DIY Steampunk Cake Topper

Opening our DIY Contest is Sarah G., with the cutest DIY steampunk cake topper! The theme of our contest is “Found Tucked Away and Used Today”, where participants must reuse an old item in a do-it-yourself project. The winner will receive $500, and the second place winner a $100 gift certificate to Wendy Mink Jewelry!

Sarah upcycled her mom’s vintage cake topper to adapt to their quirky personalities:

What you’ll need:

– a base (either someone’s old cake topper, wooden box, or anything your imagination come’s up with – you could even use something like this)
– craft paint from Michaels or any craft store
– paint brushes
– hot glue and hot glue gun
– wooden pieces (found at any craft store, usually in the model building section)
– gear scrapbooking pieces (from Michaels or any craft store)

Instructions:

Step 1: Find a base for the caketopper. I used the base from my mom’s old cake topper. I removed the old tulle, fake flowers and little figurines (with her permission of course) and painted over the yellowed plastic with a base of silver paint.

Step 2: I started to “antique” the base by dry brushing tiny bits of black paint over the silver. The swirling in the hearts reminded me on wrought iron so I tried to imitate that as much as possible. The little spheres reminded me of lightbulbs so using a creamy-yellow I painted them to resemble light bulbs. Working with what you have is always a challenge, but if you take a moment to look at what you have things start to reveal themselves.

Step 3: Using small wooden pieces you can find at any craft store or hobby shop I constructed 2 small robot figurines by hot-gluing the pieces together.

A Vibrant Destination Wedding on Kona Beach in Blue & Gold

Step 4: Paint robot figurines to your liking and hot-glue to the completed (and dried) base.

Step 5: To make the caketopper a bit more “mechanical” (because my fiancee is an engineer and likes all things mechanical) I found some clock gears, usually used for scrapbooking, and added them. Make sure everything is secure and dried.

A little more from Sarah:
This is definitely a piece I will keep after the wedding. It means a lot because it contains a piece of my parents wedding and all the love I put into our wedding. Plus it’s neat and quirky, just like us!

To enter your DIY Contest, email me at amanda @ ruffledblog.com or click here for details. Last day to submit your project is March 25, so hurry!