When we visited Disney California Adventure last year, there was a special show at the time where Alice from the show “Alice’s Wonderland Bakery” led a cupcake decorating party. My daughter loved the party so much that she decided that’s what she wanted to do for her party – decorate cupcakes.

Her birthday was months away, so I knew there was a chance she would change her mind. She didn’t. We tried to talk her into other party ideas, because, let’s face it, it would be much easier to order a cake than to figure out how to host a cupcake decorating party for preschoolers. She had her mind made up.

I did some research to see if there was a party performer I could hire who would bring cupcake decorating supplies and lead the party for me, but the only performer I found cost more than I was willing to pay for undecorated cupcakes. I eventually decided that I would create cupcake decorating kits myself.

After some research, time spent examining photos I’d taken at Disney California Adventure and talking to my daughter about what exactly she was hoping for with a cupcake decorating party, I began looking for products and conducting a game plan.

I decided that I would make the cupcakes the day before the party. I used a box mix with a special recipe I discovered that easily makes any box mix taste extra incredible.

Then, once the cupcakes were cooled, I made individual cupcake kits. Each kit contained four cupcakes (enough for the guest to share with their parents or bring home for later) plus toppings including sprinkles, marshmallows and candy. I put each type of topping in its own snack size food storage bag. In addition, I filled disposable piping bags with frosting, two per guest.

Let me tell you, it was a lot of prep. The day before the party, I spent hours baking and making the cupcake kits. I also ran into a snag when I realized that not everything would fit inside the containers I’d bought. It was either my husband or my son (I don’t remember) who suggested that I hand out the piping bags separately instead of putting them inside the kits. That ended up working out beautifully.

 

During the party, my mom, who used to own a bakery, did a quick tutorial on how to put frosting on the cupcakes with a piping bag, and the kids took it from there. I was impressed with how well they decorated the cupcakes. There was also plenty of positive feedback regarding the taste of the cupcakes and the party idea.

Supplies for a Cupcake Decorating Party:

For the cupcakes:

Cupcake liners

A muffin pan

This easy recipe OR get your favorite bakery to make unfrosted cupcakes for you.

For the cupcake kits:

Containers for the cupcake kits

Piping bags

Bags for toppings

Sprinkles

Marshmallows

Candy

Frosting (store-bought or homemade – I used store-bought and found that I could fill about 3 bags with one tub of frosting)

At first I was planning to use decorating tips inside the piping bags, but since our party guests were preschoolers, I decided to make things easier. I simply snipped the ends of the bags with kitchen shears right before the party started and then put the piping bags in quart-size plastic storage bags.

I also could have made my own frosting, but I took the easy way out and used store bought frosting. It would have held up to fancier cupcake decorating if I’d refrigerated it in the piping bags before the party, but again, this was preschool decorating, so I didn’t. It worked just fine.

As far as party favors for the cupcake decorating party, I bought two packs of these kid-size chef hats and aprons, enough for each child to have their own and pick their favorite color. The kids happily wore the hats and aprons during the party and took them home.

At the end of the party, I also gave each child a gift bag with a tub of frosting and a box of cake mix inside so they could continue the cake or cupcake decorating at home with their parents.

 

Do you think it would be fun to host a cupcake decorating party?