How to Throw Your Toddler a Character Themed Birthday Without Too Many Characters, Part ii

So last week I told you about the invitations and party hats for Z’s birthday party and today I thought I’d share the little cupcakes I made for the party. We had her party at a local dance studio where they have all sorts of fun games, songs, and activities for the kids to do. It’s one of those parties where all you do is show up with your cake and favor bags and the place does everything else (a parents’ dream!). So, I knew I could focus my attention on making some adorable Minnie Bowtique cupcakes because there wasn’t much else for me to do. Instead of attempting to draw Minnie’s face on each cupcake I decided we’d focus on her head, ears, and of course the start of the show – the bow. Here’s how I made them:

I used the Trader Joe’s vanilla cake mix and baked the cupcakes in pink polka dot liners. I made buttercream frosting from scratch and once frosted, I used crushed oreos to coat the top to make Minnie’s head. I put the oreos (chocolate cookies only!) in a baggie in small batches and used a rolling pin to crush. Then just rolled the frosted tops in the cookies. Ps. It was surprisingly easy to scrape off the white center of the oreo and it often came off in one piece. My husband made some quadruple stuffed oreos so they didn’t go to waste. =)

For the bows, I printed out Minnie’s bow and put it on a baking sheet covered in wax paper. I then piped pink melted chocolate into the shape of the bow and let set in the fridge for a few hours.

Then I put them all together using mini oreos for Minnie’s ears. *Note – the weight of the crushed oreos on the frosting made them sag a little so I suggest popping them right into the fridge once decorated to harden up. I think they came out pretty cute…