BEAUTY & THE BEARD: SIX FANTASTIC FOURTH CUPCAKES (easy designs that take minutes!)

Let's talk straight for a sec:

I love baking from scratch and all, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass. When you just want something last second it can be a bummer when you don't have all the ingredients at hand. So, at times like this, I bake from a box. AH! GASP! BLASPHEMY! The girl that bakes uses box mixes sometimes?!?

I know, your vision of my is shattered. Sorry. To help you cope, go eat a box of cupcakes.

These are 6 super fast, fun 4th of July cupcake decorating ideas. All you need is a box of cupcake mix, some frosting, and the topping of your choice. Have fun!

Don't they look great together? Some fun, some whimsical, some classy. Make a bunch of each to please any crowd!

Cupcake #1: Swirly Cupcake

This one is super easy, take some white frosting and dye some blue and some red. Swirl plain white along with the two colored frostings and BAM. Pretty swirls.

Cupcake #2: Washi Flag Cupcakes

All you need for this one is a few toothpicks and some washi tape. Just fold over, cut into triangles and you're good to go!

Cupcake #3 The Easiest Candy Cupcake

There are plenty of red & blue candies out there to fulfill this cupcake task. My current favorite is the 4th of July Twizzlers that you can buy at Walgreens. Lemonade/BlueRaspberry flavored. Nom.

Cupcake #4: Layered Swirl Cupcake

This one is the only cupcake that requires a little effort. Open a ziplock and hold it up by one corner. Drip red food coloring down one edge of the bag, and blue down the other- so they come together to a point. Cut the tip off the bag to let excess run out, and then load with white frosting. Squeeze to create ad swirled look!