Easy DIY Cupcake Toppers Even if You’re Not Crafty

Whether you bake your own cupcakes from scratch or buy a dozen simple cupcakes from your favorite bakery, making your own DIY Cupcake Toppers is the easiest way to personalize your treats for the occasion. This simple tutorial will show you how to make perfect cupcake toppers for any occasion: baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, Mother’s Day, and more.

I am a lazy mom. I know, how can a mom of six be lazy? That’s the only way we survive — finding ways to cheat and still make things fun!

Special occasions like baby showers and birthdays and now weddings make it all the more important to have fun treats at our celebrations. Decorating fun birthday cakes has always been my jam.

You already know my deep abiding love for using Playmobil and other action figures as birthday cake toppers; here’s my second favorite easy way to match your treats to your party theme. You’ll have so much fun making these printable cupcake toppers — even if you don’t think you’re crafty.

Why Do This Easy DIY Cupcake Toppers Craft

It’s simple. You don’t need to be crafty to do this. You don’t even have to cut a straight line!

It’s customizable. You can vary this project to suit any occasion!

It’s fun. These cake toppers will liven up your dessert table, making it a little more festive without much effort.

Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need for to make your own cupcake toppers:

My cute cupcake topper printable – This pdf download includes every letter of the alphabet as well as some extra symbols and sayings. Depending on how many cupcakes you have to display, you’ll want to plan out what you want to spell. You can certainly make your own printables, but why not get access to my free printables library instead? 

card stock – this can be plain colored cardstock or fancier printed paper to match your party theme. You can use glitter paper if you like. Anything is faire game as long as its paper that you can glue.

sticks – You can use lollipop sticks, toothpicks, party picks, or coffee stirrers. I chose the later as they are thin and cheap to get on Amazon. In a pinch, you could also use those thin coffee straws.

large circle punches – I purchased and returned several circle cutter tools until I landed on 1.5- and 2-inch hole punches. If you have a cricut machine, you can use that or use scissors to freehand cut your shapes.

adhesive – Double-sided tape or a glue stick should be sufficient unless your sticks are really big. In that case, you may want to bust out the hot glue gun.

iced cupcakes or a cake- You can use cupcakes or a full cake. It doesn’t really matter. And remember you can totally use a cake mix or even buy the dessert from your favorite bakery. That said, these Banana Cupcakes are really good!

Variations of DIY Cupcake Toppers

I love the letters, but you can make lots of other types of DIY cupcake toppers.

For many a child’s birthday, when I could not find toys to match his or her theme, I’ve downloaded images from the internet, like this Pikachu for a Pokemon Cake and printed them onto card stock to turn into a cake topper. If you’re using them for personal use, there should not be any legal issue.

This makes it easier (and cheaper!) to create toppers for your kids favorite characters, such as Super Mario Brothers, Snoopy, Bluey, Pokemon, and more.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to make these simple DIY cupcake toppers:

1. Decide if you want to spell out a message with your DIY cupcake toppers, like “We Love Mom” or “Happy Birthday!” Or “Welcome Baby!” (see my list below)

2. Print out as many copies of the printable as you need to spell your message. Be sure you can print on cardstock which may require adjusting the settings on your printer. In some instances, you may want to print just one page from the PDF. In lieu of printing, you can freehand draw the letters on paper after you’ve cut out the circles.

3. Cut out the letters or symbols with the 1.5-inch hole punch. You’ll see squares on the printable to help you center your cut outs. You can also freehand cut circles or even cut square shapes if you prefer.

4. Cut out coordinating 2-inch circles to go with each letter or symbol.

5. Glue the front circle (the letter or symbol) onto the larger size circle. Adhere the stick to the back and cut to the proper length.

6. Insert your cupcake toppers into your cupcakes.

Possible Designs and Sayings

There are so many things you can communicate with these cake toppers. Here are just a few possibilites:

• Happy New Year!
• Happy Valentines Day!
• I love you.
• Happy Easter!
• He is risen!
• Happy Mother’s Day
• We Love Mom
• Happy Birthday!
• Welcome Baby!
• Happy Grad Day!
• Happy Dad’s Day!
• We Love Dad
• Happy 4th!
• Let Freedom Ring
• Happy Halloween!
• Happy Thanksgiving!
• Merry Christmas!

You can also spell out names, sports teams, and so much more. Be sure to coordinate your colored papers to the occasion. There are loads of printed paper to match your party ideas.

More DIY Cake Projects

This post was originally published on May 3, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.