Make an Ombre Wedding Cake Piñata

August 1, 2012 in
How-To's
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

Brittany Watson Jepsen
Brittany Watson Jepsen

Brittany Watson Jepsen is a designer and crafter. Her motto is "a creative mess is better than tidy idleness." Find her on her blog, The House That Lars Built, and her Etsy shop, where she designs and sells kitchen accessories and all things floral.

The House That Lars Built
@HouseLarsBuilt

Guests have come to expect certain traditions at a wedding reception: the first dance, the bouquet toss, and the cutting of the cake. In return, they get to share in the celebration of the bride and groom and maybe receive a small favor of appreciation. But what if the guests are a little more involved in the celebration? Enter: piñata time! The beauty of a wedding piñata is the drama and interaction it creates between guests. Fill the piñata with favors and a raucous crowd will be waiting for the first whack.

For this piñata, I chose to create a wedding cake shape, as it fits almost any wedding theme. Better yet, you can use your wedding colors to create an ombré effect, as I created here with various shades and values of blues topped off with flower accents. (And for those who aren’t into to sugar, you could even substitute the piñata for the wedding cake.) For the favors, I added fortune cookies with sassy handwritten love fortunes on shades of blue paper strips. Your guests will leave happy and the happy couple get a chance to relieve some post-wedding whacks on the merry piñata.


 

Materials You’ll Need
Cardboard (the one-ply works best) cut in the shape of circles (2x 24” in diameter, 18”, 12”)
Cardboard cut in strips (2x 8” wide and 1 at 6.5”)
Scissors
Pencil
Tissue paper in various shades of the same color (I chose blue)
Fortune cookies
Strips of blue paper
Glue gun
Cord for hanging

The first part of the cardboard tutorial was created in a mini version.

Step 1: Roll one of the 8” strips of cardboard to create a spiral.

Step 2: Glue around the perimeter of one of the 24” circles.

Step 3: Quickly attach the strip to the circle and hold in place. If your strip is not long enough, add another strip to complete the circle.

Step 4: Cut two 3” slits into the cardboard down about 3” wide to later add in the fortune cookies.

Step 5: Glue the perimeter of the next circle.

Step 6: Quickly add it on top of the base.

Step 7: With the 18” circle, trace around base so you know where to glue.

Step 8: Glue the pencil mark.

Step 9: Quickly add on the second strip of board.

Step 10: Glue the perimeter of the 18” circle and add it to the top of the strip.

Step 11: Repeat with the final circle.

Step 12: To create the tissue paper fringe, fold a 6 1/4” wide strip almost in half so that one half is 3” and the other is 3 ¼” and glue around the base so that it hits the bottom. Repeat this with the same color two more times.

Step 13: Take on your next color (I chose silver) and then create one layer on the top of the first circle. Work around, overlapping a bit.

Step 14: Add on your next color and repeat the layers.

Step 15: Repeat.

Step 16: Once you get to the top, cut two holes where you’ll string the cord and then finish gluing the tissue paper layers.

Step 17: String your cord through and tie with a square knot on top to make sure it hangs evenly.

Optional: I adorned the cake with little flowers of tissue paper, which I scrunched up and assembled into little bouquets, then glued evenly around.

To make the fortune cookie favors:
Step 1: Cut paper strips. I curled mine with a paintbrush to give them some whimsy.
Step 2: Insert into the fortune cookie.

Step 3: Add into the secret compartment.

Make sure there’s a soft surface underneath so that the cookies don’t break. This is one wedding that’s sure to be remembered!

All photographs by Brittany Watson Jepsen and Amanda Thomsen.

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

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