" cupcake canvas ($70). Individually created on top-quality canvas to ensure "saturated color and excellent detail," the cupcake art is signed by Sherri Blum herself and equipped with a sawtooth hanger for instant out-of-the-box positioning on the wall.

Something like this would look best in a group, if you ask me, and since a portion of each sale goes to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, there's simply no reason to buy just one.

Pink cupcake deodorant stick

If you've ever felt guilty about not pampering your armpits, then Spa Therapy Works has something that should let you sleep soundly at night.

The company's 2-ounce stick of Pink Cupcake deodorant ($6) is free of paraben, alcohol, and aluminum but full of the scent of "whipped sugary pink buttercream frosting on top of a fresh-from-the-oven vanilla cupcake." No more tossing and turning in bed; you'll be spoiling your pits rotten with a vegan product that "combats and kills odor-causing bacteria" without stifling their naturally sweaty personalities.

Faux cupcake place card holder

When my husband and I were planning our wedding a few years ago, we briefly looked into setting out place card holders that doubled as favors. We eventually scrapped the idea and let our guests choose from a table of favors (the night was such a blur that I can't remember if there were two or three choices) and sit wherever they wanted.

It worked out fine as far as I know, but the next time we plan some sort of big event, place card holders will be a requirement. That way, I'll have an excuse to buy a case of these faux mini cupcake card holders handmade by Jenni B Originals, the same woman responsible for those beautiful very cherry faux cupcakes.

Each place card holder is sprinkled with rhinestones and sells for $5.

Little Tikes cupcake set interacts with kitchen

Who knew that cupcakes weren't immune to the age-old battle between beauty and brains? You've already seen the poster child for the former, those cute Sorting Shapes Cupcakes by Learning Resources, so now it's time to take a look at the representative of the latter.

The Little Tikes Cook 'N Learn Cupcake Set ($10) is designed for use with the uber-smart Cook 'N Learn Kitchen ($100) but can certainly be enjoyed without it. The RFID tag embedded into each cupcake, which enables the interactive kitchen to recognize it and teach children about sorting and shapes, is rendered utterly useless without the kitchen, but why expose kids to Big Brother so early, anyway? They'll know soon enough that a traffic cam, security camera, or some other eye in the sky is watching and recording every move they make outside, so why bring the freaky "I know what you're doing" technology into their playrooms?

Cupcake and crossbones sheer V-neck

Since only a cupcake could coax me into wearing a skull-and-crossbones design, I don't mind seeing another take on an idea that I attribute (mistakenly or not) to Johnny Cupcakes.

Assuming the ominous-looking cupcake shown at right is an original creation by TheCandiedThread, who offers the artwork on a fitted sheer V-neck ($28) and other styles, I'll say that the colored-pencil look, shading, and skull cherry are all really working for me.

Glass cupcake earrings

Proof that Herry Monster from Sesame Street was on to something with his impromptu "Two Heads Are Better Than One" song from way back when are these amazing lampwork cupcake earrings handmade by glass artist Lezlie Belanger and assembled and sold by RockerJewlz. Not that Herry has ever done anything to make me doubt him, of course, but seeing these Pink Lemonade Cupcake Earrings ($35) certainly restores my faith in the power of teamwork. Each 0.55" glass bead is individually made by Belanger and then sent to Rocker, who flanks the cupcake with Swarovski crystals and secures it to a sterling silver hook earring.

Brought to you by the letters C-O-O-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N. (I know the letter "O" is in there three times, but I can't have my little nieces thinking "coperatin" is a word.)

Dog Bone Art pirate cupcake stickers

I'm still partial to the Kawaiidoscope Cupcake characters myself, but those with a lower tolerance of the quintessentially cute may prefer Dog Bone Art's crew of kooky cupcakes. They look too much like bucket-headed robots wearing turbans for my tastes, but I can still appreciate the individuality of the pirate cupcake. I admire that unlike his vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and lemon siblings, he casts his eye (and I do mean that singularly) in the opposite direction of everyone else. He's obviously up to something.

Despite what's printed on the label, these "high quality laser color" cupcake stickers are available in packs of 12 for $4.25.

Stainless steel cupcake travel mug

I don't know what's more unbelievable. That the "design" on this 15-ounce commuter mug consists of nothing more than a word that I could probably teach my cat to type out, that the "designer" feels $22 is a fair price (creativity doesn't come cheap, I guess), or that I actually want to buy one.

Everything about the cupcake travel mug can be customized: font, font color, additional text, image, background color, placement, alignment, and border. You can even get rid of the "cupcake" completely, which in my opinion is taking personalization a bit too far. I mean, if you want to change every single thing about the mug, then perhaps this isn't the mug for you, no?

Catfox Design Kawaiidoscope Cupcake clothing

Great news! My search for the cutest cupcake characters ever created is officially over.

Please stand as I introduce the achingly adorable Kawaiidoscope Cupcakes by Catfox Design. The current cast is made up of an impressive 25 cupcake characters, each with their own distinct look and unique name. One of my favorites is Orange Tabby, the sweet cupcake shown here that features candy orange slice "ears" and orange frosting striped with chocolate. The design can be printed on all kinds of clothing available through Zazzle, including this ladies basic shirt ($29.25), and CafePress.

Check out all the Kawaiidoscope Cupcakes below.

Jumbo jelly bean cupcake candle

I don't know what it is about cupcakes and candles, but here's another one to choose from. It's a half-pound Easter-inspired cupcake candle scented with "an entire rainbow of jelly bean fragrances" and topped with pastel jelly beans and a dash of iridescent glitter.

Handmade by Candle Confections, the maker of the cookies 'n cream cupcake candle I fawned over last month, this jelly bean candle is on sale for a very specific $7.39.