Tuesday, July 15, 2014

DIY Cake Picks

I love homemade desserts!  Who doesn't?!  I especially love seeing how desserts are presented.  People definitely unleash their creativity on dessert plates.  Birthday parties are no exception.

Cake picks have become HUGE in the party industry... and they aren't cheap!  I have taken to making my own cake picks to reinforce the theme.  Thus far I have crafted flowers with the child's age on them, Peppa and George Pig, monsters, tractors, Minnie Mouse, farm animals and now pirates.  With a few items and a little bit of time, it is easy to create personalized cake picks.

Here's how...

1.  Gather your materials: card stock, images, sandwich picks or coffee stirrers, hot glue gun, hot glue sticks, and Cricut, scissors, or a craft punch.


2.  Design your images and print onto card stock.  I am not a design expert but I can use Microsoft Publisher.  I usually troll on Google Images for a graphic I like and bring it into the document.  For my son's upcoming pirate party, I used this adorable pirate found here to design the front of the pick.  I copied the image to fill a page for printing.

Once printed onto card stock, cut out each circle.  This can be done by hand or with an appropriately sized round craft punch.


3.  Cut the backs of the picks out of another color of card stock, sized slightly larger than the first.  My pirates were 2-inches in diameter so I sized the backs at 2 1/2-inches and used a Cricut to cut them from black card stock.  A punch could also be used.


4.  Using hot glue, run a bead 1/4th of the way down one side of the wooden sandwich pick.  Quickly apply and center the image to the bead, then press into place.



5.  Apply a bead 1/4th of the way down the other side of the wooden sandwich pick.  Quickly apply and center the backing, then press into place.  This hides the mechanics well.


6.  Use one image for a cluster effect or create a variety to mix it up.  I added crossed swords, a cute skull and crossbones and a parrot guarding treasure.   These picks are ready to top some cupcakes!


7.  These picks also work great using coffee stirrers in place of sandwich picks for placement in guests' drinks, much like that iconic umbrella!


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