How do you make plain cupcakes look fancier?

So how do you turn a plain cupcake into something a little fancier? The possibilities are endless, but here are a few that I came up with to make my valentines cupcakes stand out a little more.

~Add some sparkle

You have to look closely to the picture because it doesn't photograph as well as I would like but in real life these cupcakes sparkle and shine! I used rainbow dust or pixie dust on it. You just take a dry paint brush and dip it in the edible sparkles and shake or tap the brush above the cupcakes to add some sparkle.

~Cut out a fondant heart to go on top (or another shape).

You need to let them dry a little so they don't flop, but it adds to the cupcakes. I added some Super Pearl luster dust to the hearts so they sparkle as well. Hmm do you think I like sparkle?

~Add sprinkles or small hearts.
These are made of fondant because I have tiny heart cutters, but I know they sell all kinds of sprinkles and heart candies that you can add to them.

~Dip your cupcakes in chocolate or in truffle chocolate!!

It reminds me of those ice cream cones that you can get at Dairy Queen that are dipped in chocolate. I will post a tutorial on how to make these chocolate dipped cupcakes soon. And yes I did dust with some rainbow dust.

The top view of the dipped cupcake.

Add a monogram and make it personal.

Put them on a cupcake stand. I love cupcakes stands!! It is hard for me to resist them. Their only down side is they are hard to store since they are so big. But they make the plainest cupcakes look grand. And you can take neat pictures with them as well. See below for more pictures.

Have a great Valentines Day!! And if you have a favorite way to spice up your cupcakes leave a comment because I would love to know!