Chinese New Year Cupcakes

I know, it's not a cake wreck, but close, huh? Here was my attempt at a Chinese New Year cupcake. We used yellow cake mix with extra yellow food coloring to get a really nice "gold" cake, and then I went to town with the red food coloring to get a nice red buttercream. I forgot, however, to save some white buttercream to tint bright yellow to write with. Instead, I used yellow piping gel, which didn't show up well at all.

Hint: If you're not using Wilton (or other "real") cake decorating color, get the gel food coloring at any grocery store. They make much more vibrant colors than the normal, liquid dropper food coloring (that I'll never buy again after discovering the gel stuff!)

Directions for Chinese Good Luck character here