Win number: 79

Just won my second instant prize ever! Im really feeling the luck/love this week! I won a $50 shell gift vard, one of the hourly prizes, im so excited, what a great way to start the morning. Thanks to car and Driver for hosting the giveaway!

Win Number 78 (First Instant Win)

I won my first instant win ever! I never thaught I would see this day, I enter them daily, because it's pretty simple to put in an email adress and spin a wheel, but I have come up short for a long time. A $2 stuffed animal isn't the greatest prize, but maybe it's the start to a larger trend of instant wins!

Lucky Number 77!

I won a peiacare giveaway! I will be recieving a pediacare product to stock up in my medicine cabnit for when Diego gets sick this winter, hopefully he doesn't but it helps to have good products waiting in the wings! I won this from Mommy's Free Time blog, so thanks a ton to Emmi who writes Mommy's free time and thank you to the sponsor as well!

I've been busy, otherwise known as Wins #'s 66-76

It's hard to believe that I have won ten times and havn't found the time to post a single one. I have to admit I do feel some winners guilt because I know I can't spend all day dedicating ten individual posts so I will have to list them here with respected links and hope the sweepsstakes gods smile upon me. Either that or I might have to sacrafice a goat, which reminds me I miss Rome a whole lot, god bless HBO and it's amazing production quality. I digress...

Without further ado these are the wins I had yet to document:

#66-Crayola Prize Pack Giveaway (I let my son keep some and donated some to a school supply drive)
#67-Bon Ton Gift Card (the sponsor gave me this in paypal which I thought was amazing)
#68-Ziggy and Friends Print
#69-Five Wood accessories Wooden cuff bracelet
#70-Recipe Box
#71-Everly Grey $200.00 maternity shopping spree (best prize evar!)
#72-Nacho mamas T Shirt
#73-Mommy Maestra Bilingual Flash Cards
#74-CSN Gift Card (Spent on Christmas presents)
#75- Johnsons and Johnsons Naturals Prize pack(saving for the new baby)
#76 Yo Gabba Gabba Prize Pack (saving that for Diego's stocking)

Andies Ink is a real Hoot!

It's been a long time since I hosted a giveaway, it's also been a long time since I posted. It's fair to say that I had my share of ordeals these past three months. I don't want to get into that on this blog because it's supposed to be light hearted though. In my dreary days of past one thing did bring a smile to my face, that thing was Andie sending a care package of hooterific goodies to us for a giveaway. I sat on these giveaway goodies for way too long, so now is the time I will be sharing!

Andies Ink is a cutie pie of an Etsy store. she specializes in scrap-booking type paper goodies and some very special and unique decorative hangables. I have the pleasure of sharing with you one of each type of goodie with an owl theme!

Before we get to the giveaway I wanted to share some more things I love from Andies store.

This is a close up of one of my favorites! Meet this cute Panda wall hanger, it says "Dream Big" on it but I think the panda it self is so perfect that all you need to see to fall in love is his cute little face! I love the rustic polka dots too!

Andie is a graphic designer like myself and she has a great eye for laying out some really interesting cards.I love handmade cards and I always get tons of compliments on these as well! I love this one for any occasion, just to say hello (picture me smiling and waving through the windows at your front door as you try to pretend you're not home).

Now say Hello to my favorite card, im giving it till the end of the contest before I buy this one up for myself! Im getting a cup cake tattoo on one of my sleeve very soon so I found this card to be near and dear to me. I also love the stitching! All of her cards run for $2.50 and that's a steal compared to what you pay for a generic card at Hal-mark these days.

So now for the goods, I was preparing for a themed Owl giveaway however too many contributors backed out at the last minute, hence my long and loving post for Andie for hanging in there so long. I was about to just cut her a check for her trouble and from me making her wait so long to get this under way! So up for grabies we have two hooty items from Andies store...

This is a lovely little shadow box that contains a cute paper owl with some fantastic detail, the photo does not do it justice because the inside of the box is modge podged with some lovely clippings and the outside is as well. it has a hanger on the back and would make a lovely addition to any room. I would have hung it in my sons room, he has tons of wall space and loves to check out all the pictures i have hung up for him from time to time.

Also included in this prize is one of Andies amazing cards. What strikes me most about her cards is that the quality of paper is so high! It's almost like felt, the paper is so soft and textured! Anyone would be thrilled to receive it in the mail, trust me!

Where to Buy

hit up Andies Ink and browse around, she has a nice little selection of goods for you to choose from! Some more owls as well as some fawns and butterflys.

How to win

One entry per person. All you have to do is go to Andies Ink and comment on your favorite item. Please leave contact info so that we can contact the winner. The contest is running from May 15th until May 30th at 12 pm eastern pacific time.

more to come soon as I pick up the pieces!

WinNumber: 65

A big thanks to Gathering my roses and rockstar accessories for the awesome badge holder that i needed so desperately with my new job, the first one I have had where i need a badge!

Update: This badge holder broke three times before I got sad and just tossed it. It was really disappointing because I was so anxious to get it and so excited to have something to stand me apart form my co-workes, but it was just not working with me, I wasn't rough with it at all, it actually broke the first time I ever wore it. :(

Win Number: 64

Thank you so much Funky Monkey for the awesome copy of Motherhood, staring Uma Thermon!!!

Win Number: 63

Thank you Energizer Bunny's Mommy Reports for hosting a super DVD win for me and Diego! He won not only the bob the builder DVD but also a John Deere DVD that he refuses to take out of the portable DVD player.

Win Number: 62

A big giant thanks to A Giveaway addicted Mommy, which is a strange name for a blog, they should just call it the Jennifer blog because I am exactly that: A Giveaway Addicted Mommy! So I found a blog made just for me, lol! I won possibly the best prize ever, a $50 gift card to safeway from fiber one, Love their key lime pie. Husband wants me to get steaks, I want to stock pile on some diapers, we'll see who wins this one. So everyone head over to Kari's site and read up on her reviews and enter a few contests, I am moving her up into the daily status so that I can make sure to enter all her giveaways, why you ask? Because im an addict that's why! Is there a sweepstakes anonymous meeting somewhere near by?

Update: It took a long time to recieve but what a blessing a gift card to the grocery store is!

Win Number: 61 (First March Win!)

We have our first win of March! I feel like I was reading so many blogs and entering so many contests that it should have happened sooner, but...
I am really happy to say that the first win of March came from one awesome blogger, Mahaylas Mommy is a blog where I like to read about personal stories, awesome baby sales, and cool reviews of course.
Diego and I won a pillow pet, we picked the moose for him and I already know he loves them so it will be a nice addition to our toy family. Sarah over at Mahaylas Mommy is giving away another one this week, so head on over and enter, I don't think I can enter again so feel free to go for all the extra entries I normally say not to so that I can win. Also read some of her posts because she's a really nice and sensitive person with good things to say.

Win Number: SIX ZERO!!!!

Some times I enter contests because I think I would like the prize, and sometimes I enter them because I freakin love the prize and must have it. This was one of those cases. I rented Whip It and I feel in love, I kind of wish I would have seen it in the theaters. it was cute,and inspirational, well written and had a great cast.

There are tons of these floating around and I entered my share but i found out today I won! I won from Rockin' Mama who just happens to be an an awesome bloggin' mama that I have won from in the past. I totally dig her blog, her look, style, and writing. I couldn't be happier to win from her again!

I already saw the movie so I probably won't write an update, but maybe I will let you know if I loved as much the second time around.

Win Number: 59

Two wins in one week, I am back on my roll people! I am also almost to win number 60. I do read Minnesota Mama's blog very frequently, she holds tons of reviews and contests on a pretty regular basis. She recently held a contest for your choice of some Sandra Magsamen items and I won! I am choosing two of these frames because they are super cute and because you can never have too many picture frames. Go check out her blog and enter some of her giveaways, like I said she is hosting tons!

Update: I received these in like three days, never got anything that fast! I love the frames but the wire that goes into the ceramic part of the frame comes right out and had to be glued.

Win Number: 58

Traveling with MJ and Planeteye Travler hosted a contest in which they were giving away one of the popular petcentric Rachael Ray gift bags. There is no picture of the gift bag and I have no idea what is all included but I won it and will definatly update you on what I got when I get it! Im excited, it's almost like a surprise win.

In the mean time you can check out their sites above!

Win Number: 57

In case you hadn't noticed macy's is having a huge campaign for the American Heart Association. The Go red campaign is all over the internet and all over all my favorite blogs. I entered each one I saw and pledged to wear red, why wouldn't you, macy's will even give you extra off your purchase just for wearing red.

The Mom Reviews hosted one of these awesome giveaways, among many others that I wish I could win, I enter all of her giveaways! I was the lucky winner of the Macy's card, $25 whole bucks to spend on whatever I want! I said I wanted new Martha Plates and that might just be what I get too!

head on over and check out The Mom Reviews, if anything there's a ton of awesome reviews and giveaway opportunities in it for you.

Update: I did receive my Gift card and I will be using it this weekend to purchase a new black shrug to war over a party dress for Saturday!

Win Number: 56 (First Win of February!)

Ahhhhh, I can finally relax, I was totally having win withdraw. I have been doing an extra amount of blog reading and contest entering, one because the football season is over so I am freed up a tiny bit at work, and two because so many more review blogs and Mom blogs exist for me to peruse. I was hitting up "A day in the Life" for her coupon deals and money saving tips. I entered to win a $25 Star Bucks gift card a while back. The best part is the comment was about getting debt free this year, I have to work harder, I am losing site already...

Well anyway, getting this gift card means I will be able to treat myself because part of my plan is not spending an money on things we don't need, and while the coffee here at work is a far cry from the ginger bread latte it is free.

Thank you to Christina for all her coupons and money saving tips and also for the coffee, the $25 will get me about a months worth of coffee treats im sure! go check her out here!

Update: I got my gift card in the mail, I can't wait to splurge on my coffee addiction. A slew of vanilla lattes is in my near future.

Win Number: 55

Win Number 55 comes from the Mom blog Three Different Directions. Thanks to Tammy and her blog for hosting a cool Wii game giveaway. This is the first game i have ever won, but I just got Wii this year for Christmas. I can't wait to get it and play and see if i love it as much as Tammy and her girlfriends did. Check them out of at 3DD and check out my cool new game for Wii!

Update: We got our game and it's loads of fun! Only I feel bad because the sqeeballs are cute and you have to creatively kill them, LOL.

Win Number: 54

Number 54 comes to you from Rockin Mama! She held a slew of holiday giveaways... I entered this one for the hubby since he has the iphone. I won an iphone package that comes with a jam jacket for playing games to the highest level of dorkness and a cool slim shell cover! I hope I get to choose the graphic because otherwise I probably will have to give it to someone else because of the level of girliness. Thanks to Rockin mama and all her sponsors, she will be added to the wall of win so go check her out soon!

Win Number: 53

OMG, it totally worked! I blogged about something I wanted to win, to obtain the extra entries and I totally won it. I worked so hard doing everything possible to get the biggest chance at winning and I did! I am actually really proud of myself. I know since I have won from blessing abound before that I will love my prize and get more than I expected. What a great blog to win from! We picked Diego this Jacket for next winter, I love it!

Update: We got Diego's coat, this is for next year, im happy about not having to buy one! It's awesome quality and has down so I know it's really warm.

Win Number: 52

Thanks to My Wee View for holding some great childrens gifts idea reviews over the holidays. I entered to win an Elmo kinex set and won! I love this for my son, who loves blocks but just doesn't understand them yet. He is the most into cars and trucks right now so this might peak his interest in blocks because it has wheels. I will let you know how much he loves it when it comes, I did see these in the store and they really look like a cute gift idea, maybe if its awesome we can give some away at his birthday party!

Update: I got Diego's Elmo car, I had a hard time putting it together, although it's like five pieces, lol. My mom stepped in and assembled it in like five seconds, Diego loves it of course. Kinex also sent me another huge gift set as an extra, it was for 7+ so I gave it to my neighbors five boys to build. It was a great win!

Ok... So I am starting to do this more now.

It's only because it's stuff I actually want to win, or else i wouldn't go to the trouble right? right?

Ok so hold onto your hat then, Blessings Abound is giving away a fantastic children coat of the winners choice from Rothschild. i have won from Blessing before and my prize came fast and was even bigger than i hoped for so i am all about winning from her again... Plus she is super cute, check out her ear bud review, it's adorable! So go an check it out, but don't enter too many times, because I want to win!

Update: OMG I so won!

Win Number: 51

Finally! I was beginning to think my luck had run out... So we crossed the 50 win mark as well as got our first win of December! It is a pretty great win too. Mommies with cents is a great blog, I go there pretty frequently, they have enormous amounts of coupons to offer, it's probably the best feature of the site. She does a ton of reviews too, mostly for household items. I was the winner drawn to receive the Hana professional flat iron. I have stupid curly hair that I have been trying to wear straight my whole life, so it's a win that will no doubt go to good use. I can't wait to receive it and try it out, my flat iron now is the same one I used in the early 90's, so you can only imagine how bad it preforms as well as how awesome it's florescent green and pink colors are.

Update: Got my flat iron so fast, and with tons of additional extras. I love it and it works great! I definatly recommend it and the blog I won from as well!

Win Number: 50!

Today was my 50th win! I can't believe that I have 50 wins under my belt. It's just a hobby but everytime I win something it's just so much fun! I still enjoy the reading of the reviews and learning about new products and stuff, it my relaxing thing I do.

So Without Further Ado!

Win Number 50 is from The Fabulous Won. I have won one of her holiday gift recommendations, lots of blogs do this, they choose lots of sponsors to be on a holiday list of items. I took home 100 custom photo prints from Less Ordinary Designs. She has a respectably giant Etsy store. I am envious of people who can really succeed on Etsy. Tons of prints to choose from and lots in the Holiday section. Jaime and I are going to choose this one and we will take some photos this weekend for it. I can not begin to tell you how happy I am to not have to print or design these this year, I havn't the time anyways. I will post the design when I get it and tell you all how it turns out once they come to me!

Update: They turned out fantastic, they are super high quality and I sent them all out this morning!!! here's a preview!

Win Number: 49

Wow, I am really close to 50 wins here! You know... Giveaway today is officially my favorite giveaway site. I do go every single morning without fail, and so far I have won three times. The funniest part is out of all the contest I enter, this one has the most other people entering, everytime I win I am one in about 2000 people. Just luck of the draw I guess, but regardless I still think that it's the end all be all of giveaway sites. So I guess I have to thank them for a third time and just say if you really do want to win something, maybe try entering a few of their contests, some days they even do more than one!

So I won a pre-made card design from Nanny Sue! Here's what she's all about:

Enjoy the ease and convenience of having an announcement, card or invitation made just for you! Natty Sue makes the process fast, convenient, and very inexpensive. Take a look at her designs and choose one you like. All you need is a great photo(s) and a few words and Natty Sue will design the rest. After approval of the design you take image and print it off at a local printer of your choice. If you don't see anything that catches your eye, she can do custom jobs too-all you have to do is ask!

Thanks again Giveaway today for another great giveaway!

Win Number: 48

One of my favorite things to win are cleaning products. I loath heading to the grocery store planning on spending a certain amount of money and going way over because I forgot I need expensive cleaners like laundry soap, dish soap and fabric softeners.

Thanks to the unpaint blog (a cute mommy blog I love) for hosting a giveaway and for scoring me 3 (three) bottles of the awesome new Dawn Hand renewal. I am sure if you're a chick you have seen and paid attention to these commercials. I can't wait to have soft hands from washing my dishes!

So thanks to Dawn and to Laura over at unpaint.

Update: I got my three bottles and while I haven't cracked the first one open because im not out of my current soap yet I am super excited, it's a really pretty color!

Win number: 47

Thanks to Tricia's Dish another great blog about cooking and reviews and such for hosting a slew of giveaways. One which I was very lucky to have won. I will be receiving this stunning necklace from The Pretty peacock, a wonderful and custom jewelery store. I am going to get Jaime and Diego's birth stones put inside. I love this one, it's nice to win something good for myself, it's been a while!

Thanks a million!

Update: I got my necklace yesterday, it is more than I could have hoped for, I am never taking this one off!!! it is beautiful and I love that it's personalized.

Rejected

Well, I got an email from the representative for the photo contest I entered and it would seem that I have been disqualified. Apparently I did not completely follow the rules of the contest. So despite the fact that I received all of the participant emails, was congratulated for entering and encouraged to promote my photo and even had my photo uploaded by said website personnel, I am now officially out if the running. I have to wonder if the fact that I was seriously kicking everyones butts had something to do with it, I am guessing that the other participants got jealous and made some angry emails.

Apperently I am getting a fabulous consolation prize, but that doesn't change the fact that I can't win the big prize that I was obviously shoeing in for. If it was there mistake by overlooking a broken rule this entire time, than why wouldn't they let me continue participating. I am very angry at the amount of web traffic I provided by directing my friends and family members to. How angry should I be though? I mean if I didn't follow the rules than that's one thing, but it would have been nice to have known in time to present and appropriate photo right?

SIGH...

You can help me win Cash Money!

I am entered in a small photo contest, only about 10 other people participating. The prize is pretty big and I would love to win, please vote for me here, please give my photo five stars if you want to help out and vote. Also if you want my awesome recipe for my cranberry sauce let me know!

Win Number: 46

I won again on giveaway today! How lucky is that! It was out of over 2000 people too! Thing is, I was asked to enter for my friend, and she totally wanted this prize really bad, so I feel extra lucky that I won something for her. I hope she enjoys it, it is a fat jelly roll of quilt fabric and I bet she makes something awesome with it too!

Update: My friend got this fabric and said it is wonderful! I was so happy to pass on this win to her!

Win Number: 45

Thanks to Something Sewn! I won their latest giveaway! It is going to be a custom hand print like this one! We have to trace Diego's hand, which I will get husband to do tonight when he's sleeping and send it in, she will stitch it up like this one, isn't it cool! I can't wait to get it. Check out Something Sewn, she has a blog and an etsy store too!

Update: I received my handprint and it is way cute, what a nice keepsake! I wish it was already framed because I am having a hard time finding one myself, but otherwise it is very sweet!

Win Number: 44

Thanks to the fantastic Mom Blog, Outnumbered 3 to 1 for having a gerat review and contest which I happen to have won! Diego now has a super cool pair of Uneaks! They came so fast, it's not everyday you win a contest and your prize comes that week, what a great sponsor. They are for Diego for later, they are about three times the size of his foot now. but they are so cool, that I wanted him to enjoy them when he can appreciate them. the fun part about them is that they are see through, you get the matching socks to go with them and the socks become a cool decoration on the side of the shoe! Thanks again to Outnumbered 3 to 1, we love our new uneaks.

Update: These shoes are totally rad! They won't fit Diego for a while but when they do he is going to be so stylin'.

Giveaway Closed

The giveaway is now closed, the winner was notified and responded! Thank yu to everyone who participated, we hope to do another giveaway soon and to get a lot more people to participate. Last time we had over 100, so we want to achieve that goal again! Thanks again and congrats to our winner!

The Emmaline Fun Baby Review and Giveaway!

The Emmaline on Etsy Fun Baby GIVEAWAY!

I had the pleasure of working with Lindsay at The Emmaline on Etsy for my first review and giveaway. She was kind enough to send me pretty much whatever I wanted too! I specifically asked her what she was working on new and if there was anything she wanted people to get to see. So I was then the new and proud owner of the drool Bandanna! More stylish than a bib and just as functional; this was perfect for my little Diego. He has already cut those notoriously first bottom teeth and now he is working on those big top teeth too. In case you don't have a rug rat of your own let me in a nut shell break teething down for you. It hurts very bad, it causes baby to cry (unless you have a freakishly happy baby like my best friend who didn't even know he was teething because he's just so obnoxiously happy), they also chew everything and drool a lot. In fact you might compare it to owning a saint Bernard puppy. So here's the deal, Diego is a drooler, so much so that his shirt is always wet, he also happens to love his rocking horse and cowboy stuff. So he got a lot of good use from his bandanna drool catcher. I loved that it snapped easily and the part that goes against babies skin is that soft almost minky fabric. Plus he looked really cut in it, I think a cow boy print might be in order. I gave the drool bib an "A" for design and an "A" for functionality because Diego's shirt remained dry.

Here's the fun part! Lindsay has offered up a cool Ice cream cone Bandanna drool bib for one of our readers!

Here's how to enter:

For your first entry: All you have to do is go to TheEmmaline etsy page, look around and comment here on what you like!

For a second entry: Favorite Emmaline on Etsy

For a third Entry: Follow us here at the Winners Circle

For an extra five entries!!! Purchase anything from either of her two stores: Here or Here.

please leave a separate comment for each entry and we will draw the winner via online random number generator next Monday. The winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond. Lindsay will be mailing the prize out directly to the winner so once you contact me I forward your info to her.

Thanks and Good luck!

Reviews and Giveaways!

Hi Readers!

I am in the process of doing a little revamp on the winners circle. I mostly am excited to be in the process of recruiting some awesome artists and some cool products to review and giveaway. I know that it's tough to get started doing this but I really want to help out my fellow artisan community and show you all some of my favorite products as well. If there is anything that you might want to see reviewed and given away please feel free to post a comment or email me! Also if you want to let me host a giveaway for you please contact me. I am keeping My fingers crossed that I can host some great stuff for the Mom blogesphere!

Love,
Jennifer
The lucky winner

Win Number: 43

Thanks To Emily at Giveaway Today for hosting a great give away, well... Everyday! I visit once a day, even if i am not entering contests. She is one of the few blogs where there is just a review and a giveaway and it's easy to enter, just type your name! If you want extra entries you can always do more but the first one is free. I won a $40.00 gift certificate to Taffy Tree and I can't wait to pick some stuff out. Our Uncle has Diabetis and I bet he would really appreciate some sugar free candy!

Update: This was one of the best wins ever! I got the code to get my taffy super fast, it was shipped super fast and I got SO MUCH! I am sending lots of sugar free taffy to our Uncle who has diabetes because he doesn't get sugar free treats very often like that. I also got a bunch of small bags of assorted taffy to put in stockings this year. It was a great prize.

Win Number: 42

A big thank you to Baby Loving Mama who held a great Yo Baby review and Giveaway. She has tons of great reviews and lots of giveaways too! I am going to get some cool Yo Baby stuff from stoneyfield so Diego can try it. He is finally old enough to try the Yo Baby stuff because it is 6 months and older. Thanks again to Emilie at Baby Loving Mama for the super prize!

Update: I am all out of my free yogurt coupons, Diego love it so I am going to have to keep buying them. He usually eats it for breakfast and by the way I tasted it and it tastes like ice cream, it's so yummy. The vanilla and banana flavors seem to be his favorite. the bowl will come in handy once he starts needed a snack to take with us and the bib is soft and I love it.

Win Number: 41

Thank you so much to Mommy's Quiet Time Blog for doing a super review of Electra's Monograms and for giving me the opportunity to win my very own cool vynal wall decal! I chose the circle letter monogram for Diego's room. I got the letter "D" for him, we want to put it on his wall right as you walk in his door, there is a little section of wall with nothing on it and it would look great there! i also really liked her check book covers and car window decals too! Thanks again to Mommy's Quiet Time, I sure could use some myself!

Peter Potty Giveaway

The Mud Bug is having a super giveaway! They reviewed and are even giving away a very cool Peter potty to one lucky reader. Now I don't know about you but this has to be the coolest potty ever for a little boy. Diego would have to learn to use the potty early if he had this to pee in, his on urinal, how awesome is that!!!

So if you want to try to win one head on over to mud bug and leave a comment, check out the you tube videos too, so funny!

Win Number: 40

I finally hit win number 40! If you read enough Mom blogs and review blogs you'll win this much too I guess! One of the more review oriented blogs, it actually looks more like a great website, is My Mom's View. I have probably enter a hundred of her giveaways and I finally scored a win, yippie! It's a great one too! I won a $50 gift card to Eco Bebe Boutique and I have tons of stuff to choose from. I am deciding between the beetle baby chair, the food grinder, and some awesome stainless steel bottles, I might have to go over the gift card limit!

So if your wondering what the Canadian Moms are talking about shoot on over to My Moms View and check it out. She just did a review on "my feet Squeak" shoes and I totally all about those, so awesome!

Update: I ended up speding my gift card on the food grinder, and the stainless steel bottle. I am all about the stainless steel bottle. It has come in so handy and everyone asks me where I got it from! Diego loves water so that is his "water bottle" since the nipples that I use for his milk are to fast of a flow for water. I am super happy with everything I got and in the company!

Win Number: 39

Thanks to Prissy Green because of her great review and giveaway I am getting some Amy's wraps to try! I like Amy's stuff already but I don't normally splurge on it because they are expensive. Thanks again to Prissy Green who does great reviews and stuff for healthy and green products!

Update: I got the prize pack and it included a whole bunch of cool recycled Amy's products and some great coupons for free Amy's products. I gave them to my Nanny who brings Amy's wraps everyday for lunch as a nice treat. It was a great prize!

My Very First How To! How To make Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

How To Make Pickles and Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

So many people had asked me how to make these that I went ahead and documented the whole thing so I could make a tutorial. I made these for my friend Natalies Baby Shower, the theme was Pickles and Ice Cream! So here is how we did it.

Step One: Baking

Place ice cream cones in your cupcake baking pan using aluminum foil to create and extra wall to hold them upright. The foil will not brown the cones so use as much as necessary to hold up each cone.

Use any cake mix that would normally allow you to make cupcakes and follow directions per the box. I used my favorite funfetti mix for these cupcakes.

Fill each cone with the batter but only fill to the middle of the cone to allow for rising. Spoon batter into cones slowly as it will seep into the nooks and crannies at the bottom of the cone after a few seconds.

Follow baking guidelines from box but keep an eye on them as they may take slightly less time than normal cupcakes. Mine were two minutes faster than the box stated. Once you can stick a toothpick in and pull it out without any residue than they are finished.

They should rise to the top of the cone, if you used too much and they are overflowing up and out of the cone use a sharp knife to level them off and save the extra cake as a snack for yourself.

Step Two: Display

You obviously can't serve these on a regular plate or cupcake tower as they are unstable and would fall over. You can make your own display holder by using a cardboard box and some wrapping paper. I got these perfectly sized boxes from my local liquor store, they are used to store cases of beer and they are the perfect size! You'll want to measure around using a cone and make your holes a little bigger than the bottom of the cone. cut them out of the box allowing for at least 12 holes per box.

Wrap the box like a gift then from the underside, cut an "X" into each hole with an exacto knife.

Fold the excess paper under the box and secure with scotch tape.

Now you have a nicely decorated holder for your ice cream cupcake cones!

Step Three: Decorating and Storing

Using fondant that can be found at your local baker or cake shop I rolled out three balls of green fondant. One is for the outside of the pickle, one for the inside and one for seeds. I had also considered using one color and making individual sized solid pickles using the same fondant but just the one color. Use your imagination.

Like rolling sushi I made the darker color wrap around the inner color and created an easy to cut roll.

Once it was rolled I cut the pickle slices using a sharp knife and hand rolled little seeds to add to the top of each slice. After I finished I chilled these so they would firm up a bit.

Next I used a pastry bag and a large star shaped tip to ice the cupcakes like ice cream cones (soft serve). I put them quickly into the freezer to firm up so that the icing would not slide off.

Once in the freezer I added a pickle slice to each cupcake as the finishing touch.

Then Walla! I have an interesting and delicious desert for my pickles and Ice cream themed Baby Shower. I think in the future I would make these for a regular party, only I would add jimmies to make them look more birthday party-ish.