Lily Cupcakes {for Baby Lily}

About a month ago my step-daughter, Emily, had a shower for her baby girl.. already named Lily. Originally she wanted cupcakes frosted to look like flowers (I did something like this last June for my other step-daughter, which you can see here). While thinking about her request, I came up with the idea of placing a 'lily' on each cupcake. I asked Emily what she thought and she loved it! 

So we went to Hobby Lobby (I think they have some of the most realistic silk flowers).. obviously I couldn't use live lilies as they are not food-safe. We were in search of purple lilies, since purple was the main shower color. We found purple lilies but only in a small bushel, which actually works great for cupcakes because the blooms are mini-sized. Sometimes these flower bushes can be expensive but HL floral was 50% off that day so I paid just $5 for about 40 lilies! I snipped the flower part off each individual stem, leaving a bit of stem on to shove down into the frosting - worked out great!

I made simple chocolate and vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream - and a lily. Here's how they turned out.. ohhh the elegance!