I love (love love) to recycle and up-cycle craft materials and make something fabulous. With all that extra tissue paper, ribbons, tinsel, or kabob sticks lying around, the frugal thing to do when planning a special event is to make party details using left over craft supplies. And who could say “no” to frugality??? Not I! These glamorous little pinata-inspired cupcake toppers take 10 minutes to make and can easily be altered to fit any bash you throw.

Let’s get all crafty, shall we?

Simple, Glitzy Cupcake Topper DIY…

Supplies:

– You will need one Styrofoam ball for each cupcake that measures about 2 inches in diameter (the packaging should say their size)

– Tissue paper in any color or sheen you desire…pick a color that fits your party!

– Scissors (I used a fabric cutter and cutting board, but scissors should do the trick too)

– Hot glue gun

– Kabob sticks or toothpicks

Step 1

To start, you have to make a piece of tissue paper transform into fringe. This requires no skills in wizardry or karate, so take heart. I will walk you though it! First, cut long strips of paper about 1.5″ wide. Next, stack several strips together and cut little tabs (slightly shorter than the width of your strips) all the way down one side. Be sure not to cut all the way across your strip because then your tab turns into two strips. The reason I stack them before I cut is to save some time.

Step 2

Time to glue. Place a dab of glue anywhere on your circle. This will become the bottom of your pinata topper. Grab a strip and stick it to the glue dab, making sure that the fringe part of your strip is facing down on your cupcake topper. Then start to glue the fringe strip around the ball, spiraling around the ball all the way to the top. The top layers should partially cover the bottom layers. Cut off any extra strip once you reach to top.

Step 3

I wanted my cupcake toppers to look more round than cone-shaped, so for my step I trimmed up the fringe to make my mini pinata more circular.

Step 4

Just about done!…For my final step I stuck a kabob stick in the bottom of my pinata cupcake topper and then stuck the other end in a cupcake. Hello, glam cupcake topper!

What ideas do you have for fun and recycled cupcake toppers?

This post is by Alix Adams. Alix is a glitter user and ice cream enthusiast. She blogs at A Ruffled Life when she’s not kissing her baby’s fat rolls or covering antlers in glitter.