Life's a Beach

There was a beach-themed birthday today at work and I did what any earnest baking hobbyist would do: I made cupcakes for the occasion. This was my first attempt at themed-- well, anything, really. I think they turned out fairly cute; however, I can take no credit for the design ideas as they were all inspired by books and blogs. A big thanks to Amie for reminding me to cut the fruit roll up with a pizza cutter. That definitely saved time and sticky fingers. Note: fruit roll ups get sticky when left out in the air. Maybe not in desert climates, but in beach-themed Monterey, yes... So we had some life preserver casualties this morning when I uncovered the little devils, but I was able to salvage most of them. Next time I'll slap those stripes on at the very end, just before serving, or try using licorice ropes instead maybe. The "sand" is just cinnamon and sugar mixed together and the fish are just regular Swedish fish. (The little goldfish crackers looked so much better, but a salty topper on a cupcake seemed weird.) They were a hit in this non-desert, but pro-dessert climate.