So my mother-in-law is always putting herself down, saying, "Oh that looks too complicated" when it comes to doing some nice cupcake or cake decorating. I taught her the classic 1M and 2D tip decorating, but for Christmas I thought I'd put together a kit for her to move her up.

Some things I thought about including were a new cupcake tin (she only has one), some cute wrappers, and some large disposable piping bags (she already has tips).

But, what are the MUST haves for you when decorating cupcakes? If I can, I might include a cupcake book, but it's kind of crunch time (I blame DH for this fact).

My limit is around $30, so nothing too expensive.

I would definately get her a cupcake idea book so she has step-by-step directions.

One idea is to get those pre-made royal icing flowers and some colored sugar pearls so she can just place the decorations how she wants them w/o having to create them herself. This would be a great step in building cupcake confidence Then maybe after the holiday craziness you can sit down with her and show her how to make the flowers herself (Put a coupon in the kit for a private cupcake lesson).

This sounds like a great idea and I hope both you and your MIL have fun with it

Ice cream scoop!

Is she a visual learner? Do you have a camera that does video? You could make her little tutorials on doing the 1M rosette, the simple flower with the petal tip that I use on cupcake bouquets.
If you want goodies to add in, buy that better quality liners like the Reynolds foil liners with the pretty patterns. The cupcake papers that you wrap around the cupcakes are cute and really fancy up a cupcake without too much work..you could go crazy with sprinkles.
Last year my sister gave me a nice cupcake stand and she tied sprinkles to all the cupcake holders. It looked really cute.

What about the Cake Mix Doctor book? Simple good recipes that do not require exotic ingredients.

I have 4 total scoops I think. The one I use for the cupcakes is about a 1/4th of a cup. My cookie scoops are smaller. You could also get her the mini cupcake pans.

If you are limited to $30, I'd suggest either "Hello Cupcake" or "What's New Cupcake" books by Karen Tack. Pick out 2 specific designs that you think she will like, then buy the specific candies/tips/tools etc. needed for those 2 designs. Put everything for each design in a box or bag along with a photocopy of the pages from the book. Package all this up in one big nice box with the coupon for teaching lessons suggested above attached the the outside in a card.

If she has everything on hand and the instructions to make 2 cupcake wonders, she'll be inclined to do more from the book on her own later!

Good luck.

Sprinkles!

Thank you everyone! I knew I could count on you to help out!!!

I'm going to start compiling a list of ideas and things to buy and go for it. Sooo excited to do this for her.

And I agree with Texas Sugar, I think scoops would be a great gift. I have the regular cupcake scoop and the cookie scoop for minis and I'm lost without both. I actually need to double up on my scoops...I hate washing them between flavors.

You can never have too many sprinkles or edible glitter! The cupcake stand idea w/ the sprinkles is a super cute idea...but I think you could do the same with your cupcake pan you were planning to get your MIL. Happy shopping!

deff sprinkles and sugars and other decorations to inspire her to create something of her own and explore!

Thanks everyone...I had to make a choice between a book and the scoop otherwise I would have been even more over-budget, but I got the scoop for her.

Now I just have to wrap everything, put it all in the nice container I found, and then I'm sure she'll be thrilled.