{GIVEAWAY!} Sealed by Santa

**Extended until Tuesday, Nov 29th until 12pm EST!**


Happy Monday, everyone!


Can you believe it's Thanksgiving week already? I am definitely in denial. But the preparation that begins tomorrow will knock me back to reality! I am just getting into Christmas mode, finding the perfect presents and making decorations...but it will be here before we know it!


Well, here's a little something to jump start your Christmas planning--a GIVEAWAY!!!

Sealed by Santa is a online service where you can purchase products including a Letter From Santa!! I received a letter such as this when I was a kid, and I LOVED it! And the best part, Sealed by Santa is generously giving one of our lucky readers a Letter From Santa! Here's an example of one of the options (I love the vintage look!):

Sent straight from the North Pole (and postmarked from actual North Pole, Alaska for those extra-curious kiddos), your child will go crazy for this detailed letter! You will not be able to find another Santa Letter that has so much personalization and craftsmanship. Every Parchment Santa Letter is individually burned around the edges to give it an authentic old feel, and every Santa Letter comes with Santa Claus official wax seal on the letter.


Enter to WIN a Letter from Santa, courtesy of Sealed By Santa, by doing one (or more!) of the following:


Become a fan of Sealed by Santa on Facebook or visit their Website! Head back here and leave separate comments letting us know that you followed Sealed by Santa, and what your favorite product is! (Leave 2 comments--get 2 entries!)

For EXTRA chances to win, Follow Two Sugar Babies Blog (you're already here!) and become a fan on Facebook. Leave separate comments for those, too!

All in all, you have *4 chances to win!*

Contest begins NOW and goes through Monday, November 28th until midnight EST.  Good Luck!

{Entertain} Equip Yourself

Photo via

Thanksgiving is almost 1 week away. Are you ready? Don't panic! I've put together a list of necessities for you. Equip yourself & your kitchen with these entertaining staples. You will use these items time & time again, I promise.

Oven Proof Platters

with handles are perfect for keeping your food warm.

White Hotel Napkins

are timeless & easy to care for. Bleach them if need be.

Silver Napkin Rings

allow for a more formal table setting detail & coordinate with everything.

Tiered Stands

are a great way to display desserts or appetizers.

I like to display my food at different heights. It adds more interest.

Clear Beverage Dispensers

are fabulous. It saves you time by allowing guests

to serve themselves.

Ikea Glassware

is an inexpensive option to stock up on & replace if you have to.

Marble Cheese Boards

are beautiful & functional.

Serve your entire appetizer spread on the board by grouping cheeses, nuts,

dried fruits & crackers.

I hope this checklist puts the ease in your entertaining!

Cheers,

Modern Cupcake

{Blog Find} Desserts for Breakfast

Today I stumbled upon a new blog (for me, anyway). I am attempting to organize all of my emails using the "Mail" program on my MacBook, and Desserts for Breakfast went straight to my RSS feed. I absolutely adore the photography on the blog, and the recipes seem as unique as they are yummy. Check out a couple of my favorites from browsing through the blog below--both perfect for baking this time of year. Do you have any blogs you can't get enough of? Leave a comment below! I'm anxious to add more reading material to MacMail :)

Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Brandy Hard Sauce

Cinnamon Apple Macarons

{Holidays} Happy Halloween!

We hope everyone has a safe and {SWEET} Halloween! We are trick-or-treating with Spiderman and Snow White tonight and can't wait.....to raid their bags when we get back :) *Fingers crossed* for Reeses Sticks or Fast Breaks (my personal favorite). Talk to you all soon!

Photo property of Two Sugar Babies

{Cupcake Spy} Dallas, TX

Happy Friday, Spies! Today we're headed to Dallas, and these cupcakes look ridiculously good! I'm especially fond of this post, because she got her whole family involved and had a lot of fun with it. I wish I were closer so I could try the orange one--not a flavor I've seen. Thanks Angie for submitting! :) 


My name is Angie. I'm a wife and a mother of two kids. I work full time as an electrical engineer but deep inside I hold a passion for baking and cake decorating. I have a blog called Crumbs & Yums (http://crumbsandyums.blogspot.com/) where I try to document my little baking adventures!

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Recently, I saw a post from Two Sugar Babies about looking for volunteers for a cupcake spy dossier so I immediately jumped into the challenge. I mean, what a better excuse to go try cupcakes... Right???

We have lots of bakeries in the Dallas area but I wanted to try one that had less of the traditional flavors and more of some creative ones -no bacon on this one, sorry guys! So for my cupcake challenge I did some searching and I came across The Cupcakery. They have two locations in the Dallas area so I went to the one located in Frisco. Since t-ball practice got canceled last week, I took the whole family and made them participate in this little challenge with me -they didn't require a lot of persuasion either ;)! So let me share with you some lovely pictures and our whole experience...

The Cupcakery is a family owned store with 6 locations in total -2 in the Dallas area. They specialize in gourmet cupcakes made with the finest ingredients. Some cupcake flavors are available only on a seasonal basis while others are brought back depending on popular demand.

Their cute little store!

I'm sure their cake stands look fuller than what I'm showing but we went there right before they close at night... Something called "work" got on my way HA!

Doesn't it look delicious?? I'm already drooling while I type this post LOL!

This is the flavor my kids picked... Honestly, can't go wrong with strawberries but that's just me.

So here are our final 4 choices... Strawberry shortcake, orange with chocolate icing and way in the back are coconut with chocolate icing and coconut flakes, and cinnamon.

Doesn't it look yummy? I barely had time to pay before I was able to snap a picture and taste the strawberry one. Let me tell you these flavors were FANTASTIC! And honestly I've to go back for more of the orange one -it remains me of my wedding cake which was orange marmalade and I can buy it in small portions ;)

So my hubby and I kept the last two flavors for us, you know, for once the kids went to bed. This cinnamon one was my hubby's favorite out of the 4 cupcakes we ordered. The icing was delicious (almond), soft and creamy.

I love coconut! So as soon as I saw this cupcake I knew I had to try it and it did not disappoint at all my friends. It was wonderful and the chocolate was a great compliment.

Overall, I had a fantastic experience experience. The cupcakes are bit more than Sprinkles (we have one here too) but I personally feel they are worth the money. All the cupcakes were delicious and I'm telling you that orange one was just phenomenal -can you tell it was my favorite one? :)

Thank you Two Sugar Babies for allowing me to participate in your Cupcake Spy. We had a great time participating... And if you are near to one of the 6 Cupcakery locations, please go and check it out. I think you are going to love it as much as I did!

XOXO

{Cupcake Spy} Tampa, FL

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake

Hi Friends! This is Dorangela visiting from Two Prince Bakery Theater. My mission, to find delicious treats in the form of cupcakes. When Charynn asked me to undertake this task I thought about it for about a second and gladly accepted. So I get to go and eat cupcakes, right? Well lots of cupcakes later (too embarrassing to say how many)* and perhaps 5 pounds later... here is what I found!

Daily Menu

Gigi's Cupcakes, is a  little gem of a cupcake shop conveniently located in a shopping center very close to where I live in South Tampa. I have been wanting to try it for some time now and this gave me a great excuse to do so. Let me tell you we were in for an amazing treat! The shop is very welcoming and the decor is charming. The cupcake displays are beautiful, and did I forget to mention the menu changes daily (that's where the too many to mention part comes in)*. Did you hear me people, daily! So that meant many trips to Gigi's. Lot's of times cupcakes are decorated to look absolutely amazing until you take a too sugary sweet bite of let's be honest, ordinary frosting. Not here, the cupcakes are not only little culinary works of art they also taste fabulous from the icing to the cake!

Lemon Dream Supreme

And now for my favorite cupcake of all time. The Kentucky Bourbon Pie cupcake, this cupcake weighs like a pound and it's rich and delicious. It is bourbon cake with pecans, chocolate chips and caramel drizzle. What's not too love.

So my jeans are a little bit tighter, but I have a smile on my face. I am sure that I will be back to "spy" on Gigi's Cupcakes, it was just that good!

{DIY} Pinterest Ideas

Photo 1. Photo 2. Photo 3.

I've got a little one in the house & these Pinterest finds fit the bill for displaying. Pinterest is my go-to for various inspiration needs. I stumbled upon these & thought they were great DIY projects.

My son is bringing home little masterpieces of his own & I want to display them. I love this modern approach to showcasing his art. It creates a great focal point & the artwork can easily be switched out with new pieces.

If you have toddlers or preschool kids, you more than likely own the plastic alphabet refrigerator magnets. I prefer these painted stone magnetics. I may attempt an upper case & lower case set. This idea could also make a great Christmas gift for the cousins.

Finally, the shoe shadow box concept has inspired me to display my son's first pair of shoes. I love his first pair of shoes & what good are they packed away in a storage bin?

For more inspiration, come follow Modern Cupcake on Pinterest!

XOXO,

Modern Cupcake