We decided to have people over for the 4th of July at the last minute, so I needed to make a few things in a pinch. For those of you who don’t know, I used to be really into cake decorating. So every once and a while I will break out my decorating supplies and make something fun. 

Since we were in a pinch, I decided to use things I had on hand and make 4th of July cupcakes and a special punch for my guests.

Elizabeth’s 4th of July Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cups Water
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Betty Crocker Cherry Chip Cake Mix
• 1 1/2 Cups Crisco
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons Water
• 1 Pound (4 Cups) Powdered/Confectioner’s Sugar

Cupcake Ingredients

The first step is to make the Betty Crocker Cherry Cip Cupcake Mix by following the directions on the box.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the cake mix, water, vegetable oil and eggs together. I used my batter dispenser to get the batter into the pan without making a big mess.

Batter Dispenser

The cupcakes need to bake for 17-22 minutes. In the meantime, you can make the frosting. For the frosting, you need to mix the Crisco and butter in a large mixing bowl.

Then you add the vanilla and 3 tablespoons of water until it is absorbed:

Then the messy part- you add your confectioner’s sugar in two parts – I add two cups at a time because it is really messy and easier to mix:

Once your frosting is smooth you need to add the food coloring. I still had some Wilton Royal Blue Icing left so I used all of it:

I like to use a pastry bag and coupler to ice my cupcakes. I used the 21 tip for this project:

I like to test mine out before so you don’t get any air bubbles:

Then you ice the cupcakes in a circular motion:

Then I added the red sprinkles:

Here are the completed cupcakes – everyone loved them and they were a great and easy addition to my table:

Elizabeth’s 4th of July Punch

I like to make a fun drink for my guests and had been saving a few ingredients for an impromptu party. Today definitely fit the bill.

Elizabeth’s 4th of July Punch Ingredients

• 1 Bottle of Moscato
• 1 Bottle of Sprite Zero
• 1 bag of frozen blueberries
• 1 bag of frozen raspberries

I have a great summer drink dispenser so I just mixed all of the ingredients together. The great thing about the frozen berries is that you can leave them in your freezer until you need them. They also keep the punch cold without diluting it.

4th of July Punch Ingredients

It ended up being a great drink:

I decided these would be great additions for the House of Rose’s Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop. I’m sure I’m not the only one who had to put a few things together in a pinch for 4th of July. Let me know if you have any questions about how I made this.