Can you believe it's almost 2016 already???  I sure can't!  As they say....time sure flies when you're having fun...or in my case...making cupcakes!  I wanted to take the time to review the year and to express how grateful I am for all my customers. The support from customers and the community continues to amaze me!  So let's take a look at the year!

Weddings
I was blown away by the number of weddings this year!  Steph's Sweet Treats (AKA me) baked for 33 weddings...which is a huge increase from last year's 13!  Out of those 33 weddings, three weekends were triple weddings and four were double.   Tripling up was a first for me!  On one of the triple weekends my husband and I were even able to deliver all three.  I did one while he did one and then we met up to deliver the third together.  It was perfect cupcake harmony.  It's rare that I am able to deliver two weddings...but three?!  It was all due to perfect reception timing and location for those weddings.

Another Steph's Sweet Treats first for weddings was a traveling wedding.  The wedding was in St.Louis and everything had to be taken down by friends and family...a three tier display cake, a cutting cake, and 180 cupcakes!  It was nerve-wracking, but so exciting to see photos of locals eating my cupcakes all the way in St.Louis!   

Even though I would love to continually increase the number of weddings I do a year....I'm not sure that it's possible!  I mean there are only 52 weeks in a year... Sure I can still take on a few double and triples, but it gets difficult to take any other orders on those weekends.  I may not book as many double and triples in 2016, but hopefully I will have more weddings throughout the year, rather than all clumped together.  

Psst...if you haven't already booked your 2016 wedding with Steph's Sweet Treats, dates are flying off the calendar so make sure you contact me ASAP.

Cupcakes and Cakes
I try to keep track of how many cupcakes and cakes I made throughout the year...and of course I have records of all the sales, but it would take me ages to go back through all my invoices.  So I just keep tally's of cakes in various sizes and count cupcakes by the amount of wrappers I go through (and subtract any of the rejects or extras that don't get sold).  Next year I will have to keep track of the number of cupcake cakes I make because they continue to grow in popularity.  

Cupcakes- Approximately 30,500.  Holy cupcakes!
Cakes- 164 (if I remembered to tally them all!)

Open Days
Another crazy amazing growth for Steph's Sweet Treats this year has been the monthly open day events.  Last year I usually made between 300 and 400 cupcakes for open days (not counting Valentine's Day) and would regularly have extras.  This year I'm up to between 700 and 900 cupcakes plus over a 100 cookies and various other goodies, and selling out on a regular basis. Holy moly you guys rock!! My husband now helps be run the open days by literally being my other hand.  The mornings can be crazy busy, since I tend to run out or at least don't have much of a variety left by afternoon.  So if you've come in during the chaos hours... thank you for your patience!  I can't tell you how amazing it is to see everyone...new faces and the returning faces.  It means more to me than I could ever express.

With it being the holidays I thought I'd share a few of my favorite baker finds with you.  These items would make a great gift for the bakers in your life, or if you happen to be the baker of the family, add them to your Christmas list or treat yourself!  So here's a little baking gift guide for you this Christmas.  They aren't in any particular order, just all things I love!

1.  Baking jewelry!- So this isn't something I found myself...it's actually an amazing gift I got from my best friend for my birthday last year.  You can find all kinds of unique, hand-crafted, custom baking jewelry on Etsy.  My necklace has measuring spoons and a cupcake tin on it...I absolutely love it!  

Some other baking jewelry on Etsy includes:
- For a necklace similar to mine click here.  
-Rolling pin and birthstone necklace.
-Bangle bracelet.
-Whisk earrings. These make me smile!

2.  Food Network Magazine subscription-  This is my favorite magazine!  You don't have to be a baker to get this magazine...you can love to cook or just be a foodie.  Every month there are great articles, recipes, and fun facts.  It's probably the only magazine I actually read rather than flip through and look at pictures.  Tip:  If you give or get a subscription, buy a three ring binder and page protectors too.  Why??  Because let's face it...you don't want to keep stacks and stacks of magazines around.  As you go through the magazine rip out the recipes you want and keep them in the binder.  If you don't want to rip them out right away, tab them and go back through when you get a small stack.  I find that I actually use the recipes more if I do this and it eliminates having to go through and find where the heck that recipe was.

3.  Crocs-  Okay, okay, so Crocs may not be the cutest shoes ever, but if you stand for loooong periods of time...you really can't beat the comfort.  I've tried!  I've had a variety of athletic shoes and nothing cut it.  Nike foam/cushion flip-flops are a close second (especially in the summer), but the Crocs have really been a lifesaver to my feet and even my back.  So if you stand for long hours, or even just want something to wear around the kitchen at home instead of going barefoot on hard floors, try Crocs.  For real....

4. KitchenAid-  If you want to give one of the best baker gifts EVER, go for the KitchenAid.  It's a more expensive gift, but worth every single penny in the end!  I didn't know I needed one until I got one...now I couldn't imagine life without one. Plus, there's sooo many great attachments.  My personal favorite-the ice cream maker!  What?!  Oh yea...I have an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid at home!  (Thanks mom!)  I am an ice cream addict so this thing is either the best thing ever invented or my biggest nightmare since ice cream can always be available!  Which reminds me...I think I need to go make cake batter ice cream after this!  Hey you could even win a KitchenAid if you enter my raffle!  You only have until December 30th to get your tickets!

5. Aprons!!!- You probably know by now that I have a bit of an apron addiction...I love them.  Not just because they help me from not getting covered in flour and powdered sugar, but they are just cute and fun.  If you have a baker or cook to buy for this year, start out their apron collection by getting them an apron or two. (My collection has grown since the picture below!)

Other go to gifts for bakers:
-Stack-able cooling racks (great for an at home kitchen with limited space)
-Pan set.  What baker wouldn't want some new pans?!
-Oven mitt.   A silicone one protects you the most and is easy to clean.
-Kids baking set.  Great way to get the kids involved or gift to the little baker of the family.

Thanks for another week of orders and if I don't see you for holiday orders next week, have a very Merry Christmas!

I'd say holiday season is in full swing...at least over here at Steph's Sweet Treats it is!  There's cutout cookies galore and all kinds of decorated cupcakes.  So this week I'm just going to give you a few more ideas for holiday orders and top it off with a little silliness.  

Need ordering ideas??
-Decorated cupcakes (Christmas trees, Santa hats, Santa faces, ornaments, swirled colors, toppers-I have trees, Christmas lights, and snowmen)
-Promo pack #1 dozen cupcakes vanilla, chocolate and marble decorated -for week of Christmas pickup
-Promo pack #2 dozen cupcakes hot chocolate, gingerbread, and candy cane - for week of Christmas pickup
-Cookies 
-Cookie decorating kits
-Cupcake cakes in the shape of a candy cane, wreath, Santa, Reindeer, tree, etc-contain 24-30 cupcakes
-Plus so much more! Contact me for details or to order.

Want ideas other than food?  Check out the holiday gift guide post I made here.

Also....don't forget your raffle tickets!  Steph's Sweet Treats is raffling off this KitchenAid mixer (and everything you see with it!).  Tickets are $5 and the winner will be announced December 31.  All proceeds about the cost of the prize will be donated to the Iowa County Humane Society, so PLEASE get your tickets and help them out.  Contact me to get your tickets.

Now onto a little bit of silliness.  If you know me personally...you know I'm a big dork.  Ever since I opened Steph's Sweet Treats I've been doing this thing where I turn songs into songs about baking.  Maybe it's too much time alone in the kitchen, maybe it's my inner nerd...I'll just pretend it's because I'm creative!  I think they are pretty creative and funny...but you might just think I'm weird.  My husband tried to persuade me not to post them (he thinks the two of us are probably the only ones that find them funny)...but I'm doing it anyways!  

At least it won't be completely embarrassing...my original idea was to make videos of my new tunes.  You're welcome for not going that route!  So here are some of baking lyrics!  (I had to look up these real lyrics because I'm bad at figuring out what singers are actually saying and I'm so use to my version)

Song- All About That Bass by Megan Trainor

• Real lyrics- "Because you know I'm all about that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble"
• My lyrics- "Because you know I'm all about them eggs, 'bout them eggs, real butter"
• This is the first song I turned into a baking song and now I just can't stop

Song- Shots by LMFAO

• Real lyrics- "shots, shots, shots, shots (plus like 12 more shots)...everybody"
• My lyrics- "cake, cake, cake, cake, cake....everybody"  
• Not the most creative, but hey it still works!

Song- Watch Me by Silento

• Real lyrics- "Watch me whip, now watch me nae nae"
• My lyrics- "Watch me whisk, now watch me bake bake"
• Real lyrics- " Break your legs, break your legs"
• My lyrics- "Break them eggs, break them eggs"
• This one just makes me giggle

Song- Can't Feel My Face by The Weekend

• Real lyrics: "I can't feel by face when I'm with you..but I love it....but I love it"
• My lyrics:  "I can't feel my hands when I bake cupcakes....but I love it...but I love it"
• This would be confusing unless you know the story...so here's the story.  I have circulation issues, and the mass quantities of cupcakes I frost on a regular basis has made it so my left arm/hand (since I'm a lefty) fall asleep all..the...time...  Of course it's also really bad when trying to sleep on that side...none-the-less..."but I love it...but I love it"  I also sing this one with the words feet in place of hands.  Long hours standing makes for sore feet.  So depending on the day, the song will vary for me...but I sing one of them every time I hear the song!

Thanks again for another week of orders and for making the open day so crazy busy and amazing!

Ahhh vacation.  Something we all need, but is so rare for many.  If you've been following my blog you already know where my favorite place is.  If you haven't...well...now you'll know!  The Northwoods!  

My husband and I have been trying to reduce the "stress" of holidays.  Running around to 6, 7, 8 different holidays takes the fun out of it us.  Being with our closest loved ones is what means the most to us; so we've cut down on the rush, rush, rush, of the holidays.

We started by doing Thanksgiving on our own last year.  We stayed home, cooked food, ate way too much taco dip and watch football.  It was great!  This year I came up with the idea to have Thanksgiving up north!  My parents have a home up there so it's the perfect quick getaway.  We did Thanksgiving with my in-laws Thanksgiving day and then headed to the Northwoods the next morning to meet up with my parents.

Taking a weekend off is very hard when the majority of my business is weekend orders.  Thankfully, with the holiday being on a Thursday, the majority of the orders were for Wednesday and Thursday, allowing me to get away for a few days.  I did still fill a few weekend orders.  I told people that I could fill their order, as long as they were okay with them being baked Thanksgiving morning and they could pick then up from my father-in-law at my shop Friday. I am beyond thankful for my father-in-law for doing my pickups so I could go up north!

Thursday night it snowed so we got to arrive to beautiful snow covering the Northwoods trees.  It's amazing how differently I feel about snow when it's not where I live.  If this snow was here in Dodgeville I wouldn't be so happy about it (I just don't like driving in it), but having it up north made me feel like a little kid again.  We came home Sunday morning. So while the stay was a short one, it was so nice to not do anything.  I spent a lot of time laying in front of the toasty fireplace, enjoying the view, and eating.  Doesn't sound like much....but that's exactly what I needed!

Once again, if you've read my blog for awhile now you already know this, but in case you don't.....we travel with the cat and dog in tow!  My dog turns into a crazy dog when he sees the bags and cat carrier come out.  They equal vacation and he starts whining and jumping around like CRAZY upon seeing them.  While it's annoying in the moment....it's pretty cute that he likes it so much.  The cat...well these pictures say it all.  We could leave him up north and he probably wouldn't notice we weren't there.  He runs everywhere, lounges/takes ownership of the furniture, and spent a lot of time squirrel watching.  

Now lets talk about the giveaway I announced on small business Saturday.  Okay, okay, I wasn't on a total vacation.  I still posted, responded to messages, and posted the big end of the year giveaway that I'm super excited about.  If you haven't heard...here it is!

Steph's Sweet Treats is raffling off this Artisan KitchenAid, measuring spoon set, oven mitt set, and spatulas! Winner will be announced on Steph's Sweet Treats 2 year-anniversary December 31st!

Raffle tickets are $5; any raffle tickets sold above the cost will be donated to the ICHS-Iowa County Humane Society- so buy buy buy those raffle tickets! You can stop by the open day for tickets, contact me to see if I'm baking and you can stop or Saturdays I do pickups at my shop from 9:45-10:15, you are welcome to buy a tickets then as well.

Now let me tell you something about this giveaway...I was beyond excited when I came up with the idea.   How did I come up with it?  Well I love KitchenAids...so of course I was looking at all the beautiful colors thinking I should really collect them (now I just need the room to display them in my home and the money to buy them all!)..when it hit me...I should raffle one off!  I've been wanting to do a raffle for some time now, I just didn't know what to raffle off.  A KitchenAid is perfect!  Making it a raffle that has the potential to help out a local non-profit organization made it even better.

Needless to say I was pretty much jumping for joy when it arrived in the mail....then I opened the box.  Big ole' scratch down the top of the KitchenAid....I almost cried!  How could I possibly raffle off a scratched KitchenAid?  Sure, the tickets are only $5, but who wants to win something so glorious, but with a scratch?!  

Sooooo.....I'm in the process of returning the darn thing.  And let me tell you that has been a task all on it's own.  The company I bought it through has horrible customer service and has made it a nightmare for me.  Thankfully, I think I have it figured out and a new one, from a different company, should be here tomorrow.  It is a slightly different shade of gray than the one above, which is liquid graphite, only because I couldn't get the exact color in time for it to be displayed at the open day.  My jump for joy giveaway got a little stressful there for a moment, but I'm back to just being excited, so I hope you are too!

Thanks for another week of orders!  Please place holiday orders now, check out last week's blog post for gift ideas, stop by Friday's open day, and buy those raffle tickets!!