Cupcake Toppers!

Cupcake toppers are really cute and they are easy and fun to make.  All you need is some paper, some craft punches, a glue stick, toothpicks, and some small stickers or labels to stick the toothpicks on the back (you can also use masking tape or electrical tape).

I have got a Cuttlebug, which is lots of fun, so I emboss plain paper, and use a tag die for cutting out the bases for my cupcake toppers. If you have a large circle punch or a heart punch, that is also perfect to use for the bases.  Otherwise, you may need to cut out lots of small circles for your cupcake toppers.  I make my bases first, using plain coloured cardstock.  

Use your smaller punches to punch out small motifs.  You can punch them out on either plain or pretty paper.  You can punch them out of embossed paper.  You can also stamp onto the plain paper (either before or after punching them).  You can use both the punched cut-out motif, as well as the paper with the motif cut out of it.  So nothing is wasted!  The black and gold butterfly topper above is an example of using the surrounding paper after the motif has been punched. The dragonfly (right) is also an example of using this method.

Once you have punched out a pile of motifs, you can start assembling your toppers (this is the fun part).  Get a base, choose a motif, and use your gluestick to stick it on.  It is that simple!  Motifs do not have to be stuck in the middle of the base - you can arrange them in a way that is pleasing to you, such as the butterfly below.  Look for colour combinations that work well together.  If you are using pretty paper motifs, it is best to put them on a plain paper base - otherwise it will not have any impact.  

Once you have assembled your toppers, get your toothpicks and small sticky labels (or masking tape).  Turn your topper over, lay your toothpick down on it (make sure the topper is up the right way otherwise it will be upside down!) and place a sticky label over the top of it to attach it.  Voila!  Beautiful cupcake toppers.  

You can re-use your cupcake toppers over and over again - all you have to do is remove the used toothpick and insert a new toothpick. 

I noticed my cupcake toppers made their way into peoples bags after my 40th birthday party!  I thought that was a very nice compliment!