This next project was fairly simple and turned out better than I expected. In fact, it's so quick you don't even have time for wine or The Bachelorette. I adapted it from this DIY tutorial on Once Wed. I simplified their instructions/design a bit since I couldn't fathom dealing with fresh flowers on a cake topper. Yeesh! I wanted a pretty, dramatic bird like the one they used, but couldn't find anything. The only one I really liked was this semi-cheesy pair of doves holding a set of wedding bands. I thought they would look cheap and out of place, but they actually ended up looking kind of vintage-y and cute. Plus, the cost of this was under $20! You can't beat that! Here's what you'll need:
Bark covered wire. Once Wed's instructions called for 2 yards. I don't think I used that much at all........................................................................approx. $3-5/roll
Heavy duty chipboard. I used some from the bottom of a sketch pad. This can be expensive, so look around your house for something you can use before you buy new. Make sure it's heavy duty, though, especially it you want to hang on to it as a keepsake. You don't want the grease from the frosting to ruin a flimsy piece of cardboard, which is the bottom of the whole cake topper. Dammit.........approx. $9
Pair of lovebirds. You can usually find these at any craft store ...........approx. $4-5
Moss. You can buy a new bag or if you're making the escort cards from this morning, you can use your leftovers.........................................approx. $3-5/bag
Vintage Millinery. Again, you can use your leftovers from the escort card project or you can buy new................................................................approx. $3-5/bunch
Heavy Gauge Craft or Floral Wire..................................................approx. $3-5/roll
Hot Glue Gun & Glue Pencil
Sharp Scissors
Round Glass
1. Using your glass, trace a circle onto your chip board. Using your scissors, cut the circle out.
2. Make three loops of your bark covered wire the size of the chip board circle. Set the circle aside and continue making loops. You want to stop when the wire becomes fairly substantial and "nest-like."
3. Now, wrap wire around your piles of loops. Make sure you are pulling the wire tight as you loop around your pile. This is what will hold your pile in place and form the nest. Cut the wire and tuck it on the inside of the nest.
4. Set aside your nest. Heat up your hot glue gun. Then, take a long length of your heavy gauge craft or floral wire and wrap around the diameter of your chip board circle. Loop the wire around to the other side, meeting the two ends in the middle. Twist the ends, securing the wire around the chip board circle. Keep the ends pointed up. This might need picture explanation. See below.
5. Using your hot glue gun, secure your chip board circle to the nest.
6. Take you bird and stab it on the craft wire. Glue it into place.
7. Glue moss into place around the birds to fill in the space and cover the chip board.
8. Glue millinery around the nest to pretty it up. Your finished product should look like this:
So simple! So pretty. Because we had a dessert buffet, we didn't have a fancy wedding cake. Just a simple cake for cutting. This cake topper made our cake. It seriously prettied up the whole dessert buffet. And all for under $20 and less than one night's work! Sweet!
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(Photos by me, except for the last one by Theresa Scarbrough)
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