For Kids

• Cupcakes work really well as snacks for children's parties. They are compact, individually wrapped and just the right size for small hands. Throw tweens a decorate-your-own cupcake party, or provide younger children with cupcakes already decorated with fun designs. Use a clean pair of kitchen shears to cut fruit leather into kid-friendly shapes: cut red fruit leather into hearts or orange fruit leather into petal shapes and arrange them around a mini marshmallow for a flower cupcake. Or use red or pink fruit leather to make fairy or butterfly wings and center on either side of a fairy or butterfly "body" made of three vertically placed mini marshmallows. Fruit leathers work best with cupcakes made with yellow cake mix and then topped with either butter cream or cream cheese frosting.

For Adults

• Cupcakes can be used for parties also frequented by adults. Elevate the simple cupcake by baking a batch of them in decorative cupcake liners adorned with abstract designs in bold colors rather than the traditional pastel liners. Create decadent double chocolate cupcakes by preparing chocolate cupcakes and a cream cheese frosting: Add 4 ounces of melted semisweet or dark chocolate to the frosting and blend together. Frost the cupcakes and further decorate with chopped brownie and malted milk pieces. Reinvent the traditional campfire delight, the s'more: Prepare chocolate cupcakes and decorate with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle the top of each cupcake with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs. Or simplify the design: only add a dollop of creamy marshmallow topping and put the cupcakes under the broiler until the marshmallow is golden brown.

Easy to Transport

• Cupcakes are a more than welcome addition to any buffet or bake sale, but ornately decorated cupcakes can be difficult to transport. Instead of using fragile decoration techniques, turn yellow or chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting into flowery cupcakes by decorating the frosted cupcakes with petals made of candy corn centered around a round piece of chocolate candy. Or use Jordan almonds and sunflower seeds, left unaltered or dipped in chocolate, to create flower designs. Reinterpret the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a PB and J cupcake: Prepare yellow cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. Blend 1/3 cup of smooth peanut butter with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate the cupcakes, and then adorn each with a dollop of strawberry preserves and a smattering of chopped peanuts. Make sure before you bring the PB and J cupcakes to a party that none of the guests or host have peanut allergies.

For the Holidays

• Cupcakes can be appropriate for holiday parties. Halloween cupcakes can be simple or elaborate. Make a pumpkin cupcake by dipping a frosted cupcake into a bowl of orange sanding sugar, and then create a stem with a twisted piece of green licorice. Yellow cupcakes with a butter cream frosting, pumpkin-flavored cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes all make good pumpkins. Create skull cupcakes with vanilla frosted chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate candy eyes and white jelly bean teeth. Come Fourth of July, prepare firecracker cupcakes with white-colored frosting and then top with red candy sprinkles and a fuse made of black licorice.