Bolling With 5: From Cookie Cakes to Beach Cupcakes! Huh?

For the twins' birthday, I ordered two cookie cakes a good week in advance!!! Cookie cakes were something we've never gotten for the twins before. I thought going to the beach and having a new form of birthday cake would be so memorable. I really didn't want the expense of two cookie cakes, nor did I want so much COOKIE cake left over because I was afraid I would be tempted to eat it. Haha. BUT, I ordered two because I have always desired to treat these twins as individuals, when it comes to their birthdays, since their 5th birthday. I mean, we celebrate THEM, as twins, but I want each of them to feel special as individuals too. When I arrived to The Cookie Store to pick their cookie cakes up, I was so disappointed. Lilah's cookie cake was supposed to be decorated with ballet slippers in pink and white trim and Jax's was supposed to be a baseball, decorated in red and white trim. Each cake reflected something they are currently into. They both were supposed to say Happy Birthday and their name! The cakes just were not well decorated: loads of frosting flaws, Lilah's didn't say "Happy Birthday", it just said "Lilah" on it. I felt TERRIBLE, but I declined paying for them. With less than two hours to spare, before leaving for our beach trip, and still LOADS of things to accomplish, I was forced to come up with another idea on the fly! I guess I tend to work well under pressure.

I zoomed, zoomed to Bubblecake. HALF WAY across town from where The Cookie Store is located.

I snagged 4 "Tiffany" styled cupcakes. I figured this cupcake's frosting represented the ocean color the best.

I packed the cupcakes, airhead extremes, baby blue pearl sprinkles, birthday cake flavored teddy grahams, and miniature cocktail umbrellas (ALL WHICH I HAD, can you BELIEVE IT?) to make some BEACH cupcakes with.

I was so "HAPPY" to be able to come up with the idea and necessary items this quickly. It pays to have a bakers cabinet and a gift closet.

On the morning of the twins' birthday, I woke up very early. I opened the box of cupcakes, removed the flower candy that the Tiffany cupcakes came with, and began sprinkling a few blue pearls onto the cupcakes. Looking back...I should have eliminated this step. I wasn't trying to make a bath tub scene, I was trying to make a beach scene

Then, I inserted the cocktail umbrellas at a slant.

Initially, I inserted the teddy graham directly into the ~~frosting~~ water. I didn't like the way that looked!

Instead, I laid out a strip of airhead xtreme sour strips to represent a beach towel. Looking back, I should crushed some of the teddy grahams into crumbs to represent sand and sprinkle it under the ~~sour strips~~ towel. Hind sight is always 20/20.

I placed the teddy grahams onto the towel to look like they were sunbathing.

One was laying on a beach towel and one was sitting on a beach chair.

Because I was limited with baking supplies, time, and I was working in a bathroom (haha), I just used a standing teddy graham to prop up the strip of candy acting as a reclining chair.