Your cupcake toppers are just adorable. It is easy to see how much time and effort you put into making them. And why do we do that? Obiviously for others to see and enjoy, and that was taken rather abruptly away. I can feel how hurt that made you. Well, all your CC friends can see them and appreciate them.

Putting on his horns and playing he devils advocate:

hmmm...."dirty" roll bag -- I take it those rolls were moldy and inedible? My gosh before plastic baggies, my mom saved EVERY (or so it seemed) bread/roll bag and used them to store food all the time.

hmmm... Just tossed them in the bag -- well, you were expecting her to run to the closet and find just the perfect size box and tissue paper and gently wrap them as if precious crystal? Heck, growing up, finding the box and tissue paper would have meant a trip to the basement and the furnace room (which was 16 x 20 -- don't ask -- Dad had delusions of grandeur that mom promptly turned into a reality of storage shelves) to find them buried way UP high as part of the Christmas stuff (unless it was still under her bed having been kicked there after wrapping the presents) -- the Christmas stuff at least being up front at this time of year and not buried in the back behind the valentine stuff bought on clearance, that being buried behind the Easter stuff (also on clearance) and that behind the summer stuff (also.....).

I do believe we often do not take into account the vastly different perception of "cake muggles" when it comes to our creations. To us: "our precious baby -- so perfect so cute"

To them: let's eat! get outta my way!

if they survived in the bag and only needed a bit of dusting before their "embalming" then no error, no foul, no harm.

ps....and I'm of the viewpoint that if I make a topper and you want it -- fine take it -- don't expect me to do anything special with it -- it's just a temporary thing for "show" (and could be a fun toy to play with and destroy).

After reading all of the posts on this, I looked at the pictures of the cupcakes. I wouldn't be surprised at all if she was jealous! Those cupcakes are adorable!!!!!!! I'm jealous too, but I would never do what your MIL did. I'm much like you, I wouldn't have said anything either (not that I wouldn't have wanted to), so don't feel bad.

SERIOUSLY???? Why do people feel the need to be so ugly??? Sounds like MIL hasn't learned to grow up yet. There's no way I'd go to all that work and have her yank those beautiful toppers off without giving her a good tongue-lashing. MIL or not, what she did was rude and just plain ugly.

Your toppers are ADORABLE!!! I can see why your mom likes to keep your work - they're just too cute for words and such a great job making them.

I have a solution "Prozac" for the MIL. No really, my mom when on it when she was in her 60's and it really helped her. The poor woman was miserable her whole life til they created anti- depressants. A little happy pill might work wonders. I doubt if this is the first time the MIL has acted irrationally. and OP, I do agree you have every right to be upset, as I stated before, I just think your MIL has some issues you're not aware of.

The bears & lights toppers are so cute! So perfect...it makes me wonder:

Did MIL know those were handmade by you?
Could she have mistakenly thought they were plastic/resin "store bought" toppers?
If she is not a caker (and she is so obviously is not!) then is it possible she did not realize she was destroying real art that you had made?

I think it's possible...just an ignorant, thoughtless act.

I'm not defending her by any means. I think what she did was inexcusably rude.

Ruth, you are so right. In my life experiences, you only have to stand up to a bully once. Just once. Bullies never pick on people who WILL "fight back" and stand up for themselves.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. ---Edmund Burke

My MIL tried to force us into some last minute (costly) changes in our wedding 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding. My then-fiance called me, told me what his mom wanted and asked, "What do we do?" (I'm sorry ... that's even a question? ) I told him, "Nothing. I get along great with your mom and if I give in to her now, I'll be giving in to her for the rest of our married life. And I"m not going to live like that."

Well, MIL tried pulling the 'ole silent treatment with me for the next 3 weeks, INCLUDING the day of our wedding and it lasted about 3 more months. When she saw that it wasn't working on me (like it usually did on her own kids ) she stopped acting like an ass and we've been best friends ever since. And in over 20 years of marriage, she has NEVER tried to tell me how to do ANYTHING. I luv her to death. But I only had to tell/show her ONCE that I wasn't a doormat.

As what Dr. Laura Schlessinger would say, " you did not marry a man, you married a mama's boy". and I am so sorry that you do not have a Knight in a shining armour for a husband.. he is probably a great provider and/or father, but needs improvement in protecting and defending you. good luck next time.

All it would take is a few moments to rip them off and shove them in a bag.
Those of us who have learned to fight, forget that those who haven't are stunned for a few seconds when something like this happens. In a split second we would probably have seen what was happening and stopped it, but if you aren't used to anything like this, there is a shocked moment.

The cupcakes are cute. But, you're upset that they werent the center of attention for long enough. Actually, you were the one to bring it up before it was time to eat them. Mil performed the action in a rude way, but probably bec she found it rude that you asked for them before people even started to dismantle and eat them. That seemed rude to me. Couldnt you just make new ones for your mom that had not sat in greasy frosting? A pristine set? Cake people tend to bring attention to their works and non cake people find it annoying. Not because theya re jealous but just bec it is so self-promoting. I have a friend like this. She is not talented even!

dkelly, if I weren't there, my DH would have said something, too, I'm sure. He's heard me rant enough times about idiot people who touch my stuff. And like you, he sees how long it takes me to make my little creations.

It sounds like this husband needs the "grow a spine" speech, too. And OP, I don't say that with any viciousness. Believe me, if you've seen any of my posts lately you know I understand how hard it can be to deal with loved ones!

My husband spends his time at work telling adults they have to stop what they're doing, or that they can't do things. Sometimes whole groups of people, sometimes rude drunk people, sometimes scary crazy people, sometimes gang members...he's not afraid to tell them to stop. But I found out the other day that he can't stand up to his mother either. I think it's just something about men and their mothers.

Fortunately, I am willing to step in and stand up for him

Anyhow, I think the bears were adorable. Personally, I would have waited until the cupcakes were being served to ask to keep the bears, but if there wasn't a set time and it was just a "grab them when you want them" kind of thing, that might have been the only time to ask.

Ok I just want to settle one thing. I was standing right next to my husband and I did not see what she was doing until she was putting the a christmas light into the bag and this was the last thing she put in the bag. I think my husband looked over at the same time that I did and the reason we looked (or I looked at least) was beacuse I heard my mom telling her that she only wanted the bears. My husband is defenitely not a "moma's boy" he has stood up to his mom many times before. My husband is a great husband, so let's not bring him into this. I was a little stunned to see what she had done AND it had already been done so what is the point of starting a fight on Christmas day and making everyone uncomfortable?

And yeah, maybe I do want my cakes to get attention for a little while, don't we all?? We put enough work into them. If I didn't I would just save myself the time and hard work and just make a box (not putting down mix cakes) cake and slap some store bought frosting on it.

And no there was no set serving time on the desserts so that is why I asked when I did.

I guess what we're all trying to say is if you never set your MIL straight then she'll just do the same thing over and over again.

You don't need to start an argument, just a simple "Mom, let me take care of that" would be fine.

Yeah, people don't get it. My b day is on Christmas and we were celebrating it at lunch. My mom ordered me a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory-it was a sampler of a few different kinds.
My grandma doesn't really get social norms and started serving people pieces with her hands and licking her fingers. I took the plate from her and started serving instead. Then she goes "Oh, what flavor is that?" to one of the flavors that wasn't obvious. I said "I don't know" so she reached forward with her fork and took a big honking bite from it. GAAAHHH!!! It wasn't even her slice!!! I love my grandma BUT...

Okay-I'll weigh in.

How upset we are with people's actions are usually tied to past experience and how much we connect with them.
As I read your post I thought-boy, if my MIL asked for the tops, cute fondant sculptures, before people were ready to eat them I would be horrified and think she was really rude. I would think she should keep her own, and then ask for any that were taken off and left on the plate.
If my MIL took the tops off when someone asked for them-I would think that was rude.
This is not so much about what she did right then, it would be about the history of her thoughtlessness.
Recently my kids came home for the weekend. My daughter & husband were to sleep in the pull out couch in the family room. I heard scraping noises. They moved the couch so they could relax and watch the flat screen tv better. I thought it was funny. Then I thought some more and realized if my DIL did that I would be offended and think she was critical about my room arrangement.
Now, I always try to think, would I be upset if _____ did the same thing, before I react. People very seldom do things to be mean, they just see things in a different way, or they are very impulsive. JMHO

Those are the cutest bears I love the cupcakes and wow the toppers are great I would have probably gone nuts if that had happened to me. I am so sorry that happened to you she needs to watch food network and see what really goes into making cakes .