Everyone loves Christmas and you'll probably agree that decorations are a major part of the holiday. And what would Christmas be without all the baked goodies and sweet treats? As for me and my family, this involves cupcake decorations. The inclination to over-indulge in such sweets is more common around the holidays. So, I sincerely hope you'll enjoy these artistic and quirky Christmas cupcake ideas - crafting as well as eating them.

• Begin with your favorite cupcake recipe by baking them or buying a ready-made one from your favorite bakeshop. Generously top them with white frosting, add some shredded coconut, dust it with a powdered or confectioner's sugar and voila! a mini-winter-wonderland in a yummy cup.

• These are great for parties all year-round and particularly at Christmas time. The idea is to form a miniature Christmas present at the top each cupcake. Use an assortment of icing colors; red licorice works well for the ribbons and bows. Pitch in a small amount of sprinkles, if preferred.

• Santa's face never look so yummy! Top each of your favorite cupcakes with a red frosting on one side and white on the other. Put some mini marshmallows at the border separating the two colors, forming it as Santa's hat brim. Cautiously use brown chocolate or green frosting to form his face on the white side of the icing. You may use, round candies for Santa's eyes and nose. Thin out strips of various edible goodies such as fruit roll-up cutouts, and thin licorice whips, to use as Santa's smiling lips.

• These snowman cupcakes are definitely going to be a hit. White icing should be placed to form the base making it look like a snow on the ground. Put a big marshmallow, and then add a little one above to shape the body of Frosty the Snowman. Insert a toothpick vertically through both marshmallows to hold Frosty together. Use small candies of your choice for her eyes, nose, held in place with a small bit of frosting. Try on a small piece of Tootsie Roll for his hat. Frosty won't likely melt ... but I'm sure she won't last long, either!

• For this next one, we will try to make a Christmas tree made of cupcakes. You'll need about one and half dozen cupcakes, and a rightfully big, festive platter to hold them all. Top all, except the last four, of your cupcakes with a green icing. The last four should be frosted in brown chocolate. Basically arrange the four brown-topped cakes at one end of the plate, shaping a tree trunk. Arrange your green cupcakes above the brown ones, in a shape of a triangle forming the shape of a tree. As for the decorations, use small chocolates candies of different shapes and colors. As usual, you can't go wrong using grated coconut as snow, and red licorice makes a great garland. Try on some tubes of gel icing, in an assortment of colors, which can be bought at any supermarkets, party supplies stores, and baking supplies stores.
I am hopeful that these will inspire you to come up with your own fantastic, artistic, and one of a kind creations!