Tutorial: How to make Fondant Owl Cupcake Toppers

Owls seem to be popping up everywhere these days in party decor for baby showers and kids birthday parties. One of my friend's has even chosen an owl print for her soon to be baby boy's crib bedding. There are so many fun interpretations I have seen around the web for owl cookies, cakes, cake pops and invitations in an array of colors from pinks/greens, blue/browns, and even shades of purple. I just love how cute these little creatures are when recreated with sugar! So this weekend I finally got a chance to put my own spin on the owl theme when asked to make some baby shower cupcakes. Using the baby shower invite as inspiration I decided to make some fondant owl cupcake toppers that I think turned out absolutely adorable!

You too can make these fondant owls in a matter of minutes with a few shades of colored fondant and some different shaped cutters. Let me show you how with this step-by-step photo tutorial!

First you will need to tint fondant to your desired colors. This shower was for a baby girl so pink was my dominant color. Feel free to switch things up with blues, greens, purples, etc.

Here's the breakdown on the colors for my owls:

Dark Pink = owl body
Light Pink = wings
Orange = feet & nose
White = eyes & circular base for fondant topper
Black = eyes

You will need to following tools:
-2 5/8" round cutter (mine is from this set)
-set of 3 round cutters: small, medium, large
-leaf cutter
-Wilton round tip #12
-Wilton curved tip #81
-rolling pin
-offset spatula
-small cup of water
-paint brush

A few notes:
-Once you have rolled out the fondant and cut out the shapes I find it is easiest to use an offset spatula to slide underneath the shapes and lift them up when moving to create the owl shape.
-If you are making a large quantity of owls it is easier to set up an assembly line and make all of the same shapes first then move on to the next shape, rather than making each owl individually. Once you have all your shapes made then go back and assemble all the pieces.
-As you start to assemble you may notice that your fondant has started to harden and dry some, if this happens then use a small paint brush and dip in a cup of water and gently apply water on the pieces you need to assemble. Using a dab of water will help all pieces of the owl stick together and harden together.

Roll out some white fondant and cut a circle using the 2 5/8" cutter.

This circle will be the base of your fondant topper that you will place the owl on top of.

Roll out some Dark Pink fondant and cut with the large circle cutter.

This shape is the base of your owl body.

Take the medium circle cutter and cut out a small notch from the top of the circle.

This creates a curved shape for the head of the owl and the pointy ears.

Place the body of the owl on top of the white fondant circle.

Roll out some light pink fondant and use the leaf cutter to make the wings.

Place the wings on the sides of the owl body. It's starting to take shape!

Roll out some white fondant and using the small round cutter make the owl eyes.

Roll out some black fondant and using tip #12 make the inside of the owl eyes.

Your owl can now see! Only a few more steps...

Roll out some orange fondant and use the small round cutter to make a circle. Cut the circle in half with the offset spatula to create the feet.

Place the feet underneath the owl's body with the curved side touching the belly. Cut a small triangle nose from the orange fondant using the offset spatula.

One more step...feathers! Grab tip #81.

Place the curve side of the tip down into the belly of the owl so it make a "U" shape. Gently press the tip into the fondant and make some feathers. I did a row of 2, a row of 3 and another row of 2.

HOORAY! The owl is now complete!

So what do you think...pretty close replica to the invite?

Allow the fondant toppers to harden overnight and then place on top of your iced cupcakes! These owls can be made days in advance of your party as well if you don't want to be overwhelmed making decorations and baking all at the same time. If you do decide to make them in advance be sure NOT to put them in a tupperware container as the fondant will tend to soften and melt and all your hard work will be ruined.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful! If you decide to make your own fondant owls I'd love to see them so email me pictures or post on the CIS Facebook page.

Have a great week!

Monkey Business

This weekend my childhood friend McKensy's son celebrated his 1st birthday! Although I was not able to attend the party since we live in different states, I of course wanted to participate somehow so I offered to make and send some cookies for his special day! The theme was monkeys which I thought was adorable! I just love the invitation that McKensy created with pics of Barrett and his stuffed monkey! Using the colors from the invite created some personalized cookies to spell out his name.

I just had a feeling these cookies were going to turn out super cute, so I captured step-by-step photos so you can see how to create these little monkeys! So let's get down to business shall we...

You will need:
-monkey cookie cutter (I used Wilton brand found at my local craft store)
-sugar cookie recipe
-royal icing (tinted light brown, dark brown, pink, black)
-decorating tips: #2 for light brown, dark brown, pink, #1 for black)
-2 squeeze bottles for flooding icing

1.Using piping bag with tip #2 light brown icing, pipe an oval outline for the monkey face.

2.Using piping bag with tip #2 dark brown icing, outline the shape of the monkey and create outlines for the ears.

3.Using piping bag with tip #2 pink icing, fill in the monkey ears.

4.Once all the monkeys are outlined in brown it is time to go back in and "flood" the cookies with a thinned down version of royal icing using squeeze bottles. Allow the outlines to dry for about 30 minutes before flooding.

5.Using the flooding consistency light brown icing in the bottle, squeeze some icing in a zig zag inside the monkey face and the icing will start to spread.

6.Using the tip of the squeeze bottle gently move the icing to fill in the entire shape of the face.

7.Using the flooding consistency dark brown icing in the bottle, squeeze some icing in a zig zag inside the monkey head and the icing will start to spread.

8.Using the tip of the squeeze bottle gently move the icing to fill in the entire shape of the head.

9.Using the piping bag with tip #1 black icing, pipe on the eyes, nose and mouth. Wait about 1-2 hours before you go back and pipe on the face so it doesn't bleed into the wet icing.

10.Allow flooded cookies to dry 24 hours before stacking or packaging.

And since every monkey needs a banana, I couldn't resist I had to make a few bananas too!

McKensy went all out for Barrett's birthday by making some monkey cake pops, mini cupcakes and a jumbo cupcake! Everything turned out super cute from the pictures I have seen and the birthday boy seemed very happy enjoying his sweets!

Happy 1st Birthday Barrett!

Cupcake a Week: Wreaths

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my kitchen! The holiday baking has officially begun so get ready, for cakes, cookies and candy galore! If you are looking for a festive and super simple cupcake to take to your holiday parties this year then look no further! I am going to show you how to make some wreath cupcakes today. So bake up your favorite recipe and whip up a batch of icing, keeping some white and tinting the rest green. I used Maratha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

To make the wreath you will need a piping bag and Wilton #67 leaf tip. The ends of the tip look like a small "v".

First frost all cupcakes with a layer of white icing. Then using your decorating tip go back and pipe green leaves to create the wreath. Hold the piping bag so the #67 engraving on the tip is on the side, not the top. Your tip should look like a "v" on top when you hold it up to your cupcake. Gently place the tip around the edge of your cupcake then squeeze, release and pull away...this will create the leaf. Repeat this motion all the way around the edge of your cupcake to create a ring of leaves.

Here is what you should end up with.

Directly on top of the first ring of leaves, pipe a second ring to give the wreath some depth and fullness.

Then add some sprinkles for decorations. I used multi-colored nonpareils to give the feel of a strand of lights!

You can also use some flat round red sprinkles if you prefer the look of berries.

Pretty simple right?

Have you started your holiday baking yet? What yummy smells and sweets are coming out of your kitchen this week?

Hibiscus Flowers

Hope everyone is having a great labor day! I know I've been enjoying lounging around and working on few house projects! I'm also super excited to share with you a tutorial on how to make a hibiscus flower that was the focal point of my latest cake.

This was a birthday cake I made for my friend's mom. It was this Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake recipe with the addition of purple hibiscus.

These flowers were super easy to make and only require a few cake decorating tools.

So let's get started on the step-by-step instructions. All the tools used below are Wilton brand that can be found at your local cake decorating store.

1.Tint some rolled fondant to your desired color and roll out about 1/8" thick. Use a 5 petal flower cuter to make the outer shape of the hibiscus.

2.Place the fondant flower onto a piece of square foam and roll around the edges with a large ball tool to thin out the edges of the flower.

3.This is what the flower will look like after you have rolled around the edges.

4.Use a shell tool and go around the flower petals and gently press down to create a lined imprint.

5.Here's a look at what the shell tool looks like.

6.This is what the flower will look like after you have pressed all the edges.

7.Pinch the bottom of the flower with your fingers so that it looks bunched together. Add some flower stamens to the center. Place flower in forming cup to harden so it will hold its shape.

8.If you want to create a 2-color flower then use the flower star tool to create the inside shape. Tint some more fondant in a complimentary color for the center.

9.Cut the tips off the star shape so that it fits within the outer flower shape.

10.Place the star shape on top of the rounded petal flower.

11.Use the shell tool and gently imprint all the petals as shown above.

12.Pinch the flower in the center with your fingers.

13.Add flower stamens and allow to harden. My flowers are actually sitting inside of the bottom of my 1A round tips, they were the perfect size to hold the flower.

14.Once the flowers had started to harden I moved them over to some flower formers to dry over night before placing them on the cake.

And there you have the hibiscus flower!

The hibiscus would also be super cute on a Hawaiian themed cake in vibrant pinks, yellows and reds or even on top of some cupcakes for a summer luau party!