Sydney's birthday treats

The theme of Sydney's birthday seemed to be cupcakes this year.  I put them on her birthday party invites, so fittingly we made cupcakes for her birthday treats too.  Alan made this awesome batch of cupcakes for her to take into school.  This was Alan's first time making cupcakes and he did great!  He always makes me a cake for my birthday, but never in the small cupcake variety.  Sydney's classmates reported that they were delicious :)

I ran across a blog that had made rainbow cupcakes.  I thought they looked so good, I just had to try them!  Lucky for me Sydney's birthday was coming up, and she loves treats :)

I didn't exactly follow the recipe on the blog, just the concept.  I used regular cake mix and just divided it into different colors.

Here's the thing about cupcakes - making them stresses me out!  It's just difficult for me to get the right amount into the little liners, let alone do it with 5 different colors (and not make a mess of the pans!).  But I have to say, I did a pretty good job this time.

Here is the end result... don't they look great?!  That is the first time I have ever piped the frosting on the cupcakes, and I think I am sold.  They end up looking so fancy.  It was actually easier than using a knife to spread it on I think.