how to make swan lake cupcake toppers
. . .
As far as crafts go, this is about as easy as it gets. But you should know that the wee ballerina cupcake toppers are just that – wee. So if you don’t like finicky, elf-sized projects, or if you have gargantuan fingers, walk away. You’ve been warned.
Black Swan Cupcake Toppers
You will need:
- vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers – you can find these on etsy, ebay, and through other merchants – they are about 2 inches tall – google vintage ballerina cupcake toppers
- black craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well
- teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
- mod podge or other glue
- black glitter
- small paint brush for applying glue
- small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter
We will be using these super difficult to understand terms in this tutorial:
First, paint the bodices and tutus of your ballerinas black. This may require more than one coat of paint. Please refer to the photo above if you are unable to locate the bodice and tutu. Don’t forget to do the underside – most dancers don’t parade around in crotchless tutus. If you can’t find the underside of the tutu, I have shown you an example in the photo below. (On the right.)
You might want to paint her tiara as well. Actually, do it. Don’t be weird.
Now, you could stop right there, and your black swan would look top drawer. Or, you could use a small paint brush to apply glue to the bodice and tiara, and then sprinkle on some black glitter. I didn’t do the tutu, but you could.
After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. You don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes. (Bleck.) You could also feather her tutu – as I did for the white swans (see tutorial below) – but I wanted my black swans to be sleeker than the white. I’m sure you are relatively mature, and can make this decision for yourself. If you require help with this decision, please request assistance in the comment section.
White Swan Cupcake Toppers
You will need :
- vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers
- white craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well
- teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
- mod podge or other glue
- small paint brush for applying glue
- white(ish) glitter
- white crafting feathers – something floofy
- small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter and feathers
- small, sharp scissors
Begin as you did for the black swans – paint the tutus and bodices white, including the underside of the tutu. If you cannot find the tutu, bodice and/or underside of the tutu, please refer to the black swan tutorial up above. This step will likely require multiple coats of paint, depending on the paint’s coverage and the original colour of the ballerina. Don’t paint the tiara – leave it silver.
Paint on the headpiece – it’s an essential part of the white swan costume. Paint a band of feathers extending from the front of her head back to her bun. See below if you are confused.
Use a small paint brush to apply glue to the bodice, and then sprinkle on some glitter. After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. Again, you don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes.
It is time to feather the tutu. Do not feather the tutu unless you want teeny-tiny feather bits all over your house. They will be on your clothes, the floor, your cats, the walls… Do not email me to inform me that you got teeny-tiny feather bits all over your house. Deal with it yourself.
Use scissors to cut very short, teeny-tiny floofy bits of feather. Bits of feather will fly everywhere. Collect the feather bits in a container. Do not do this by an open window. Trust me.
Apply glue to the tutu and then sprinkle and gently press the feather bits all over it. It will be very floofy. See the hairy swan below.
After the glue has dried, use a small pair of scissors to trim the excess feathers off the tutu. Then use a wee paint brush to brush the excess feather bits off. You could do this outdoors. I wouldn’t do it if there are birds around.
Place finished toppers on top of a cake, cupcakes, or use to act out deleted scenes from Swan Lake:
Note
When you buy ballerina cupcake toppers, you will notice that they come with loads of imperfections – the paint will be absent in places, gooped on in others. I’m not sure what happens in the manufacturing process; I believe monkeys are involved. Let’s call the imperfections charming. If there are annoying paint smears in places, you can gently scrape them off with something sharp – I use an unfolded paperclip. Bear in mind that this means other stuff can be scraped off your ballerinas as well – including anything YOU put on ’em. Handle them with care.
Disclaimer
I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that these cupcake toppers aren’t edible. DON’T EAT THESE CUPCAKE TOPPERS, DOOFUS. Also, they aren’t suitable for small children. Because they will eat them.
Speaking of eating, here are the links for the Black Swan Cupcakes and White Swan Cupcakes
Love the glitter. But you, and only you, may call me Gargantua — not only do I have large fingers, but I was ranked in the first and fifth percentiles in manual dexterity (ninety-ninth is good).
This made me laugh. Out loud.
I love these! Is there a particular reason you aren’t painting the pointe shoe on the supporting leg?
Your recent posts have kept Swan Lake music going through my head. Now I just need to convince my 5 1/2 year old she wants a Swan Lake birthday party instead of Sleeping Beauty. I have six months to work on it…and the cupcake toppers.
I didn’t paint the shoes at all – that’s just how they came. Some shoes were painted, some weren’t! But (spoiler alert) that won’t be the case in some of the ballerinas to come…
you know, in all the weeks or something i was putting your 40th birthday cake together, it NEVER ONCE OCCURRED to me to paint the frigging ballerinas.
never. once.
i suppose this is why i’m me and you are you. because you’re brilliant. also you know stories about swans and ballet and things.
thankfully i can remedy the situation because i have, oh, maybe 40 vintage ballerina cake toppers handy, which are now begging to be crafted.
Oh, just wait until you see what else you can do with ’em… I’ve got big plans for the Ballerina Bakeshop! You’ll have loads of things to do with those 40 beautiful gals…
Swan skirmish! Movita, you rock my world. In ballet shoes.
Wow. I’ll keep this project in the back of my mind for sometime when I have a week or two to spare!
Squeee! And OMG crotchless tutus made me crack up! Still laughing! Love the feathers too!
hahaha i like the swan ballerina attitude you’ve got going there! BTW I can’t wait for the rest of the Swan Lake story. I seem to have learned it as a little girl, but have since forgotten 🙁 I can’t think of a better version to refresh my memory than Movita’s modern sass-filled rendition. YES. I can see it now… Swan Lake the revamped broadway ballet musical!!
I usually say that glitter is the devil.
Until I saw these. And now I’m craving that feeling of sticking my fingers together with glue.
Hahaha.. pure fun and entertainment here, Movita!! I love, love, love your foofy white feathered swan and your black swan looks perfectly dangerous! I am so impressed that you took the time for this.. is it going on a cake soon?? xx Smidge
such a fun crafts project idea!
Don’t fight, girls! Cute!!!
Are you shitting me! I swear I read the swan lake posts but somehow I didn’t get it that these little ballerinas came naked. I’m truly honored to know you… well, define that as you will. There’s a lot of patience and technical skill happening here. I’m impressed.
What day does school start?
I would never shit you. Ever.
School starts on September 4th! I’m so excited/terrified! Yippie!!
hahahahah, i love the swan skirmish!
Those are gorgeous! I am thoroughly impressed.
I think you may have just taken this to the next level, movita…modge podge, butter cream, floofy feather bits, vintage cake toppers…just your average Saturday night time-filler.
UUhhhm, can you come live with me??… because you TOTALLY know that I would eat cupcakes with you every.single.day.
Save all your cupcake toppers, and bring them with you…We will use them for Christmas tree ornaments this Christmas. Of course, I would try to eat one first. xx
Look at you being all creative like. I’m diggin’ it! If only I had the patience to paint swans. I give you major credit.
I have to say, I really enjoyed the little swan comic series. Cracked me up.
Wahooo! I just won 22 vintage ballerinas on ebay for $7.50. Let the creativity begin….well, in about 3 months after they have been shipped to my parents and then they are reshipped to me in Sweden. 😉
OH MY GOD DO NOT GOOGLE “CROTCHLESS TUTU.”
Dear Miss Dyer; What would you call the position these small ballerinas are plastified into? I give you many props for going to these lengths to create the correctly attired swans; I think you’re a little nuts (if I get to shower alone, it’s a good day) but I give you props.
I would call that position: secondbesque. Because it’s not second, and it’s not arabesque. And, as I frequently tell my students: secondbesque is second best! Sigh. But the costumes make up for a lot…
xox
he he he ha aha ah ha BEAUTIFULly done…
Oh, I love ballerina cupcake toppers! And I love what you’ve done with them here! So lovely…and fun!
[…] but I really love her snort-your-coffee-through-your-nose funny retelling of swan lake with the black and white swan tutorials. Seriously, if you need a laugh, or a craft project for girls, you should head over there right […]
Comments on this post are now closed as it was published in August 2012.