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6th Annual "Dress It Up" Cupcake Contest

posted by The Princess Shop    |   May 2, 2021 19:07

On March 27, 2021, after a year of quarantining in our homes and only being able to run a virtual online auction, we decided to undertake the ambitious task of going ahead with our annual Cupcake Contest fundraiser. For anyone who’s attended this event in the past, you’ll know just how much of an in-person event it is. The annual Cupcake Contest is usually part of the WinterShines festival and it’s always a night that brings out a great crowd, all with the common goal of eating cupcakes! Nothing brings people together quite like the objective of consuming a saccharine treat. 


As a local non-profit dependent on fundraising to continue our programming, we knew that the 6th Annual “Dress It Up” Cupcake Contest presented by MNP would be an important one for us. Currently, our big focus has been making The Princess Shop more inclusive, especially by acting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action that connect with the work we do. Having the funds necessary to accomplish our goals is all due to your help! Not only that, we knew that people needed a sweet pick-me-up, so after all the support you all give to us, it would be remiss of us to not give back to you!


So… we went for it! We had some wonderful bakers sign up to bake up to 500 mini cupcakes to make our event possible! As much as this is a contest for them, with the potential of being “crowned” Saskatoon’s Best Cupcake as their incentive, they all volunteer their time and energy to make the Cupcake Contest possible. The event wouldn’t be the same without them (I mean, literally, there would be no cupcakes to eat). 


Let’s meet the contestants and the treats they crafted this year:


Ally's Cake Creeations: Ally brought us a lemon cupcake with raspberry puree inside, topped off with a lemon buttercream with a hint of raspberry. To finish the look, the cupcake was sprayed with rose gold lustre dust.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyscakecreeations/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allyscakecreeations 

 

Cakes by Britney: Britney crafted a chocolate cupcake with a berry filling, topped off with a berry-infused buttercream, chocolate ganache drip, berries, and a chocolate swoosh! 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/cakesbybritney/ 

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/cakesbybritneygraf/ 

 

Cakes by Alix: Alix’s vanilla cupcake had a blueberry filling and was iced with blueberry buttercream and topped with meringue!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cakesbyalix/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cakesbyalix 

Ruby Lange: Ruby created a Biscoff cookie butter cupcake with a Biscoff cookie base, and a Biscoff swiss meringue buttercream. It was topped with a meringue heart!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubinfruits/ 

 

Caketopia Custom Cakes: Michelle and Margaret baked a chocolate cupcake with cinnamon coffee icing with a layer of dark chocolate on top!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caketopia_custom_cakes/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caketopiacustomcakes 

 

Jamie: Inspired by the peacock gown, Jamie’s cupcake was a light and fluffy champagne cupcake with champagne buttercream and a hand-painted, hand-made gum-paste feather on top!

 

Love and Butter: Aimee thought her dress resembled a firework, and with that in mind, she baked for us a chocolate cupcake, filled with coffee and raspberry, topped off with dark chocolate buttercream, mini-meringues, and glitter! 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveandbutter_cakesbyaimee/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveandbutter.cakesbyaimee 

 

After everyone had had a chance to vote, from the comfort of their own home, we were excited to announce that Love and Butter won both Best Overall and Best Look-Alike this year! Congrats Aimee!! Cakes by Alix took home the title of Fave Flava!


Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets to this year’s Cupcake Contest! Thank you also to our sponsors who made the event possible and the local businesses that added additional treats to the Upgrade Tickets:

Presenting Sponsor: MNP

In-kind Chef Sponsor: The Prairie Grazer

Cheers Sponsor: Crossmount Cider Company

Volunteer Sponsor: SIIT

Venue Sponsor: Station 20 West Community Enterprise Centre

Virtual Program Sponsor: SaskTel

In-Kind Radio Promotion: CFCR 90.5 FM - Saskatoon Community Radio

In-Kind Paper Promotion: Eagle Feather News

In-Kind Radio Promotion: Rawlco Radio

News Coverage: CTV Morning Live - Saskatoon

Event Host: Janella Hamilton

Event Photography: Infinity Events & Decor / Infinity Imagery


Behind-the-scenes, on our end, it was heartwarming to see all the pictures and stories we were tagged in as everyone enjoyed cupcakes from the comfort of their own homes. Hopefully, by next year, we can celebrate with Princess grads in-person, but until then, it’s amazing to see the community come together for a good cause, even when we’re not physically together.

 

4th Annual "Dress It Up" Cupcake Contest

posted by The Princess Shop    |   March 7, 2019 19:57

On Tuesday, January 29th, we took part in the Nutrien Wintershines Festival for the fourth time! That week was one of the coldest we've had this year (perhaps even in the past few years, honestly), but we bundled up and braved the cold to set up our fundraiser. Lucky for us, we were met with a large crowd of people - the greatest turnout we've had at a Cupcake event thus far - and of course, the cupcake contestants with their yummy goods! 

The rules are pretty simple. Six local bakers select a dress from the Princess Shop to base their design off of. Bakers are encouraged to be as creative as possible with all aspects of the cupcake; the flavour, the decorations, and even the setup of their display. This year, their hard work in these different areas paid off as we had three categories to win! The categories were: Best Cupcake, Fave Flave, and Best Look-a-Like. Let's meet the contestants!

Cakes by Britney:

Inspired by a sparkly light purple dress, Britney named her cupcake "Purple Unicorn". This blueberry-filled lemon cupcake with blueberry infused icing was a true showstopper. The crowd thought it was nicely decorated and the filling inside was a sweet surprise. Britney's take on the dress and how she turned it into a unicorn cake was such a great finishing touch!

Instagram: https://instagram.com/cakesbybritney/

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/cakesbybritneygraf/

 

CM Cakes:

Chantelle from CM Cakes was our youngest contestant, but that didn't stop her from bringing bold flavours to the table! Her vanilla cake with strawberry-raspberry buttercream and lemon curd filling was to die for! Chantelle had a gorgeous display, complete with fairy lights and pinecones. Her cake was inspired by a pink high-low gown with layered ruffles. 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/cmcakes.yxe/

Create Cupcakes and Cakes: 

Angela from Create Cupcakes had champagne-infused flavours in her cupcake. The cake was inspired by a white dress with blue accents, and her beautiful cupcakes definitely fit the look!

Chef de Partie:

Italian lemon and olive oil cupcake with wildberry compote filling - yum! Based off of a lacy fitted gown, this cupcake took the flowers from the dress and recreated them with a twist! We don't know how Heather dreamed this one up, but it sure was fun to bite into it :)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefdepartiecatering

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefdepartiecatering

Foodiepharmbabe / Get Baked With V:

Vanessa's chocolate cake with cookies and cream buttercream, creamy cheesecake filling, and a honey sugar shard topping it off was a sight to take in! The cupcake was packed full of flavour, with each bite revealing another layer to the complex creation! The crunch from the honey shard added some great texture. Vanessa chose a sparkly dress with tones of purple, pink, and blue. We're still not sure if it was the dress or the cupcakes that had more sparkles. Vanessa had a beautiful display, with lights, marble accents, and even some baking books to finish off the look!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodiepharmbabe/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodiepharmbabe/

Humblebee Bake House:

Melissa Served up a vanilla cupcake with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate Swiss Meringue buttercream. She named her creation “Ice Cream Sunday”, very fitting for a dress giving off Neapolitan vibes. Her cake looked exactly like the dress and was overall rich in flavour, not overwhelmingly sweet, and had great balance. 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/humblebeebakehouse/

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/humblebeebakehouse/

Saskatoon’s Best Cupcake 2019:

By now you're probably craving to find out who won (or maybe you're just craving some cupcakes). All the bakers gave the competition their best in terms of flavour and creativity. After over 200 guests had tasted all the delicious flavours and voted on their favourites, the results were in favour of...

Foodiepharmbabe! Venessa’s cupcakes and their layers of complex flavours won over hearts, but others weren't too far behind. After all, there were two other prizes to compete for too. CM Cakes’ Chantelle won Fave Flave and Melissa from Humblebee Bake House took home the title of Best Look-a-Like. The three winners were congratulated with framed certificates.

Thank you to everyone that came out that night in our support, to the bakers for pouring your creativity and hard work into a project for a good cause, and to Apex Trampoline Park for donating door prizes. Thank you to Nutrien for sponsoring an important event that truly keeps our community warm and vibrant: Wintershines! A huge thanks also goes to each of our The Princess Shop volunteers who helped organize, set up and take down the event as well as Janella Hamilton of CTV Saskatoon News for emceeing the event and announcing our winners! And lastly, but surely not least, to each of YOU in the community who came to sample, vote, and enjoy an evening of sweets for such a great cause. It means the world to us to have an entire community backing us up as we help bring the joys of graduation and the life that follows after to our Princess graduates. 

Our next major fundraiser is our 12th Annual Glass Slipper Benefit for Princesses, presented by K+S Potash Canada on April 10, 2019 at TCU Place. Join us for an evening of good fun, good food, and giving back to the community. We'd love to see you there! And if you're looking for more Cupcake Contest photos, check out our Facebook page for the full album!

My Year Volunteering at The Princess Shop

posted by The Princess Shop    |   December 29, 2018 10:32

Written by Heidi Anderson

I am very grateful for the volunteer position that I was given the opportunity to have over the past year at The Princess Shop. 

In December 2017, I was looking for a consistent volunteer commitment that I could take on that would be of a benefit to my community.  When I first heard about The Princess Shop I was interested in the idea that they are helping women in need and being apart of reducing and reusing grad dresses. Reducing and reusing are two concepts that I try and follow in my personal life. I love art and expression, but I feel like we live in an overly commercialized culture filled with so much stuff.  On further inspection I learned about the rest of the programs – it is so much more than a dress. If a graduate uses The Dress Program they gain access to other programs and attendance at the main events. There is The Dress Program, The Next Chapter Program and The Fairy Godmother Program. The full name of The Princess Shop is The Princess Shop Mentorship and Female Youth Development Inc. The Princess Shop mission is to create an enhanced graduation experience for female-identified students in need, and provide them with mentorship, support, and the tools to pursue success after graduation. 

My first meeting was overwhelming, and it took awhile to understand everything that The Princess Shop does, what was expected of me, and how the organization is run.  It takes a lot for this organization to run effectively. Thankfully, the rest of the volunteers and Karen Robson the executive director were patient and understanding. They were also able to adapt with me as I went through some life changes like a work scheduling change. I felt supported by these women and that they wanted what was best for me. This was a refreshing change as in many avenues in my life I have felt a sense of rivalry from my female peers.  I felt as if my volunteer contributions were appreciated! As women we should be all be trying to encourage one another and build each other’s self esteem. Empowered women empower women.

I took on the position of the Fairy Godmother Program Coordinator. I felt this was the right fit for me as I have an interest in and a background in education.  The Fairy Godmother Program is a mentorship program and it was sponsored by TD. An interested princess graduate is partnered up with a woman in the community that wants to be a mentor to a princess graduate. All the participants were interviewed and matched into pairs. These women keep in touch throughout each month. They are also expected to attend monthly activities that are put on from September to March. This season we have had a lawn games activity, a pumpkin painting activity, a skin care workshop with local business Green Tree Beauty, and a holiday party so far.

 

It was great to see the connections made!  Mentorship is a learning opportunity for the mentee and the mentor. Even though attendance was a struggle at times for the participants, it didn’t take away from the value of the program. It was clear that it was making a difference for the people who were apart of it. Having the program as an option available for those that want to utilize it, is a value in and of its self. Having someone that supports you and is your cheer leader in life is so important for your personal growth. Imagine never having that and then getting the opportunity to have that!  I love that each season past matches can continue to be apart of the program. My wish for the Fairy Godmother Program is that it grows. If you want to be a role model in a princess graduate’s life, please apply to be a Fairy Godmother as The Princess Shop will be seeking new fairy godmothers to join the program next season. 

The Dress Program

Being at dress choosing appointments, it is interesting to see all the sorts of people that use The Dress Program and what their style preferences are. The participants are encouraged to choose something that interests them. At The Princess Shop there is so many styles of dresses, shoes and accessories to choose from and you are encouraged to be you. I really liked complimenting the ladies when they found a dress and seeing how appreciative they were for the experience. My favorite comment from a graduate when choosing a dress and accessories was, “I feel like Beyonce.” 

 Graduation Days

On the graduation day it is a very busy and exciting time! The graduates can have their hair and makeup done and get professional photos taken.  Seeing the graduates light up is very rewarding for all involved. My favorite moment on a grad day was watching an elderly lady who was about to graduate and she brought her son with her.  She explained that over the years she wasn’t often able to make herself a priority and was very nervous for graduation. As she was done up and went to pictures, you could see the confidence in herself build. 

The Perfectly Pink Appreciation BBQ

The BBQ is a great time to gather with all the princess shop participants, their families and supporting community members. We had such a great turn out this year and almost all the food was eaten! There was even a bouncy castle for the children.  During the BBQ the recipients of the scholarships from the next chapter program were announced! This BBQ has been sponsored by a Fairy Godmother Kari Calder of Kari Calder Realty for a very long time which provides the opportunity for Princess Graduates and their families to attend at no cost.

The Next Chapter Program

The Next Chapter Program is The Princess Shop’s scholarship program. What I really appreciate about the Next Chapter Program is that it doesn’t matter how many years ago you utilized the dress program, you are still able to apply for the scholarships! If The Princess Shop exists, a past Dress Program participant is able to apply to those scholarships. There are so many great scholarship opportunities and learning workshops offered through the program. At the Glass Slipper Benefit this year a scholarship opportunity was bid on and $9,300 was raised! 

The Glass Slipper Benefit for Princesses presented by K+S Potash Canada

The Glass Slipper Benefit is the largest fundraiser event put on by The Princess Shop. Lots of work is put into this event and planning begins very early on every year. Sponsors and silent auction items are gathered from all around our community. It is very inspiring listening to the speeches given at the gala by past princess graduates explaining how the princess shop has impacted their life.  

If you are interested in going to the Glass Slipper Benefit, it is best to get your ticket early as it saves you money.

There are many fundraising events that are put on all year round by The Princess Shop like the upcoming cupcake contest held on January 29th of this year during the Nutrien WinterShines Festival. The Cupcake Contest is where bakers compete by creating a cupcake modeled off a dress from The Princess Shop and guests get to judge and decide what cupcake was their favorite. It’s only $10 to attend and sample all of the cupcakes.  The Princess Shop is always interested in different creative fundraising ideas, so they can continue to have the funds to run. 

Unfortunately, I cannot continue as the Fairy Godmother Coordinator as I will be moving out of the city and have travel plans in 2019. I will however continue to show support in the ways that I can. The Princess Shop is always seeking help in many ways from small to large commitments. Please reach out and contact them if you want to contribute in any way. 

I am approaching ten years since I graduated high school. At that time, I really did not see that much significance on the day of graduation. I viewed it in many ways just like any other day and that graduating high school wasn’t that big of a deal. As I have lived my life for the past ten years and reflected, I have seen the value in celebrating positive moments and successes in life. Life is simply too short not to celebrate.  

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The Princess Shop Sponsors
The Princess Shop Sponsors
The Princess Shop Sponsors
The Princess Shop Sponsors
The Princess Shop
our location
12 - 1622 Ontario Avenue
Saskatoon, SK S7K 1S8
t: 306-222-3311

Store Hours for Dress Returns & Donations:
Monday: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Wednesday: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00pm

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