It's Carter's 7th BIRTHDAY!!

It was my oldest son, Carter's 7th birthday yesterday!! So that means it was time to bust out 2 dozen cupcakes for his classmates!

Now, I could have gone and bought some fun cupcakes - and yeah... that's TOTALLY tempting. But I love making cute cupcakes, and Carter has wanted these bright orange and/or blue cake mixes for quite some time now. So, I obliged and got him exactly what he wanted - sports themed bright colored cupcakes. I'm sure these are full of crazy dyes and chemicals - I thought it was just best not to look. {Hey, you only live once right!? haha} He LOVED them and he was SO excited to share them with his class. As far as I know, they all loved them too!

So, I started baking around 9:30pm after I finished up working and after the boys were in bed - because when they are awake and I'm baking sweets, all they want to do is get into them before they are even done. I thought it would be best if they weren't around until these bad boys were completely finished :D So here I am, robe and all getting ready to bake "Aqua Blue" cupcakes!

Pretty easy when the instructions are right on the bag to make! I like to make BIG cupcakes, so to make 24, I actually used 2 packets of each color {even though one is supposed to make 12...} The blue... is SOOOOO blue!

While these were in the oven, it was time to mix up the YUMMMMMY FLUUUUUUFFY Butter Cream Frosting!!!! It's a very simple recipe that I found on Pinterest a super long time ago, and have stuck with it ever since. Seriously, after having this, no other frosting compares!! {RECIPE POSTED AT THE END!!!!}

So, what I did with the frosting was divided it into two sections and used Betty Crocker gel food colors to make a Turquoise Blue and a Bright Orange {however, the Orange wasn't AS bright as I wanted it to be...}. I LOVED the way the blue turned out though! Then, I found these sports gummy cake toppers by Dallies at Wal-Mart, as well as these "Sequins" from the same brand. They were perfect for the look I was going for!

Here are some more cupcakes for your cupcake viewing pleasure {which I, for one, always love looking at}.

What You'll Need {for Ultra Fluffy Buttercream Frosting}:

-3 Sticks Salted Butter {softened}

-4.5 Cups Powdered Sugar

-1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract

-3 Tbs Heavy Whipping Cream

-Gel Food Coloring {optional}

1) Whip the butter on medium speed with the whisk attachment until white and fluffy {about 7-8 minutes}.

2) Slowly add the powdered sugar {I do it in 1/2 cup increments}.

3) Add in the Vanilla Extract and Heavy Whipping Cream.

4) Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment until combined and fluffy {about 5-6 minutes}. Scrape the sides frequently.

5) Divide, if desired, and use the Gel Food Coloring to make the colors you need.

6) Frost cupcakes/cake immediately onto cooled cakes. ENJOY!

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