St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes: Decorating Ideas and DIY Cupcake Wrappers

I am a mom of two sweet boys with another one on the way. I worked in the financial world for 5 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom.

How to Decorate St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

There is no better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than with some festive cupcakes. These yummy treats are sure to brighten any class party, the workplace, or can just put a smile on your little one's face. Decorate them with lucky clovers, brightly colored rainbows, or that much-wanted pot of gold.

For this year's batch of cupcakes, my boys and I decided to go all out with a green and white swirled cake batter topped with candy clovers and green sprinkles. We even got crafty and made our own cupcake wrappers.

So what are you waiting for? Go grab a cake mix and your muffin pans and get ready to make some festive cupcakes inspired by ole St. Patty himself...

How to Make Green and White Swirled Cupcakes

To be completely honest, I thought this technique would make a striped pattern in the cupcake. After cutting down the center, we found a swirled look of the two colors, which thankfully my boys thought was even cooler. Here are step-by-step directions for making green and white swirled cupcakes.

1. Follow instructions on the box to make the cake batter.
2. Separate cake mix into one large bowl and one small bowl.
3. Add the desired amount of green food coloring to a larger bowl and mix well. (We used 5 to 6 drops to achieve our green cake batter.)
4. Alternate layers in baking cups. One spoonful of green cake mix, then the white mix. Finish with another layer of green on top. Make sure cups are only half full to assure proper baking.
5. Bake in the oven for the specified time on the package. Let cool 10 minutes in pan. Take out and let cool an additional 30 minutes before adding icing.

Buttercream Icing Recipe

I have never been a fan of store-bought icing, so I always use this buttercream icing recipe for my cupcakes given to me by my mom. It is so easy to make and tastes simply delicious. Trust me—sometimes I think my boys would rather eat the bowl of icing than anything else I make! Here are the directions to make your own homemade icing:

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter softened
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 pound of powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon of milk (add more if too thick)
• dash of salt

Directions

1. Mix all the above ingredients with a mixer for 1-2 minutes.
2. If making a colored icing, add desired food coloring and mix again.
3. Spread on top of cupcakes once they are completely cooled.

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Cupcake Decorating Ideas

Candy Clover Design

For our clover design, we gathered all the green colored candy and treats out of our pantry. We tried a few designs with peanut M&Ms, regular M&Ms, gummy bears, gummy savers, and sugar sprinkles. Out of all of them, we agreed that the peanut M&Ms worked the best because it looked most like a clover. (Be careful not to serve these to anyone who may have a peanut allergy!) Arrange your desired candies on top to look like a three-leaf clover (or a four-leaf, if you so desire). Sprinkle green sugar on top to give a more festive feel to your St. Patrick's Day cupcakes!

DIY Cupcake Wrappers

After looking through the pantry, I could not find any cute baking cups for our St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. Not wanting to travel to the store, I came up with an easy kid-friendly design for the cupcake wrappers. The boys enjoyed this craft and provided a much-needed distraction for them while they were waiting for the cupcakes to cool.

What you will need:

• Green and white cardstock or construction paper.
• Elmer's glue or glue sticks
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Cotton balls
• Green ink pad or washable paint
• Tape

Directions:

1. Cut a long strip of green paper about 1 1/4 inches wide. Make sure it is long enough to fit around the cupcake.
2. Cut a long strip of white paper about 1 inch wide.
3. Dab the cotton ball into ink pad (or paint) and dab on the white strips of paper. If using the ink pad, it will give the look of a spray-painted appearance.
4. After the white strip is dry, use Elmer's glue (or glue sticks) to attach the white strip to the middle of the green strip.
5. When the cupcake wrapper is completely dried, attach it to the outside of the baking cups and secure with glue or a piece of tape.

Share the Cupcake Love

Now I know I won't be opening up a bakery anytime soon, but I do enjoy baking cupcakes and other goodies all while having fun with my boys in the process. I think we have the most fun coming up with creative ways to decorate them without spending a fortune at the store. So are you craving a batch of cupcakes yet? Will you be sharing some cupcake love this St. Patrick's Day? I hope so!

I hope this article has been helpful in decorating your St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!