The Cake Topper to End All Cake Toppers
For those of you who don’t know her, this is my sis, Beans. She is my one and only sibling, and she is just as odd and crafty as I am, so we get along great. She got married late last year, but still wanted to have a reception to celebrate. This whole week of posts is dedicated to Beans. Congratulations, Beanie Wienie, and I hope you enjoyed all your crafts. I may take a break for making you things for awhile.
Beans wanted a unique and beautiful cake topper for her wedding cake. She searched around on Etsy, but couldn’t find anything she liked that was also in her price range. Clever Chick to the rescue! (Again!). She came over one weekend, and together we crafted it out of clay to be fired in my kiln.
We started out with a simple base and archway. We used a tupperware lid as the template for the base, to make sure it was actually round. The big piece in the center, which we not-cleverly-but-amusingly titled the “Poop”, is just there to hold the arch in place while we worked on it, and during the drying process.
I then textured the archway to look like wood. I even added little twig stumps, and hid hearts and their initials in the texture.
Beans created the pair of birds sitting on what would eventually be their swing. Beans loves birds, and has tons of bird figurines in her house and garden. She set them up so they were nuzzling each other. She also punched holes in all four corners for later.
Here is the plaque that will go at the top of the arch. Both of their first names start with A. You can see that the birds came out super adorable. The cake itself was the same blue color as the glaze we used. The spool of thread is from an antique store, and that’s what I used to hang the swing.
I used paint on the archway. I mixed the color I wanted, painted it into the texture, then rubbed it off with a wet sponge. That’s what this photo is showing, plus a “B” for Beans!
Here’s the fully assembled product:
And here it is in place atop the beautiful and delicious cake made by Brandy the Stewrat who features in many of my posts.
And, oh yeah, it tasted as good as it looks. Now my sis has a keepsake she can display all the time with her other bird collections. I attached the plaque and held the swing in place with some silicone glue, and the grass texture on the bottom is just paint textured with a brush. Everyone loved the cake, and it’s incredibly special. Look forward to more wedding and reception madness as the week continues!
momfog replied:
That is the cutest thing! I make cakes and have had to sculpt many a custom topper when I couldn’t find the “perfect” one. I don’t use clay, though. It’s gumpaste, fondant, and royal icing. Same principle except I don’t have to fire it.
Love it, and it’s perfect for the cake.
April 17, 2011 at 1:06 pm. Permalink.
thatcleverchick replied:
Thank you so much! I’m making another custom topper for a friend right now. I love the sculptures I see from gum paste, but I just couldn’t bear to do all that work for it to be eaten! The flowers on the cake were gorgeous, and I almost felt guilty eating them. Thanks for reading!
April 17, 2011 at 7:12 pm. Permalink.
momfog replied:
Oh, but gumpaste isn’t eaten and can be saved! I’ve seen people keep gumpaste toppers and flowers under bell jars to display.
Your blog is really cool. I think I might have to try some of your projects at home.
April 17, 2011 at 8:38 pm. Permalink.
phuongie replied:
love how it turned out!
April 17, 2011 at 8:09 pm. Permalink.
Black replied:
Good stuff!
April 18, 2011 at 5:02 am. Permalink.
Liane replied:
OH-EM-EF-GEEE! Girl! That is BEAUTIFUL!!! Seriously, I am in awe and cannot stop looking at it. Love it!!
April 18, 2011 at 7:59 am. Permalink.
thatcleverchick replied:
Thanks so much! You and I need to team up! PS. I sent a picture of one of your cakes in to cake wrecks for the Sunday Sweets feature, when she shows amazing cakes. I’ll let you know if it gets in.
April 18, 2011 at 9:21 am. Permalink.
Wedding Favors on a Budget « My Attempts at Cleverness replied:
[...] you know from the last post, my sis Beans just had her wedding reception. For the reception favors, she wanted to hand out baby [...]
April 19, 2011 at 11:03 am. Permalink.
the kornberg replied:
that is sickeningly adorable.
April 22, 2011 at 11:47 am. Permalink.
thatcleverchick replied:
Aw, you’re sweet. Let me know what you two want for yours (eventually). A dwarf and an elf mage? Dr. and Mrs. Horrible? Dia de los Muertos? Whatever you want, I’m sure I can pull it off.
April 23, 2011 at 11:58 pm. Permalink.
Crafty Gifts « My Attempts at Cleverness replied:
[...] I’ve been spending a lot of time lately crafting for friends and family, like the cake topper and wedding favors for my sister, Beans. This post is going to show some of those gifts, and serve [...]
May 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm. Permalink.