an icing lesson!

February 11th 2014
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magnolia bakery invited eleanor and me to a little frosting lesson at their bakery yesterday with bobbi lloyd, their chief baking officer! E invited two of her little friends (and i invited their mamas) to join us and spend the morning frosting up a valentine’s day storm of cupcakes and cookies! i’ve never been that great at frosting stuff (do you remember E’s leaning birthday cake last year?) but at the same time, i didn’t realize just how involved and difficult it really is to frost those suckers.  bobbi told us it takes about 40 hours of practice for most to get down that gorgeous perfected buttercream swirl you see on fancy cupcakes like the ones at magnolia. i don’t know how many times i tried to mimic her as we iced cupcakes, but i still don’t really know how she did it.  it was impressive!

the girls had an especially great time decorating their cupcakes with as many sprinkles as would fit onto each cupcake top. you’ll see below in a few photos nothing but mounds upon mounds of sprinkles. ;)  i think i am still on a little bit of a sugar high.  thank you, magnolia, for having us!

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^^^the littles assume position!^^^

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^^^and E decides right off the bat that eating them is maybe more fun. this is her very first one.^^^

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^^^getting into those sprinkles!^^^

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^^^so proud of her decorated “E” cupcake!  you did so well, eleanor!^^^

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^^^also, these two chocolate cupcakes got to take pink sprinkle baths!^^^

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^^^what a fun time with cute little friends! hope these cuties remain friends forever.^^^

happy valentines day week!

  1. nanette

    so adorable! magnolia’s is the best!

  2. sophie

    Gorgeous girls, looks like so much fun! E looks so grown up!
    I hope I get to try one of those one day…

  4. Victoria

    Looks like you all had great fun.

    The little girl on the right in the first picture – her face is hilarious! Like the cupcake is about to grow fangs and eat her!

    Such little cuties, x

  5. Brooke

    Oh my word those darlings!! It looks like so much fun and super yummy. I’m actually a little jealous, haha!

  6. cheyenne

    how adorable! i’d love to get a frosting lesson at magnolia! and i could go for a cupcake right now..

  8. juni

    that is so cool! the kids are all adorable

  10. What a fun opportunity for the little girls to get to experience together :) I’ll forever think Magnolia has the yummiest and prettiest cupcakes, no matter what others say!

  11. Ingrid

    omgsh. those girls are so adorable. e looks so happy to be decorating those cupcakes. they also look so tasty. i could really use one right about now! LOL!

  12. Good job, E! And oh my goodness, she is looking more and more like her mama the older she gets!xo

  13. Bea

    I would love to have this class too!!!It really looks great!
    Happy Valentine week to you!!!

  14. Kelcey

    This is so sweet! No pun intended haha. Baking with kids is so important, it’s great you got to experience this!

    -Kelcey
    hellokelcey.blogspot.com

  15. Megan

    This looks like so much fun!! Eleanor is looking a lot like her mama!!

  16. Briseidy

    cuties! looks like they have lots of fun! perfect little date for girlfriends

  17. yummers! what a fun experience :) I have never BEEN to magnolia bakery, but I had a magnolia bakery cake at a birthday party on the LES a few months ago, and it was SO so good… so dense and rich and the buttercream frosting was just perfect.

  18. Love this! Their sweet smiles are too much fun! Magnolia Bakery is one of my favorites :)

  19. Kristen

    Oh my word, how adorable. Little girls and icing cupcakes? It doesn’t get more lady-licious than that. What a great way to brighten these wintery blues we’ve been feeling in NYC…

  20. Lonka

    it’s a beautiful friendship!

  21. Anne

    Man dream come true right there! What a fun adventure

  22. Livi

    So cute– E is tooooooo adorable :)!

  23. Katriel

    What a cute idea for a mommy daughter date!

  25. Mónica

    Go three beauties banter that occur in the kitchen, my kids love that you let them participate in the preparation of dishes. Kisses and happy Tuesday.

  26. lauren

    oh, what cuties!! sounds like such a fun afternoon with your little girl! i know she will cherish these memories

  28. Kristina

    I love that buddy pic at the end!! Oh, and could Eleanor’s suspenders be any sweeter?! What a fun day : )

  30. oh, my! watching her grow before my very eyes. she certainly is a beautiful little sweetie. this bakery is perfect. looks like so much fun in there! hope y’all had the sweetest time ;)

    ps: don’t worry about your leaning tower of pisa — I feel like I’ll never get the icing thing down!

  31. JB

    That last photo is so adorable I can’t even!

  33. Janis

    Awesome! Cupcake heaven! :)

  37. amber

    this is adorable! and looks so yummy :) gorgeous pictures. what a fun day!

  41. rissa

    Magnolia cupcakes and little girls….it just doesn’t get any better than this!

  42. Ady

    How darling is that!

  43. TJ

    What cuties! And I like Eleanor’s style of decorating cupcakes. Loving all those sprinkles ;)
    xo TJ

    http://www.hislittlelady.com

  44. Tina

    This is the cutest idea! I’m absolutely going to have to steal it :) Also, that last picture is ADORABLE!

  45. What a lovely day! Sweet photos, love Magnolia x

  46. martha

    i just wanted you to know i’ve been following your blog for a few years now.. our kids are really close in age. {my phoebe is 3 and my noah is 1.} anyway.. there isn’t ever enough encouragement out there so i just wanted to say thank you for opening your home and family to the public via this blog. your life truly is blessed and beautiful! it is a joy to follow along, to get fun ideas and encouragement from your blog to ENJOY this season of being a momma to little ones, and to feel like somehow we “know” you and your family. anyway, that’s all! keep up the beautiful blog. :)

  47. So cute! I can’t believe how quickly your little girl is growing up!

  49. SO deliciously cute. wow. eleanor is such a pretty little person!
    xx

  50. Sinead

    Too cute! That must have been such a fun morning. Eleanor’s “E” cupcake turned out really well :-)

  51. Elise

    aw that’s the cutest thing!

  53. Rachel

    Oh my goodness! I don’t think I can handle all the cuteness in these photos! That looks like so much fun!

    xo
    Rachel

  56. Imogen

    This is going to sound crazy, but Eleanor looks so much like Carey Mulligan in that lone shot (maybe a bit better looking ;))

  57. hanna

    Too much cuteness! –Hanna Lei

  59. Elise

    So adorable! I’m craving cupcakes now, haha.

  60. The photos are so adorable! I hope there are a lot of those icing lessons. They looks so fun.

  61. JM

    How incredibly cute. wouldn’t it be amazing if those 3 girls stayed friends their whole lives and you had that picture of the three of them to remind them of this day and that age? It just is such a cute picture!

    http://lifeiswhathappensblog.wordpress.com/

  62. Zoe

    That looks so much fun!! what a great little activity to do. But who am I kidding if cake is involved its always going to be a good time :)

    Zoe
    http://gypsiesister.blogspot.com

  63. Julia

    Ohh how cute is the last picture!!
    Eleonore did really well! :) And it’s really nice that Magnolia Bakery gave you and your girl the chance to bake in their kitchen :)

    Julia
    (daysfullofglitter)

  64. Cledly

    Hi!! I love your blog very much ! (Here is mine : http://cledly.skyrock.com ) your kids are too cute !!

  68. Lixia Sun

    Hello Naomi, I was surprised to see a photo of you and josh on the front of a greeting card advertising moonpig.com on UK television. I am sure you endorsed it but just in case they use it without your permission, thought best let you know.

    Love from Lixia

    • TAZA

      yes, it’s an old stock image from a photoshoot we did for a photographer friend several years ago. the images still pop up from time to time so it’s been fun to see them on occasion. thanks for letting me know though, as we have had other brands and companies use other images of ours from time to time without ever asking permission. :)

  69. Brianne

    This is my dream come true! Looks like so much fun and deliciousness!

  70. Devan McCoubrey

    oh my goodness!! LOL that little girl on the right in the first picture looks like she is going to explode with excitement!
    too cute.

    http://www.faulknerlife.com

  71. Sweet Eleanor! Happy Birthday…I love seeing her grow up along with my nephew Will who turned three yesterday! 3 is a great age, enjoy it girlfriend!

  73. Nothing says Valentine’s day like a boatload of pink sprinkles! My kids do the same. I love it!
    Sortofsupermom.blogspot.com

  74. hafsa

    too cute! your blog always makes me happy and hopeful that happy couples & families still exist. so thank you for that :)

  75. Johanna

    I love their little outfits! Stylish mamas, stylish babies! Would you mind sharing what their wearing? I can maybe get something similar for my little one (14 months).

  76. that is adorable!! i agree with e, eating them is much more fun!! and ummmm… why was i not invited??!

  77. Esther

    darlings. can’t get over that girl in her top bun and outfit. like a tiny 25 year old. so so cute, all of them!