Farewell to 2013! {Giveaway}

2014 could be your lucky year! I'm starting it off with a little giveaway, and a quick review of my favorite recipes and ideas from the last year.

10. Mini Chocolate Pies

9. Red, White & Blue Bunting Cake

8. Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

7. Half-Birthday Half-Cake

6. Kentucky Derby Cookies

5. Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

4. Banana Split Dessert Bars

3.  Pumpkin Cupcakes with Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing

2.  Cranberry-Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars

1. How NOT to Make a Polka-Dot Cake (And How-To)

(This cake also rocketed up to the most popular post ever on my site!)

Now, it's your turn!

You can win this Wilton Tool Caddy to hold all of your decorating tools:

photo courtesy wilton.com

And to get your collection started, I'll throw in this 18-piece decorating set, as well:

photo courtesy wilton.com

 Total giveaway value: approx. $58.

You have three chances to enter.
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE MADE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS ON THIS POST ONLY.

#1- Leave a comment telling me: What are you most looking forward to in 2014?

#2- Let me know that you get my emails, or "like" me on Facebook, or are a "follower" of the blog.

#3- Share or link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (or all three), and let me know that you did so.

The Info:
This giveaway will be open until 6:00 am (Central Time) Saturday, January 4, 2014.
I'm sorry, but it is only open to those U.S. Residents (because other countries have too many rules about giveaways) who are 18 years-old or older.
You must put your name (and email address) in your comments. I can't trace anonymous comments.
I will announce the winner - chosen by a 7-year-old pulling a number out of a hat - by noon the same day.

The Fine Print:
I bought these gifts myself, with my own money. No one gave me anything for this post.

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More about → Farewell to 2013! {Giveaway}

Ring in the New Year with a Giveaway! {Closed}

Thank you all very much for visiting me and my little blog in 2012!

Congratulations to comment #42, Crissy! You have won the caddy!

I've seen my visitors increase more than 500% between December of 2011 and this past month. I can't believe it!

Photo courtesy wilton.com

I'm sorry, but this giveaway is closed.

To thank you, I'm going to give away, to one lucky reader this awesome Wilton Ultimate Rolling Caddy. I use mine for all of my Wilton classes, and it holds everything I need for all four courses. It's great. It has specifically-sized spots for everything: tips, coloring, rolling pins, spatulas. You can keep all of your decorating things in one place.

The retail value of this guy is $149!! (Please note, it does not come fully stocked. It comes empty- ready to fill with your decorating tools.)

Here's your how to enter and the fine print:
You have three chances to enter. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE MADE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS ON THIS POST ONLY.

#1- Leave a comment telling me: What are you most looking forward to for 2013??

#2- Let me know that you get my emails, or "like" me on Facebook, or are a "follower" of the blog.

#3- Share or link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (or all three), and let me know that you did so.

The Info:
This giveaway will be open until 6:00 am (Central Time) Monday, January 7, 2013.
I'm sorry, but it is only open to those U.S. Residents (because other countries have too many rules about giveaways) who are 18 years-old or older.
You must put your name (and email address) in your comments. I can't trace anonymous comments.
I will announce the winner - chosen by a 6-year-old pulling a number out of a hat - by noon the same day.

The Fine Print:
I bought this caddy myself, with my own money. No one gave me anything for this post.

*Note: I can't respond to comments left so that I don't throw off the numbers. And it may sometimes take a while for your comments to appear. I promise to moderate them as quickly as possible.

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And don't forget, if you shop at Amazon.com through my link, you support this blog and its contents. Thank you!

More about → Ring in the New Year with a Giveaway! {Closed}

200 Posts?! How About Free Cookies?

Seriously? How can I possibly have made 200 posts in less than a year? Who knew I had so much to say?! (Anyone who knows me would not be surprised.)

So, I wondered, just what, exactly, have I posted about... well...

51 of those posts contain a Recipe (or two)

29 of those posts are about Cake Pops.
(The most popular of which are these Baby Boy Shower Cake Pops.)

15 of those posts are about Cupcakes.

125! of those posts contain some reference to Icing.

21 of those posts talk about or use Icing Bag Bullets.

95 of those posts refer to sugar. (Who's surprised??)

Only 80 refer to butter! (Not bad.)

Thank you - GIVEAWAY!
Click Here to Read More>>

More about → 200 Posts?! How About Free Cookies?

GIVEAWAY! Wilton Ultimate Trim-N-Turn Caddy (CLOSED)

Congratulations #17!! Stacy M. You win the carrier!!
Thank you to all who took the time to enter!!

Think this is just an ordinary cake carrier?? Oh no! I am so excited about this. I just got it from the FedEx man today, and I'm so excited about it, that I'm giving one away to one of you lucky people!

So, this "Ultimate Trim-N-Turn Caddy" is three awesome decorating 'must-haves' in one:

- It's a cake carrier.

- It's a raised TURNTABLE!! (That's right! It turns! And clicks sturdily into place!)

- It's a removable cake plate. (Yes, it's plastic, but still super cute!)
And yes, I realize it's May, and I'm showing you a fall cake on it, but work with me! I was excited! And it's the only fake cake I have decorated around here.

It would be PERFECT to bring your cakes to and from the next cake decorating class you take with me! (What? Not subtle enough for you?!)


Alrighty! Here's your how to enter and the fine print:
You have three chances to enter. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE MADE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS ON THIS POST ONLY.

#1- Leave me a comment about your favorite birthday cake ever, whether you made it, Mom made it, you had it at the coolest birthday party ever, whatever.

#2- Let me know that you get my emails, or "like" me on Facebook, or are a "follower" of the blog.

#3- Share or link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (or all three), and let me know that you did so.

The Info:
This giveaway will be open until 6:00 am (Central Time) Wednesday, May 16, 2012.
I'm sorry, but it is only open to those U.S. Residents (because other countries have too many rules about giveaways) who are 18 years-old or older.
You must put your name (and email address) in your comments. I can't trace anonymous comments.
I will announce the winner - chosen by a 5-year-old pulling a number out of a hat - by noon the same day.

The Fine Print:
I bought this carrier myself, with my own money. No one gave me anything for this post.
The approximate retail value of the caddy is $69.99.

*Note: I can't respond to comments left so that I don't throw off the numbers. And it may sometimes take a while for your comments to appear. I promise to moderate them as quickly as possible.

Enter your email address below to receive the latest recipes, tips and ideas in your email inbox:


Delivered by FeedBurner

If you shop at Amazon.com through my link, you support this blog and its contents. Thank you!
Click Here to Buy it from Amazon - if you don't win.

More about → GIVEAWAY! Wilton Ultimate Trim-N-Turn Caddy (CLOSED)

And the Winner Is... (& My Favorite Recipes)

Congratulations, Sarah, Comment #4!! I hope you enjoy your Cake Decorating Kit!!

Thank You for entering, if you did, into the giveaway. If you didn't win this time, I hope to have more giveaways soon. And as a consolation prize, I offer you a wrap-up of my five favorite recipes from the last 8 months:
This was a lot harder to choose than I thought it would be. I do love sugar!

#5- Vanilla Sugar Cookies

I also love adding the mix-ins to these, which I recently discovered. Rich, buttery, yum!

#4- Pumpkin Cake Pops

They're just sweet enough, without being the sugar bomb that so many cake pops become.

#3- Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars

 I know these are brand new, but I hadn't made them in so long... and one bite reminded me why I love them so!

#2- The Most Ridiculous Chocolate Cake Ever

Okay, it's not maybe MY favorite cake because I think it is a little too chocolatey, but I do love each part of it, and my husband and his family loved it.

#1- Banana Split Cupcakes

I'm totally cheating here because really I love the icings and the cake, and because this combines all three, I only have to use the one spot. But they are SO SO yummy!

More about → And the Winner Is... (& My Favorite Recipes)

Cake Decorating Kit Giveaway - CLOSED

How Would You Like to Win This?!  
I'm Sorry, but THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Wilton's 50-piece Cake Decorating Kit... plus piece 51, a Cake Leveler.
This is the kit that started me on this whole cake decorating road. I got mine about 12 years ago when I took my first Wilton class.

This week I hit a milestone with the blog. To thank you, I am giving away this decorating kit. You can't see a lot of the contents because they're all wrapped on the bottom of that tray.

So, here's a photo and description of the kit from Wilton's website:
Standard Round Tips #2, 3, 5, 7, 12; Standard Open Star Tips #16, 18, 21, 32; Standard Basketweave Tip #47; Standard Leaf Tip #67; Standard Petal Tips #101, 103, 104; Drop Flower Tips #133, 225; Multi-Opening Tip #233; Leaf Tip #352; Tip #2004 (2D), No. 7 Flower Nail; 18 Disposable Bags; one 10 in. Soft Touch Bag; Tip Brush; Decorator Brush; two Standard Couplers; 8 in. Angled Comfort Grip Spatula; four .5 oz. Icing Colors: Lemon Yellow, Christmas Red, Royal Blue, Leaf Green; Practice Board; New Cake Decorating Beginner's Guide.

... plus the cake leveler.

How to Enter:
You have three chances to enter. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE MADE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS ON THIS POST ONLY.

 #1- Leave me a comment telling me either what recipe/technique you've tried and liked or what you'd like to see me write a post about.

#2- Let me know that you get my emails, or "like" me on Facebook, or are a "follower" of the blog.

#3- Share or link to this post on either Facebook or Twitter, and let me know that you did so.

The Info:
This giveaway will be open until midnight (12:00 am Central Time) Monday, February 27, 2012.
I'm sorry, but it is only open to U.S. Residents (because other countries have too many rules about giveaways).
You must put your name in your comments. I can't trace anonymous comments.
I will announce the winner - chosen by a 5-year-old pulling a number out of a hat - by noon the same day.

The Fine Print:
I bought this kit myself, with my own money. No one gave me anything for this post.
The approximate retail value of the kit and leveler is $65.
*Note: I can't respond to comments left so that I don't throw off the numbers. And it may sometimes take a while for your comments to appear. I promise to moderate them as quickly as possible.

Enter your email address below to receive the latest recipes, tips and ideas in your email inbox:


Delivered by FeedBurner

If you shop at Amazon.com through my link, you support this blog and its contents. Thank you!

More about → Cake Decorating Kit Giveaway - CLOSED

100th Post & A Giveaway! - Contest CLOSED

100 Blog Posts! I can't believe I've actually written 100 Blog Posts in less than 5 months! Let's celebrate with a trip down memory lane, and a giveaway.
The contest is now closed. The Winner is announced below.

First, I bring you my top 10 posts.

#10: The Great Fondant Comparison 

 This post took a lot of work, but it was really fun to do, and I think the results were interesting.

#9: Pumpkin Cake Pops

These suckers are good! And they're really not that hard to make-- compared to other cake pops.

Click Here to Read More>>

More about → 100th Post & A Giveaway! - Contest CLOSED

Winter Wonderland Giveaway: Huffleblossoms

It's time for the Winter Wonderland Giveaway! This is a huge giveaway event that has been put together by the amazing Brooke, who you may know better as Untrained Hair Mom.

For this event, Tweeny Hair is hosting a giveaway that is near and dear to my heart. We are giving away a set of 9 handmade hair accessories from a brand new business called huffleblossoms. Why is that so near and dear to me? That's easy.....because I'm the one making them!

That's right, Syd and I are launching a new line of hair accessories that will be for sale beginning in January. But the winner of this giveaway will have NINE huffleblossoms flower accessories worth $47!

I'll tell you more about huffleblossoms as we get closer to January, but for now you can take a look at the nine flowers that are up for grabs in this giveaway. You can see each flower individually (along with a detailed description of each one) when you head over to the new huffleblossoms facebook page, which can be found here.

These four flowers are actually made out of duct tape!

These are different sized ruffle flowers, with the medium sized one created with fabric promoting Autism Awareness.

These two are different variations of kanzashi flowers.

This giveaway will run from December 1 - 6. To enter, you can simply use the rafflecopter form below. The winner will be announced December 7.

Be sure to head over to Untrained Hair Mom after you enter here! Not only can you enter to win her prizes, but the Winter Wonderland Grand Prize entry form is on her site, as well. You don't want to miss this!

More about → Winter Wonderland Giveaway: Huffleblossoms

Fall Leaf Cookie Cutter Giveaway - CONTEST CLOSED!

Who likes free stuff? Welcome to my first-ever giveaway!
It's not much, but I bought too many of these when planning for my fall classes.
So, I'm giving away this set of nesting Leaves & Acorn Cookie Cutters ($6.29 value), and the icing colors to go with them ($2.29 value each).
I'm sorry, the giveaway has ended. Please check back, as I hope to have more giveaways soon!

You can use them to make pretty fall leaf cookies, like these.

Or, you can use these cutters to decorate a fall leaf cake with fondant, like this.

To enter, just leave me a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of cookie.  If you follow me on Facebook and/or receive my email updates, leave another comment for an extra entry. You must enter by noon, Wednesday, Nov. 16 to win!

*Notes: The giveaway is open until 12:00pm (Central, Standard Time) Wednesday, November 16, 2011. You must be 18 years old and a U.S. Resident to win. The winner will be chosen at random by number chosen from a hat by one of my adorable 5-year-olds. The winner will be announced by 6:30 am Thursday, November 17, 2011.

I'm sorry, the giveaway has ended. Please check back, as I hope to have more giveaways soon!

More about → Fall Leaf Cookie Cutter Giveaway - CONTEST CLOSED!

Joy of Giving

A big thank you to everyone who took part in my blog anniversary giveaway. Thank you all for your well wishes...your kind comments and encouraging words gave me the fuel I needed to keep blogging :)

As promised, I am happy to announce the winner of my blog giveaway. To pick the winner, I assigned a number to each participant's comment and used a random number generator to generate a number...

...and the lucky number is....

.....44!


Congratulations to neyeeloh of 我的厨房乐园, you are the winner of this book '爱上蛋糕:我的甜蜜烘焙厨房'! Please leave a comment stating your mailing address and email address and I'll send the gift right over to you (^^)

To the rest of you, I hope you are not too disappointed. I have already bookmarked a couple of recipes from this cookbook and I can't wait to post them here. I will also be hosting giveaways once in a while and everyone will stand a chance to be the next lucky winner :)

My home renovation is finally completed and I am in the midst of cleaning every single inch and corner of my house. I haven't even started unpacking! I hope I can get back to my baking routine soon...really looking forward to the day when I could turn on my new oven :)

More about → Joy of Giving

Yet Another Year of Baking

I have been missing from the cyberworld for the past two months. I miss visiting my favourite baking and cooking blogs and I couldn't even find time to update my blog. This is also the first time I have missed my baking blog anniversary. I am 5 days late :(

Besides busy with my home renovation, I spent the last 10 days of 2010 in cold cold Beijing. It was by chance, I went into a local bookstore in Beijing and bought myself a little present to mark my blog anniversary (^^)

These are the books I bought. The bookstore does not provide any plastic bags...instead, they use a string to tie up the books. Yes, most of the shops including all their supermarkets will not provide any plastic bags, you need to bring your own. Unless, you specifically request for it, and of course, you need to pay for the bags.

In the past, I used to mark my blog anniversary by sending little gift to fellow blogger pals...privately. This time, my 4th year into blogging, I am making it a public affair. When I first saw this book on the book shelf, I immediately know that this is it! This will be a great blog giveaway.

Just look at these beautiful pages! What make this book stands out from the rest is...besides the usual sweet cakes, there is this whole section on savoury cakes. How interesting?! The only downside is, it is written in Chinese.

If you love to add this book to your collections, simply leave a comment with this tag: "我爱烘焙!" and I will announce the winner on 10 Jan 2011.

To all my readers, here's wishing all of you a wonderful year ahead and I am looking forward to yet another year of Happy Home Baking!

More about → Yet Another Year of Baking