Read A Blog - Cakes And Kids - Gifts And Gadgets.. Pilgrim And Indian Cupcake Toppers.. Giving Thanks With Cupcakes!.. Princess And The Frog Cakes..

First up is this decorating bag holder from Wilton. Love the idea of being able to easily grab my decorating bags and not have them lying all over my counter.

Next up are these great flower formers. I always struggle to keep my flowers shaped nicely before they dry and these trays are a fantastic way to stop drooping.

I'd also love to have on hand a set of hexagonal shaped cake pans. I think this is a fun shape for making kids cakes and gives you six flat sides to decorate on each tier. Could be fun to put a different kids character on each one, for example: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Of course if you wanted to do Snow White and the seven dwarfs, you'd need some octagonal shaped pans instead...hmm, might have to find those before my little girl's 4th birthday party since she is crazy about Snow White these days.

Last up is this great tool caddy. My current tool caddy is bursting at the seams and I really need something a little bigger to keep me organized. This one is on 3 levels and has space for everything. And anything that helps me be a little more organized is a good thing :)

What's on your Santa list?

I spent a little time today experimenting with some cupcake topper ideas for my Thanksgiving cupcakes. The result was some little pilgrim hats and indian headbands. I simply cut the shapes out of fondant, stuck them together with a dab of water and used some edible food pens in neon green and orange to decorate the headbands.

One trick to share for making the feathers. I used a little circular cutter and cut out a circle. Then I took the same cutter and cut both edges of the circle thus creating two feather shapes. You could also use this technique to create small leaves.

I think these will work well with the turkey cupcakes I plan to make also. I'll post again with the final results once they're all made. Are you making any cakes or cupcakes for Thanksgiving? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

The first comes via TwoPartsSugar. I love the combination of turkeys with the pilgrims and native american. Just too cute all around!

These next cupcakes come from SweetenYourDay.com and I love the bright colors of fall and the fact that these turkeys are made entirely from frosting rather than fondant. Very creative!

This next one is a big favorite of mine and the one I'm leaning towards replicating for my daughter's preschool. It comes from BettyCrocker.com and I love the use of the candy corns for the tail feathers and beak.

Next up are these fun cupcakes topped with marzipan pumpkins from Cupcake-Decorating-Ideas.com. I especially love the little leaf sprinkles on these.

But if you want your actual cake to be a little more creative, and yet still easy, then here's an idea for you. Buy a heart-shaped cake pan and bake your cake. Once cool, you can simply shave off the pointed end of the heart to make it more rounded and you'll end up with a shape that looks very much like a lily pad. Either frost the cake green or cover it with green fondant. Then decorate the cake with little lilac colored flowers cut out from fondant with a small flower-shaped cookie cutter (see how to make little fondant flowers here). You can then use a Princess and the Frog cake topper as the final decoration.

Check out the CakesAndKids website for all the latest Princess and the Frog birthday party supplies.

If you're starting to think about what type of holiday cards or Christmas cards to send this year then do yourself a huge favor and check out Cardstore.com! They have a fantastic selection of holiday cards and christmas cards and you can personalize each and every one of them with up to 14 photos (both on the front of the cards as well as inside) and you can also add your own text and special holiday messages. The quality of the cards is second to none - (and here's my disclaimer) I know this because I work there :)

There are hundreds of cards to choose from and styles range from modern to whimsical to traditional. And if you're planning a holiday party then check out the large selection of holiday party invitations. Cardstore.com also allows you to upload an address book and they can actually print and address your envelopes and mail all your cards for you. All you do is pay for the stamp!

And the best news of all, if you order now you can save 15% off all holiday cards and invitations with coupon code MERRY15. Have fun personalizing your very own Christmas cards!

Here's a quick way to adapt a boxed cake mix to a cookies and cream cake. Buy a boxed white cake mix and make it by following the directions on the box. Once the cake is mixed, take a large wooden spoon and blend in 1 cup of crushed Oreo cookies. Then pour the cake mix into your pans and bake according to the directions.

And to top off your cookies and cream cake, here's a recipe for cookies and cream frosting.

1/2 cup of vegetable shortening (Crisco)

4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1-5 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies

Beat the shortening and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat until well blended. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until blended. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. Finally fold in the Oreo cookies with a wooden spoon. You can use this as both a filling and frosting for your cake.

You can replicate this look with a large sheet cake and then use half of a sphere shaped cake for the face (I would use the Wilton sports ball pan). The frothing foam is little colored marshmallows and Maria very cleverly used glitter wands accented with orange frosting to look like exploding test tubes. You could either buy the eye glasses in any costume of party store or make your own from black gumpaste or fondant. Use blue candies for the eyes and red gel icing for the bloodshot look.

Definitely very fun and imaginative. Congrats Maria on a great kids' cake!

The witch's hat was just a circle of black fondant and then I made a cone shape and bent it over to one side at the top. I attached the cone to the base and then wrapped a thin strip of purple fondant around the bottom of the cone and added the buckle detail using a fine tipped black edible food writer. The pumpkins were made from orange balls of fondant, flattened slightly and then scored on the sides to make the pumpkin like ridges. I topped them with little green stems.

I frosted the cake in purple tinted vanilla buttercream and added some black cats and bats to the side. Then I placed my Halloween toppers and used some Halloween themed sprinkles for the finishing touch.

This is a cake that any beginning cake deocrator can replicate - have fun!

One tip of my own - if you want to create a nice top edge to your rose rather than the cut edge of the fondant, roll your fondant a little thinner and then fold the rectangle lengthwise before you start rolling. This will give you the folded edge as the top of the rose and it provides a more finished look. The thinner you roll your fondant, the more delicate your rose will look.

The cake is orange filled with a cream cheese buttercream. I covered it in a chocolate fondant since chocolate always seems to go well with orange. Now I just have to transport it safely to work tomorrow :)

You can also see our honorable mentions here. I'll be featuring some of the cakes we received on this blog over the next few weeks so check back often or, better yet, use the box to the right to become a subscriber.

And stay tuned for our next kids' cakes contest for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Michaels craft store!