A Day for Harmony...

It's Harmony Day today! Last year, I wrote some thoughts about; and baked cupcakes for Harmony Day, which you can find here.

My thoughts have not changed, and my addiction to baking has not changed either- Any excuse to create! ... This year, though, I waited until the last possible moment to decide what I was going to create (not just cupcakes, but a cupcake project), which turned out to not be the most harmonious decision I've made...

I enjoy learning new skills. This year, with help from 52 Kitchen Adventures and Cake Central, I have created my very first cupcake bouquet! Partly, it was to practice for making one for my great uncle's 90th birthday on the weekend, but mostly... actually, I don't know if there is another reason apart from being a completely different way to present cupcakes that I wanted to learn!

Well, after spending 1.5 hours travelling to 5 different shops, the one I stopped at last had everything I needed: Spotlight. Should have gone there first, I know!

Here are my supplies (minus the cupcakes, and toothpicks):

Somehow, I wanted the styrofoam to be green, because the background for flowers are usually green leaves... So, I cut and wrapped some of the green plastic table cloth around the wreath and the ball, for the backdrop of the bouquet (which is really a pot now - don't judge me).

It was about this time when I realised that I had no idea what I was doing... But, continued anyway! I added some more bits of table cover around the base to act as 'leaves' (and to cover a bit of the wreath).

Next, I poked toothpicks all over the ball. I guessed where they'd all go, and if the spaces are too big for the mini cupcakes then I s'pose I'd just stick more in, or move them around a bit (which did end up happening). I also added some ribbon on the cardboard pot to make it pretty :)

I also placed two toothpicks in between the ball and wreath to hold it in place, because as I was poking the toothpicks into the ball, I could only imagine the whole top falling out, similar to an ice cream scoop falling out of a cone right onto the ground with a 'splat'.

Seeing as orange is the colour theme for Harmony Day, choosing the colour of icing for the cupcakes was easy: Orange. Once I had piped orange buttercream icing onto the cupcakes, I started placing them on the "bouquet".

Upon seeing all the many gaps left over, I cut up some small squares of the green table cover, squished them into the kind of shape below, and, using a skewer, poked them into the spaces between the cupcakes... For next time, I may have to find a way to keep them in place, as once the "bouquet" started moving, some of them blew out! Not sure how to fix it, though...

And then it was complete! Sure, it looks more green than orange, but my kids loved it, Husband was impressed, and the school staff were delighted to be the guinea pigs for my very first mini cupcake bouquet :)

Happy Harmony Day!!