Welcome 2012!

As much as I want to shout-out, "I can't believe it's 2012", I'll refrain. =) The Cupcake Cottage completed it's 6th Holiday season of baking on Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing time away from baking.

Maybe one day I'll catch you up on our family of 5 + 1 fabulous border collie, and 1 amazing daughter in-law!

For now, I'll catch you up on a couple of things regarding our business and the new year.

~ This weekend is the Boar's Head & Yule Log Festival at UCC on University Drive in Fort Worth. This event is such a wonderful way to kick off a new year and is free to the public. All are welcome and you can learn more about it here: Boar's Head & Yule Log Festival.

~ We continue to stay busy meeting the cupcake needs of you, our amazing and appreciated customer! Thanks for such support, and thanks for telling others about our shop. Word of mouth is, by far, the greatest form of advertisement.

~ Many of you continue to ask, and encourage us to go on Cupcake Wars. If you didn't read about our initial invitation to be a part of this Food Network madness, you can read about it here: Cupcake Wars 2010. Once the show learned that it was being picked up for a second season, we got a second call asking us to consider trying out for a spot, but by then we had watched enough episodes to know that we would much rather enjoy the experience from the comfort of our living room couch. Cupcake Wars is crazy fun to watch, but that's it! We appreciate your cheers and encouragement, though. =)

~ Cupcake Competition is all around!! Yes, there are more and more cupcake places opening in the greater Fort Worth area, and we are thrilled for that! Almost always, it is a customer that tells us about a new cupcake bakery. Sure, there have been initial feelings of uncertainty considering the state of the economy, and the ever growing cost of living, but somehow we continue to remain busy in business. We are extremely grateful for that, and we will continue to strive to do our best, each and every day we are baking. Competition is a good thing for two reasons: 1) it keeps us mindful and motivated to keep our standards high and 2) it offers consumers additional places to get their sweet-on. Free Market societies rock!!

So that's it for now. Here's wishing you and yours a safe and wonderful New Year!

December will be...

Kate Bush

It's December again! This month brings so much to mind but one of the first things that sneaks into my head is Kate Bush! If you are not familiar with this English singer-songwriter and all around interesting entertainer, than here is a little introduction.

Many of you may know that Juaquin and I began our marriage in, of all places, England. Our first three years together were an adventure that I hope to never forget! With his meager wages as an airman basic in the US Air Force and a trickling of income from me substitute teaching that first year, we learned to embrace the British television experience and loved it! We were wild about East Enders, Top of the Pops, One Man and His Dog, Antiques Roadshow and a host of BBC sitcoms and shows. There were three channels way on back in 1984, and they still 'signed off' before midnight with an instrumental of "God Save The Queen" sneaking a message to you, that "it's late and you need to get to bed now." Loved it!

So, SO much more I could go on about that experience, but I'll force myself back to December and Kate Bush. I first heard December Will Be Magic Again on the Edge of Christmas CD. A wonderful mix of great stuff...go get it...or download it...or whatever it is you kids are doing these days to gather music. =)

It's a fun song and the range of her voice is amazing. More amazing, and slightly curious, is her interpretation of the song in her video. I use to be able to find it on YouTube, but it's been banned, so I went another route. Check it out and embrace December...again!

See Kate Bush perform (as only she can) December Will Be...

Poppy Wreaths

Today is Veteran's Day and with that comes an immediate memory of all the poppy wreaths that will be placed at headstones and memorial structures throughout the UK.

When Juaquin and I married in 1984 he had enlisted in the U.S. Air Force 6 months prior. We looked forward to starting our lives together and hoped to be stationed somewhere in Texas. That was not to be the case. We began our marriage in England, UK.

Memories abound from the years we lived there, but on this day, November 11th, the thought of red paper poppies gathered together to make wreaths is symbolic of this day of remembrance and not easily forgotten.

Just like we see the Salvation Army bell ringers settle outside stores as we inch into the holiday season, men and women in English villages will start offering individual paper poppies to people passing by in exchange for bit of change as early as October. There is quite an interesting history behind the remembrance poppy that is traced back to World War I.

Remembering may not always be a pleasant experience, but (I believe) it is something worth doing.

Harvest Moon!

I can't seem to stop thinking about 'harvest moons'. There is certainly a proper definition for harvest moon, but I just seem to immediately conjure up an image of a big fat, orange, yellow or white moon hanging in the sky during the early evening or morning. Leave it to my thoughtful husband to find just the right song to accompany my mood or thought. He's done this ever since we met in 1983 and with harvest moons on my mind Juaquin brought Neil Young's Harvest Moon to my attention!

I have seen my share of fabulous full moons on my way in to bake here at the shop, but it's those 'harvest moons' that make me wish I had an equipped camera ready to capture it. Maybe one day.

I think things like full moons, shooting stars, and even loud, flashy thunderstorms have a calming and peaceful effect on me because they are timeless and amazing experiences that are bigger than me. Such things are little reminders that there is something greater and bigger than me and I love believing, dare I say, knowing that. Oh there's a lot of 'in-between-the-lines-of-faith' details I'm not posting here, but you're always welcome to ask.

The wonder and acceptance of something greater and bigger than yourself is another timeless event you either get or don't get. It's something you may eventually get or perhaps never embrace. Regardless, here's wishing you sprinkles of harvest moons!

Dora the Explorer!

Here at The Cupcake Cottage we never, ever compromise our 'baking from scatch' practice. That means that each and every cupcake is baked fresh that morning. We also mix our buttercream fresh each day. This practice is, most likely, what keeps so many satisfied customers coming back for more!

When customers 'pre' order cupcakes for a special event, like this Dora the Explorer birthday party, we are happy to top your cupcakes with colors that compliment your decorating ideas.

In this case, we mixed purple, pink, blue, green & yellow that was then piped onto the cupcakes, making them a festive treat that blended nicely with the Dora decor!

Thank you, Preeti, for sharing these festive photos with us! =)

The Pioneer Woman

image from http://thepioneerwoman.com/

I am so impressed with the bloggers of our day. Not just those that blog but those that follow and keep up with their favorite blog sites. I really should seek a site titled "confessions of a bad blogger" since my ability to keep up is a D+ at best, and I need to know that there are others like me out there. I have lots of sites that I have bookmarked with great plans to visit them as soon as I finish other tasks at hand. Unfortunately, those tasks get in the way of returning to those sites, but I keep them bookmarked just in case.

There is one blog, The Pioneer Woman, that I try to peek at least once every couple of weeks. A friend, Cheryl, told me about this 'mom in Oklahoma' a couple of years ago. I am sure many of you are familiar with this blog and the amazing lady behind it. Ree Drummond is our modern day pioneer woman. I won't go into details about who she is, or what all she does, but I will tell you that she really knows how to entertain this reader!

A few weeks ago I stumbled onto a TPW post from October 2006. That date stood out to me because that was 1 month after opening the door to our shop, The Cupcake Cottage. This short post is sweet, sad, honest, and FUNNY! I now click the audio portion almost daily just to have my heart tugged by this fabulous mom/woman/daughter/wife/modern day Pioneer Woman! Here's the post for you to read: They Absolutely Hate Goodbyes Be sure to click on the audio clip. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

(and) What about you? Do you follow The Pioneer Woman, or other amazing and inspiring blog sites? Let us know!!

Read more about Ree Drummond here: Forbes Woman Q&A

Wedding Shower!

Recently, we baked cupcakes for a wedding shower with a request of white cupcakes, various designs, with certain sprinkles and sugary pearls on some. The hostess set our cupcakes in silver-foiled liners and Voila: A sweet display for a soon-to-be-bride!

Wedding Cupcakes!

Here's a wonderful little series of pictures sent to us following a wedding that took place in 2010.

When special colors are requested in our buttercream, and if we can 'hit' that color without compromising the yummy taste of our frosting, then we are happy to do so. Such was the case with the lovely couple that requested this sage green and our natural buttercream white.

We really enjoyed seeing this lovely display!

Celebrate With Cupcakes!

The Cupcake Cottage has lots of visitors each and every day! This little sweetie, Olivia, ventured in with 'camera-ready' mom who took this adorable shot. Thanks for sharing Widad! =)

Win Cupcakes!

Sweeten your Spring Break with FREE Cupcake Cottage cupcakes!

For those of you staying in or around Fort Worth next week here's a chance to break up the week with cupcakes! You can share them with family, friends and, in case your working, co-workers!! To enter your name to win either 1 dozen Standard size cupcakes OR 2 dozen babycakes read the details below:

This drawing is for Wednesday 16 March 2011 ONLY, and the lucky winner must be able to pick up their sweet prize (or designate someone to pick up for you) between 10:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. on that day.

Simply post a comment under our "Win Cupcake for Spring Break 2011" Facebook post stating the size cupcakes you hope to win (standard or babycake) along with your favorite Cupcake Cottage flavor. (example: babycakes / confetti)

Contest ends this Sunday, 13 March 2011, at midnight and we will message the winner on Monday and post the winning name on Tuesday!

Good Luck!! =)

Coupon Palooza!!

Last month a customer asked if we ever plan on participating in Groupon. Here's the answer to that question.

About a year ago I started getting calls from sells reps wanting to tell us about a new avenue to 'get more customers to our store'. The first company to contact us was Groupon. Since then we have had many other such Groupon-like businesses contact us hoping we will join this new internet coupon craze.

The 'groupon' concept with daily deals is very impressive and offers great savings for customers looking to spend their money as carefully as possible. We are all about personal financial planning and think these are great ways to save more!

So why hasn't The Cupcake Cottage jumped on board this popular savings practice?

When one of these coupon salespeople ask , "tens of thousands of people will view your daily deal....don't you want that kind of exposure"?, we simply answer "gosh, no"!! As it is, we often sell out of hundreds of cupcakes each day we are open. We are pretty sure that we sell out because of the care and effort that goes into making each and every cupcake from scratch, each and every day! At least that's what repeat customers tell us.

As it is, we strive to price our cupcakes as low as possible while still making the profit needed to pay all the expenses of running a successful business. For this reason we do not participate in this popular coupon trend. Should that ever change, we'll let you know! =)

Celebrate!

Celebrating is always in fashion, don't ya think? It's always a treat when our cupcakes are a part of a special event. When mom, Amber, came in to order cupcakes for her Maysn's 2nd birthday she requested the frosting be a variety of colors. We were happy to offer just that!

Looks like this birthday boy knows how to take care of cupcakes! :)

Welcome 2011!

A couple of years ago I blogged about a the Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival that will take place again this weekend. This year will mark the 35th anniversary for the event. Perhaps time will allow you and your family and friends to attend. You can read my original post about the event here: http://somesweetmentions.blogspot.com/2008/12/wonderful-way-to-begin-2009.html

Happy New Year to each of you!

The Business of Cupcakes

If I blog-posted every time I thought of something to say I would never leave my keyboard. Instead I have neglected this little entity of social networking for more weeks than I intended.

It's not from lack of subject. There is always some thought spinning in my head. If not a thought, then a song, or a line from some favorite sitcom or loved movie. Wow...I better stop with such confessions or y'all think I'm crazy!

With a post long overdue, I decided to take a moment and share a few thoughts on a subject that is not only dear to me, but a subject I get asked about a lot: small business.

From the moment we opened our doors in September 2006, Juaquin and I have been asked about 'our business'. Why did we start a business? Was it always our dream to open a cupcake shop? How did we come up with this? WHY did we go into business for ourselves? You both have college and graduate degrees, why cupcakes? (okay, I'm the only one that asks myself this Q now and then. =)

I won't attempt to answer all of these questions as that would make for a very long post, but I will answer the most FAQ this past 18 months: "How is your business doing in this economy?"

To answer this question let me take you back to when we first opened The Cupcake Cottage doors.

I cannot begin to explain why I've always wanted a business. As I've told many of you, my dream business would have been a children's bookstore. However, we needed a business that would generate the income we want, and more importantly, need to live. No matter how fabulous my vision for a children's bookstore might be, there was simply no way we could compete with the likes of Borders, Barnes and Noble and (the big-daddy of 'em all) Amazon. So, we went cupcakes!

We opened our cupcake shop at a time when there were only a handful of cupcake shops in the world. Today there are hundreds of these sweet shops scattered throughout this big blue and green globe and that's exciting! =)

Now, back to the 'this economy' question. From the time we 'visioned' our shop to now, we have made sure to run our business with great care and caution. We always bake each and every cupcake from scratch and we mix our buttercream frosting fresh daily. That practice will never change!

We go out of our way NOT to advertise, though the thought is exciting. I would love nothing more than to see our cupcakes and our wonderful baking/frosting team in a glossy magazine. Such exposure is exciting, but because we do not bake in massive quantities, such advertisements could serve as more of a tease to potential customers. It's challenging enough having customers visit only to find that we've "Sold Out", so spending money to advertise does not make sense for us. We have been blessed with sprinkles of complementary 'write-ups' and we are grateful for each of them.

We do NOT get over-our-head in debt. Could we run to a bank, or gather up investors and GROW BIG, build a staff of umpteen bakers and frosters and sell thousands of cupcakes a day, as opposed to the hundreds we sell a day? Sure we could! Is that something we want to do? No it is not. We completely understand that this route is very common for businesses to grow, but we are looking to operate a successful business that 1) keeps a roof over our head 2) keeps food on our table 3) allows us to create time for our family 4) continue supporting various needs thru our personal donations 5) allows us to squirrel away a bit for our future and (God willing) retirement.

The Cupcake Cottage is baking more cupcakes now then it has since the first day we opened. We are earning enough revenue (aka: money) to meet payroll for 5 employees and keep a cushion of savings for the unexpected expenses. (and) BOY have those unexpected expenses come! read on....

So, how are we doing in this economy? We're doing what we need to be doing in spite of the past 2 (economically discouraging) years.

Since 2009 we have seen an increase in Payroll Taxes, Health Department fees which have risen 25 % in 2009 and another 25% in 2010. State required business insurance has also increased 25 % in 2009 and another 25% in 2010. Cost of all fresh ingredients continues to increase....butter, for example has increased 40+% in the past 6 months. Our adorable pink boxes have inched upwards 10-20% in less than a year. I'll spare you even more detailed 'DRAGS', but when you track the reasons for these increases (and we do!), you will find that regulations at every level (local, state and national) are behind these added costs.

If it weren't for the careful managing of our own money in and money out, we would be looking at closing our sweet cottage door. The good news is we DO take care to run our tiny little shop within a budget that offers steady and careful growth. It's not always an easy thing, but by running our business with such care we sleep well at night and we meet our short term goals while marching onward to our long term goals.

Thanks to the each and every new and returning customer that recognizes, and appreciates our carefully baked and frosted cupcakes we experience a basic economic 101 principal: Supply and Demand.

Good times or bad, cupcakes remain a timeless treat! Good times or bad, people still celebrate birthdays, graduations, babies, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, team victories and more. Good times or bad, people still need a pick-me-up for those days when there is loss, defeat, and discouraging news.

Good times or bad, our cupcakes are keeping life sweet for YOU and for us and we are incredibly grateful for it all!

Our Creative Customers

It is always exciting to hear from customers that have shared our cupcakes with family and friends. Our cupcakes are part of all sorts of celebrations and gatherings, and that makes us smile! We thought these might make you smile, too!

visit us at: The Cupcake Cottage

Our 'baby' cakes are frequent participants at baby

showers and sip-n-sees!

Moms can get pretty creative when it comes to graduation celebrations!Flags with messages and pictures add a personal touch to the cupcake.

Above is Crissa, and she visits our shop now and then with her grandmother.When Crissa declared "Let's play Cupcake Cottage" with her play-doh set, I'm guessing she surprised her family with some pretty impressive skills. The piping on her 'cupcakes' look amazing!

Thanks Kathy and Nancy for emailing such sweetness. =)

Vintage Wedding ~ another sweet share

I continue to be amazed at the creative direction that so many couples take when planning their wedding. Melissa, an events planner and owner of Emerald Events and Weddings set a Vintage mood for her guests when she and Erich married in October.

Melissa was sweet enough to send some of the above pictures along with this lovely email messgae:

"Hi Sandra, I know it's been 5 months but I'm finally getting around to getting you some photos from our eco-chic vintage wedding! Our guest absolutely loved all of the different kinds of cupcakes and even though we over-ordered, there was not a single one left!! We were highlighted on a couple websites and we made sure to let everyone know where we got our yummy goodies =o) Thanks again for helping to make our day so special!! M. Love, Laughter & Happily Ever After . . . . . Melissa (aka the new Mrs.)

We like to think our babycakes added a teeny bit of sweetness to this wonderful day!

Our Connecticut Connection

Happy Birthday Papa!

You want MY cupcake!?

Hey, I thought you were going to give me that!

I can get my mouth around this, NO PROBLEM

These don't last long...

I told you they don't last long.

Your #1 Connecticut Fan!!!

With so many amazing customers that come thru our door it was only natural that we have gotten to know a little (sometimes even a LOT =) about many of you. This little entry ~ Our Connecticut Connection ~ features a wonderful young mom, Joy, her two sweet children and her dad who is affectionately called Papa!

Joy's parents live in Connecticut and became fans of The Cupcake Cottage last summer while visiting Fort Worth. Joy was sweet enough to share the above photos with me and agreed to let me share them with you (whoever you may be). The captions under the pictures were included in the email and capture Papa and the kids perfectly.

A Sweet Proposal

It's a real privelage to learn that The Cupcake Cottage cupcakes have been part of some pretty special celebrations. It's especially exciting when we receive notes and even pictures sharing those special moments with us. I thought it would be fun to share some of those with you!

This first 'share' ~A Sweet Proposal =) ~ comes from a recently engaged young lady, Emmelie. She wrote:
"I’m a longtime fan of the cupcake cottage. I have often come in to buy birthday treats for friends, Christmas cupcakes, or “just because.” My long time boyfriend knew this, and when it came time to pop the question this past weekend, he did it with a box of your delicious cupcakes! (See attached pictures).
I just wanted y’all to see the photo and let you know that your delicious cupcakes made such a special moment even sweeter."

Belated Valentine

One of the orders that had to be postponed during the Valentine's weekend was simply rescheduled. This customer was perfectly happy delivering these belated Valentine cupcakes a few days after February 14th. When you place a preorder we are happy to customize frosting colors and design. Some of these designs are subject to additional cost, and we are happy to take your order if we have room on our schedule.

Sweet and thoughtful gifts are always welcome!