Holiday How-To: Retro Cupcake Ornaments
These twinkling, cupcake ornaments are an easy and impressive holiday craft that you can whip up at home! I was inspired by a vintage ice cream cone ornament I spotted at the thrift store, and I love the retro look of these shiny, foil cupcakes. The flaky, sparkly cupcake topping is reminiscent of shredded coconut, and a shiny cherry on top is the perfect finishing touch. You can add a string for easy hanging, or simply display them around the kitchen for a kitschy holiday treat. Pick your size: regular, or miniature – both are fantastic for decorating and gift giving! Just don’t try to eat them, (they really do look delicious though, don’t they?)
You will need:
Styrofoam Balls
- 2.5″ size for regular cupcakes
- 1.5″ size for mini cupcakes
Heavy-Duty foil cupcake liners
- Standard 2″ size
- Miniature Size
Artificial Snowflakes
Artificial floral berry sprigs (in assorted sizes)
Bakers Twine or Ribbon (optional)
Wooden skewers
White Craft Glue
Foam or paint brush
Hot Glue
Scissors
(more notes on supply sources at the end of the post!)
Let’s get started!
Stick one Styrofoam ball onto a wooden skewer for easy handling. Use a foam brush to paint the upper 2/3 of the ball with a medium coat of white craft glue.
Roll the ball into the faux snow flakes, gently pressing and sprinkling the flakes to cover the ball nicely. It should look like a frosty, snowball. (This is a great step to involve the kids with!)
Place the stick and ball into a mug or a piece of foam, if you have one, and allow to dry completely. I know, I hate waiting for things to dry! But if you try to glue them into the foil liners now, the sides just won’t stick. Trust me. I tried.
When your cupcakes tops are dry, remove the wooden skewers and you are ready to glue them into their foil baking liners. Hot glue works best, but please be careful not to burn your fingers! Run a circle of glue around the top inside of the liner and place your cupcake ball inside, frosty side up. Cup your hands and press gently around the edges to glue the liner on snugly. Do not push the ball down too far or the bottom will curve and your cupcake will not sit flat, (this isn’t really a big deal if you’re planning on hanging them.) Due to the hot-glue factor, this step is best left to big-kids and adults.
Choose the perfect “cherry” for your cupcake. Cut one floral berry from the bunch, leaving about 1″ or less of wire stem. Add a small dot of hot glue to the top center of your cupcake. If you are planning to hang your ornament, set a small loop of ribbon or twine into the glue first, then press your cherry firmly on top. You can push the wire right into the Styrofoam ball, or flip it around to make a cherry “stem.” Both styles are very cute!
There you have it! I think you’ll find that making these kitschy cupcakes is very addictive! So many color combinations, and so much sparkly sweetness. The mini size cupcakes would look lovely tied to holiday gifts, and both sizes are great for decorating Christmas trees.
I hope you all have fun getting crafty this Holiday season! If you make ornaments using this tutorial, please send us photos of your work, or add them to the Bake It Pretty group on Flickr. And I absolutely plan to make Kits for these cupcake ornaments for the shop, but they probably will not be available until January. However, I’m pretty sure that sparkly cupcakes are not just for Christmas, so I’m thinking that Valentine Cupcake Ornament kits would be a welcome addition for this February!
Happy Holiday Baking & Making!
~Amanda
Notes on supplies:
Styrofoam balls: You can find these in most craft stores, and Walmarts. I bought mine at Michael’s.
Striped baker’s twine can be found in many shops on the web, we also carry it at Bake It Pretty.
Foil Cupcake Liners: We carry these in the shop, so that’s what I used for my cupcakes. You can also sometimes get them from your local cake and candy hobby shop.
Artificial snowflakes: I used the Buffalo Snow brand found at Michael’s and Walmart for $2 to $4 a bag. There are two styles, plain and iridescent, and both are great. I even blended the two together for a medium sparkle mix. One bag will frost many, many cupcakes!
Floral Berry Stems: These are relatively easy to find and usually inexpensive. I bought mine at Michael’s, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Garden Ridge. For the large cupcakes I used a cherry size just over 1/2″ diameter. For the mini cupcakes I used a size just over 1/4″ diameter. This is a great time of year to buy these, since most of the ones I found were 1/2 off and very inexpensive!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
These are so cute, Amanda! Thanks!
December 8th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Too cute! Easy too, which is a huge plus! Thanks for sharing this tutorial with us
It’s great that you used easy to find “ingredients” we all have access to, even us non-big-city dwellers.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
What a neat idea! This would be a great girl’s night or kiddie project. I’m thinking a small Christmas tree of mini cupcake ornaments for the kitchen. Thanks for the lovely “how to.” Merry Christmas!
December 8th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
These are seriously amazing! Great job.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
so darn cute! happy holidays!
December 8th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Those are freakin’ adorable!
December 9th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Lovely cupcakes. Nice tutorial. Looking forward to many more. Merry Christmas.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:14 am
These are too, too cute! I just love how sparkly and scrumptious they look! hehe! Hmm… I’m thinking a whole bunch of these, mixed with plain glass balls, would look amazing on my 3′ white feather tree… (Now if only I can carve out some time to make them… lol!) Thank you so much for sharing this how-to!
December 9th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Fabulous tutorials – these are so cute!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
These are adorable — and within my (limited) skill level!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Love em’<3. Gotta try them with the kids!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:28 am
These are adorable! I wonder if there is a way to tint the snow for colored “frosting”?
December 9th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Amanda, you always come up with the most adorable projects! These ornaments are so cute and brilliant! I included your idea in a series of Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas I’ve been posting on my blog. I look forward to all the other wonderful projects you’ll come up with! I’m sure the kits for these will fly off the shelves the moment you have them available.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Those are adorable! I love all things cupcake. Too cute!!!
December 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Thanks so much for the kind words, everyone – I’m so glad you like them!
HOLLY: I was hoping to find tinted fake snow, but didn’t have any luck. I thought they’d at least make PINK, you know?! You could always try using chunky glitter instead of the snow, it’d be a different look but probably very pretty (and extra sparkly!)
December 9th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
This is so cute! Saw then on Cupcakes Take the Cake and thought they were edible. I love this idea. Thanks for the how-to. Gonna have to try it!
December 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
These are just way too cute and easy enough for me to give them a try! thanks for sharing the instructions!
December 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Really Really cute, I’m making these for an ornament exchange tonight!
December 9th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Hello Amanda,
These are fabulous! Love them!
~ Gabriela ~
December 10th, 2009 at 4:02 am
i never would have thought that this would be so easy to make. Thanks
December 10th, 2009 at 9:49 am
[...] Holiday How-To: Retro Cupcake Ornaments | Bake It Pretty [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 9:58 am
[...] Craft of the Day Cupcake Ornaments [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I LOVE these!!! Can’t wait to whip up a batch myself!
December 10th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
SUCH a cute and easy idea!
December 10th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
[...] Holiday How-To: Retro Cupcake Ornaments | Bake It Pretty [...]
December 11th, 2009 at 11:39 am
OH my I love them!!! Must make cupcakes!
December 11th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
argh! i love this idea!
thanks for sharing!
December 14th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Oh you sweet, sweet baker
I have all the materials at home! Let me go bake some loveliness…
Thank you for the gorgeous idea!
When I do finish, I shall post a picture with a link back to you if that’s ok?
Regards,
Bird
December 16th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
[...] familiar? Yep, I used photos of my cupcake ornaments to make these little holiday tags! I printed them onto card stock, cut out the circles with [...]
December 19th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Super cute and super easy. I made these last night with my daughter and her two friends. I linked to your site. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://theleakinglife.blogspot.com/2009/12/last-night-isabel-and-her-friends-made.html
December 27th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I love this idea for cupcake ornaments. I cannot wait to go to the craft store and start this project. Thanks for the great post.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I LOVED these! We have a navy & silver/Dallas Cowboys themed tree, so I am tempted to make a blue and silver set of these for next year! Here is the results of my first trial, though! My supplies were limited and not exactly what yours called for, but I still think they’re adorable!!! Thanks for the awesome tutorial!
http://christinashaw.com/blog//blog2.php/2010/01/02/retro-cupcake-ornaments
January 4th, 2010 at 8:33 am
I love these cupcakes….sweet!! Love to join your blog!
January 5th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I really enjoy cooking. Much appreciation for this recipe.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:52 am
I’m gonna try making some of these as favors for my daughter’s wedding. [If she agrees that is] She will be having cupcakes instead of a cake, so this would be great and the guests could use them for their Christmas tree later in the year…I’ll have to “tweek” them for the wedding colors, but I think I can figure it out…Thanks…
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 am
[...] In searching for cupcake ideas I found this super cupcake ornament tutorial by Bake It Pretty. It’s quite simple, but they do a great job explaining the [...]
March 17th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Fantastic decorating tutorial! They would also make nice dummy cupcakes for a cake arrangement.
March 17th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
[...] Bake It Pretty – cupcakes, baking supplies, cupcake toppers, cupcake liners, baking ideas, par… [...]
March 27th, 2010 at 12:48 am
This is soooo cute and just what I was looking for. I own a wedding shop that offers/specializes in wedding cupcakes. I was needing something to decorate our Christmas tree with. Again, Thank you!
April 28th, 2010 at 7:40 am
i cant wait to make these what a great craft
May 31st, 2010 at 6:47 am
Great idea and its looking really amazing.Thanks for providing a very cool idea.
July 11th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
These are so cute!! These would make cute take-aways for a birthday party
) TFS!
July 27th, 2010 at 8:32 am
These are so adorable. Fantastic tutorial. Thanks so much.
July 30th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
[...] Photo Credits: Bake it Pretty [...]