One of my favorite crafts in the world is the one that lets me pretend I’m decorating a cake. In general, fake food is so fun to make- it’s As an amateur/novice baker myself I have to admit my favorite part is piping the pretty designs on the smoothly frosted cake. If you are looking for a fun little craft that is easy to do or a cute little gift to give your loved ones- this is the post for you. Follow along as we make cute little vintage fake cake cups!
Want more fake food crafts? Check out my post on DIY Air Dry Clay Magnets!
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What You’ll Need:
- Lightweight spackling
- Cup(s) of your choice with a lid
- Any kind of paint
- Cake decorating piping tips and bags
- something to spread the “icing” on the cup (I used a slay sculpting tool but you can use a butter knife or any kind of cake frosting spreader)
What To Do:
Follow along these simple steps for the cutest little vintage fake cakes of your dreams (cup-style, of course)! No experience necessary.
Step 1: Frost Your Fake Cake Cups
You want to get the light weight spackling and find the process that works best for you to spread it along the cup and the lid. There will be a tiny learning curve here- don’t let it deter you.
What worked best for me what putting a little bit though the middle of the whole thing and then going around and spreading it out toward the top and bottom.
Don’t get caught up in trying to make it look perfectly smooth. You can always smooth certain areas out with your finger but most normal cakes have a little texture in the frosting and if anything it will make it look more realistic.
In this step I “frosted” as many as I could so that I had a bunch of gifts to give my friends. You can do as many as you want but the more you get done in this step the faster the process can go. You can always go back and frost more if you need it.
Pro tip: put masking tape on the part of the cup the lid screws onto so you don’t accidentally get spackle there and compromise the lid screwing back on.
Step 2: Paint Your Frosting
You can always add paint to the spackle before you do the first step if you know you want a specific color for the base but I find it easier to paint it after it dries.
For this step you can use any kind of paint you want (I used acrylic on some and spray paint on others).
Don’t be afraid to mix up the colors you choose- I went ahead and chose four colors I knew would go well together and that fit the pastel vibe I was going for but you can use any color you want.
Step 3: Prepare Your Piping Bags
You will want to choose a few different colors that appeal to you along with the type of piping designed tip you want to go for. Here is what I used:
But you can use whatever floats your boat. I was sure to *try* to use tops that weren’t too big but these are what I had on hand and made the work as best I could.
All I did was put a bit of the spackle in different cup and from there mixed in with a few drops of paint the color I wanted that specific piping design. Because I wanted more pastel colors I only needed a few drops to get the color I wanted.
This is why I like to follow a color scheme of around 4 colors that compliment each other- it’s less work if you are able to do big batches for each piping bag and use that color as much as possible.
Step 4: Pipe On The Fake Cake Decor
This is where you can decorate to your hearts desire! I went the simple route because I was low on time but you can go as complicated or as simple as you like. I found that even the most simple choices still gave the desired effect and were super pretty.
Step 5: Let Them Dry
Luckily this final step is easy and to make extra sure it is dry I would give it over night. They really start to dry quickly after being left alone but I always like to be safe so I don’t accidentally mess up what I did. These fake cakes should be pretty durable once dry.
The Final Result!
There you have it! A simple, creative, PRETTY, little craft that you can use for any gift or ocassion. I love this craft because I get to show my personality while also gifting something that can be useful since you can store things it in.
Let me know in the comments what you think and be sure to show me any of your own little cup “cakes”! Until then, happy crafting!
