Looking for a Holiday craft project?

How cute are these cupcake ornaments?? The ever talented Amanda over at Bake It Pretty posted a 'how-to' for these cupcake ornaments on her blog last week. Love them! They'd make a great Holiday project one afternoon....fun to hang on your tree, or group a few together for a fun display.

So from the Bake It Pretty blog, here are the directions to make your very own...

You'll need:

Styrofoam Balls (2.5" size for regular cupcakes, 1.5" for mini cupcakes)

Heavy-Duty foil cupcake liners (Standard 2" size, Miniature Size)

Artificial snowflakes

Artificial floral berry sprigs (in assorted sizes)

Bakers twine or ribbon (optional)

Wooden skewers

White craft glue

foam or paint brush

Hot glue

Scissors

STEP 1: Stick one Styrofoam ball onto a wooden skewer for easy handling. Use a foam brush to paint the upper 2/3 of the ball with a medium coat of white craft glue.

STEP 2: Roll the ball into the faux snow flakes, gently pressing and sprinkling the flakes to cover the ball nicely. It should look like a frosty, snowball. (This is a great step to involve the kids with!)

STEP 3: Place the stick and ball into a mug or a piece of foam, if you have one, and allow to dry completely. I know, I hate waiting for things to dry! But if you try to glue them into the foil liners now, the sides just won’t stick. Trust me. I tried.

STEP 4: When your cupcakes tops are dry, remove the wooden skewers and you are ready to glue them into their foil baking liners. Hot glue works best, but please be careful not to burn your fingers! Run a circle of glue around the top inside of the liner and place your cupcake ball inside, frosty side up. Cup your hands and press gently around the edges to glue the liner on snugly. Do not push the ball down too far or the bottom will curve and your cupcake will not sit flat, (this isn’t really a big deal if you’re planning on hanging them.) Due to the hot-glue factor, this step is best left to big-kids and adults.

STEP 6: Choose the perfect “cherry” for your cupcake. Cut one floral berry from the bunch, leaving about 1″ or less of wire stem. Add a small dot of hot glue to the top center of your cupcake. If you are planning to hang your ornament, set a small loop of ribbon or twine into the glue first, then press your cherry firmly on top. You can push the wire right into the Styrofoam ball, or flip it around to make a cherry “stem.” Both styles are very cute!

And that's it! So cute and easy, right? Now she does say 'use heavy duty foil liners' but I'm thinking they would be so cute with some of her other fun cupcake liners. Maybe it's the hot glue, goops up on the thiner liners?? Anyway, I think I'd at least give other liners a shot. My favorites for Christmas ornaments are shown below, all can be found on the Bake It Pretty website too. And while we're at it...these little cupcake cuties could be used for all kinds of occasions. I'm thinking they'd be a whimsical decoration at baby showers (think pink/blue polka dots and striped liners)...weddings (all white?)...and maybe on the cherry place a name card too, voila cupcake placecard holders? Just brainstorming folks, haven't tried this...but if I do I'll let you know how they turn out!

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE!