Katrina's Garden Baby Shower Cupcakes (click photo to enlarge).

Katrina is a sweet friend and co-worker of mine and we love her precious daughter, baby Courtney.  I was getting a bit braver when I tried these cupcakes for her baby shower... but just a *bit* braver hehe.  I spent about 5 hours shaping and handpainting the little critters for these, as I hadn't yet learned many of the tricks I now know.  This was my first time infusing buttercream with a really nice quality Madagascar vanilla and I must admit, I fell totally in love with it.  Cupcakes are so much fun because you get to spend lots and lots of time focusing on the best part of custom baking, which for me, isn't the baking at all, but the actual decorating!