The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a favorite read in my house.  My daughter absolutely loves it!  And I’m absolutely in love with all of the Eric Carle inspired cakes and parties popping up lately, as are many of you!  That’s why you’re going to flip over today’s tutorial!  The lovely ladies at Cream & Flutter recently hosted an adorable Baby Shower inspired by this classic book.  (You may remember Cream & Flutter from the oh-so-creative and mega popular Gender Reveal Cupcakes we featured last August.)  Well this talented sister duo is back today with a fabulous cookie DIY from their caterpillar party… hand painted and totally incredible!  Today you’ll learn how to make your very own, Very Hungry Caterpillar Cookies!

HUNGRY CATERPILLAR COOKIES
A DIY by Cream & Flutter

1. Make a template by tracing fruit from book.  Cut with sharp pairing knife on cold cookie dough.
2. Cut out hole with small circle cutter.  Place cookies in freezer for one hour to ensure they keep their shape.  Then bake.
3. Outline cookie in white with stiff royal icing.  Fill cookie with thin, white royal icing.
4. Dilute food coloring with a few drops of water.  Paint base color first.  Add details once dry.

A huge thank you to Trisha and Amanda from Cream & Flutter for sharing their hand-painted, Hungry Caterpillar Cookie Tutorial with us today!  You can see more of their Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower HERE on the Cream & Flutter blog.  Enjoy!

VENDORS & CREDITS:
Cookies & Tutorial by:  Cream & Flutter

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, filled with friends and family, laughter and delicious treats.  2012 is here and I’m quite excited about the upcoming year here on Half Baked!  So much has changed over the last year for this little cake blog….  so many talented individuals have shared their cakes, parties and recipes with us!  I’ve personally been blessed with incredible opportunities to share my own work on a bigger stage.  It’s been a year full of new challenges, new ventures, new contributors, and a new city.  And with each and every post comes new readers and new friends!  You all are what keeps me blogging… your kind comments, emails and likes!  I could not be more grateful for all of the growth my little site has seen this year.  It’s actually not so little anymore!

Before we continue on with bigger and even better posts for 2012, I think it’s only appropriate to pause and take a quick look back at the last year.  I’ve made my way through the 200+ posts from 2011 to find the posts you loved the most.  Based on your page views, here are your favorite 16 posts, in no particular order.  Plus 4 of my own personal favorites.  It’s a quick year in review….  The Top 20 Posts from 2011!

The top Recipes of 2011, based on your page views….

1.  Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes :  created by our contributor, Lauren of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.

2.  Caramel Apple Cake Shooters :  created by yours truly, for my daughter’s 1st birthday party.

3.  Blueberry Rainbow Cake :  created by Lisa Lundqvist of Sockerrus.

4.  Puff Pastry Stars :  created by yours truly, for a guest post on Hostess with The Mostess.

The top DIY Projects of 2011, based on your page views….

5.  Paper Rose Cake :  created by our contributor, Miso of Miso Bakes.

6.  Modern Christmas Cookies : created by Callye of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.

7.  Vintage Milk Bottles :  created by yours truly, as part of the MILKaholic Baby Shower.

8.  Cupcake Liner Witch Hats :  created by yours truly, for Halloween party inspiration. 

The top Cake Designs of 2011, based on your page views….

9.  Santa, Penguin, Snowman Cake : created by Sheryl Ong, owner of BunsInTheOven Cupcakery.

10.  300 Layer Crepe Cake :  created by Kate Dunbar, owner of Petite Rêve Chocolates.

11.  Chevron Cake :  created by yours truly, for the November issue of BRIDES Magazine.

12.  Coco Chanel Pearl Cake :  created by Lisa Rochelle, owner of Sweet Grace Cake Design.

The top Parties of 2011, based on your page views….

13.  MILKaholic Sip & See :  created by yours truly and featured on Hostess With The Mostess.

14.  Sock Monkey Baby Shower :  created by Elizabeth Seaton of Posh Paperie.

15.  Angry Birds :  created by Debbie, of Save the Date Events with a cake by Intricate Icings.

16.  Little Lamb Birthday :  created by yours truly and featured on Hostess With The Mostess.

And last but not least, my personal favorites of 2011….

17.  Retro Cafe Flowers :  created by yours truly for BRIDES Magazine’s 20 Most Beautiful Cakes.

18.  Gender Reveal Cupcakes :  created by Trisha and Amanda, co-owners of Cream & Flutter.

19.  Honey Cupcakes :  created by our cupcake contributor, Lauren of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.

20.  Peaches & Cream Cake Trio :  created by Emily Lael Aumiller, owner of Lael Cakes.

As we usher out 2011, I want to thank each of you for reading and following Half Baked.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this last year as much as I have!  Hold tight, because 2012 will be another great year with even more cake, baking and party inspiration headed your way!  I’ll continue to blog, as long as you continue to read.

Wishing you all much happiness and many blessings in the upcoming year!    ~ Carrie

When you’re expecting a new addition to the family, there’s nothing quite like the moment you find out the gender of your little one.  Will there be pink tutus or snakes and snails in your future?   The days of waiting until the actual birth to find out the sex of your baby are long gone.  Most couples choose to find out ahead of time and many plan fun ways to share their big news with friends and family!  I’m loving all of the creative gender reveal ideas and parties we’ve been seeing lately and this one absolutely takes the cake!  Literally!  Well, I guess technically it is a cupcake, but you get the idea.   We’re definitely inspired by these clever Gender Reveal Cupcakes, created by Cream & Flutter.

A few thoughts from Trisha Sutton, co-owner of Cream & Flutter and proud mom-to-be:

“Around here, when there’s something to celebrate, we turn to cake.  Our family and friends have been “patiently” waiting to find out the gender of Baby Sutton.  I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and we finally got the news.  To make the big surprise even more delicious, I decided to hand out gender reveal cupcakes!  So I whipped up a batch of dark chocolate cupcakes, filled them with the appropriate color of vanilla bean cream filling, topped them with a layer of rich chocolate ganache, and finished them off with a charming (and mysterious!) little question mark.”

How adorable, right?  Just think of how delighted your friends and family would be… they get to share in your exciting news AND enjoy a cupcake!  How could that get any better?

A very special thank you to Trisha and Amanda from Cream & Flutter for sharing their ingenious Gender Reveal Cupcakes with us today!  Best wishes and congrats to Trisha on her new little man.  I have a feeling he’s going to be quite the baker!