Ladybug Cupcakes

The director of human resources at my office is just a peach. She is a first time grandmother to a beautiful little girl, Piper. We were chatting the other day and she mentioned that Piper's first birthday is just around the corner (it seems like the baby shower was just yesterday... time flies!). During our conversation, she mentioned that it's a ladybug theme.

I remembered seeing cupcakes that Annie made but I didn't feel like going out to buy a lot of extra materials just for a test round. So I modified the toppings to fit what I already had in the kitchen... and they turned out adorable!

Here is what you'll need:

• Cupcakes! (I just used box mix... I started this project at 8:30 one night. Whoops!)
• Oreo cookies
• Junior Mints
• Red candy melts
• Black frosting
• Coconut (optional)
• Frosting
• Green food coloring

Directions:

• Make cupcakes as directed. Chocolate cupcakes work best since they are dark like a ladybug's body.
• Cut your oreos in half (chill them a little before hand so they don't break too much when cutting)
• Heat up some red candy melts. Dip each oreo half in the candy melt and set aside on wax paper to dry.
• In the mean time, mix green food coloring into your white frosting. Frost one half of the cupcake to act as the glue for the wings.
• Add your wings (dipped oreos) and stick a Junior Mint in front to act as a head.
• Now just add a few dots of black frosting to the wings and you're all set!
• Optional coconut: if desired, you can put some coconut in a ziplock bag and add a few drops of green food coloring. Now shake up the bag and voila! You've got cupcake grass :)

These turned out just too cute! My only suggestion? Use chocolate chips instead of black frosting. They will look more clean and uniform. I didn't like how the dots turned out on the wings. My coworker on the other hand absolutely loved them!