Make your own cake topper

A wedding cake with a figurine topper.

Having trouble finding the perfect topper for your cake? It's easy to make your own! All you need is a little creativity and some glue.

Design

A cake topper design by HelenAngel.

First, you need to make a design of what you want. You can do drawings or you can use digital pictures. I tend to make mine digitally. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements with a Wacom Intuos3 Tablet but you can just use a free program (like Paint.Net or GIMP) and your regular mouse. When designing, keep in mind dimensions and weight of what you want to put on the base as well as what adhesives you may want to use. Hot glue, for instance, weigts much more than super glue. You can also use this design to see what colors will go well and what kind of base you may want to use- or if you want to use one at all. Also remember that this is going on top of your cake. Remember that the more tiers you have, the lighter you want your topper to be. Also, fondant holds better than buttercream so if your icing is light, your topper needs to be light as well.

Once you've designed how you want your topper to look, it's time to get the materials.

Bases

A cake topper base by Wilton.

If you are using a base, you should buy this before you buy the other accessories. If you are using figurines, you may not want to have a base at all. Wilton sells several types on their website. In this example, I am using Wilton's lighted revolving figuring/cake topper base. If you decide to make your own base, you need to consider that it must be sturdy enough to hold whatever you want to put on it without weighing your cake down unnecessarily. You may discover that the base you wanted to use in your design is not feasible for the cake type you have chosen.

Topper Materials

Now it's time to buy the other materials. Remember that weight is important- you want to try to keep your topper as light as possible, so stick to plastics. Hot glue is easy to use but it can weigh down creations if you use too much. If you're using glasses or other objects, consider using glue or wax gel instead of water. Lightweight plastics are your best bet. You can get various plastic wedding items at your local craft store or party supply store.

Once you have the materials, it's the easy and fun part- putting it all together! You may want to keep a glue solvent nearby in case of accidents. Always place the materials without glue at first. You may want to use a pencil or light-colored marker to mark place where you will be applying adhesive. If you're using a lighted base, be certain you can see the light before you glue and that you haven't accidentally placed something opaque over it.

Example, Step-by-Step

If you use a mini glue gun, it will take WAY too long!

Next it's time to prepare the base and then put everything together. This example uses the base listed above and the Wilton Crystal-Look Hearts Figurine/Topper Setting. Before gluing anything, postition the heart setting with the martini glasses until you get it to look just right. Then mark on the base where the items are. Carefully adhere the heart setting to the base, putting pressure on the setting for at least one minute, and then allow an hour to dry and set. Finally, adhere the martini glasses to the base- using the marks you made earlier. In this example, I have the olive toothpicks touching each other to make a kind of toothpick bridge up towards the heart. Allow at least one hour to set and dry before moving.

Finished Product

A finished, hand-made cake topper.

You're done! You have just created a beautiful cake topper that will not only serve as a source of beauty for your cake but a source of pride and symbol of your wedding day for years to come. Enjoy!