Pretty dresses, doilies, hats, lace, flowers, crumpets, teacups, and saucers…all part of an amazing tea party experience. You know what’s missing? These beautiful Teacup Tea Party Cupcake Toppers that I will show you how to make.
In this 4th and final installment of the Tea Party Cupcake Topper series, you will learn how to make a teacup. This teacup tea party cupcake topper goes along with the saucer of the last Flower Saucer Topper post.
Now, if this is the first post you’re watching in this Tea Party Cupcake Topper series, I suggest you go back to the Tea Party Cupcake Topper with Bow Tutorial to see how to make the doily that the teacup and saucer sit on in this post.
When I made these for my niece’s fifth birthday, I could not be happier with the level of excitement she had about her cupcakes. No kidding, this girl had a dream. And that dream was to have an all-girls tea party with Belle (Beauty and the Beast) as a guest. I spent two months with her before her birthday and this party is all she talked about, lol.
Unfortunately, I had to go back to Seattle (they live in Florida) right before her birthday. But, as her aunt, of course, I had to do everything in my power to make the day special. She’s my baby…I designed this tea party cupcake topper and the others, then shipped the decorations out for the party.
HOW TO MAKE A TEACUP TEA PARTY CUPCAKE TOPPER
While I don’t want to be repetitive between the posts in this series, I included the same list of materials as the previous saucer post. This is to avoid you having to go back and forth between posts to see which materials you need for a complete teacup and saucer set.
MATERIALS
To make the Teacup Tea Party Cupcake Topper, you’ll need the following materials:
- Small fondant rolling pin
- Gumpaste or fondant
- Circle cutters
- Fondant molding tool
- Gumpaste mat
- Powder Pouch (optional, you can find how to make your own here)
- Water and brush (to wet the gumpaste or fondant)
- Food coloring (burgundy, teal, and lemon yellow)
- Paint brushes (small)
- Gold paint or dust
- Alcohol (clear rum works well, feel free to taste ;))
CREATING THE TEACUP
- Roll a piece of gumpaste about 1/2 inch in diameter into a smooth ball.
- With your fingers, shape the ball into a cylinder, with one end larger than the other. This will be the mouth of the teacup.
- Place the smaller end on your work surface or table. Using the smaller end of the fondant ball head tool, press down into the center of the top end of the cylinder. With your fingers, press around the outside of the cylinder, continuing to make the top wider than the bottom until you have the shape of a cup.
- Press the inside edges of the cup against the table lightly and while turning the cup. This will make the edges look thinner and more delicate. If the gumpaste is too soft, set aside to dry for 30 – 60 minutes. It will be more firm, but not necessarily fully hardened and dry.
- You can also press the edges of the teacup lightly with your fingers if it works best for you. I normally do both.
- The depth of the teacup will not reach the bottom, but you can fill it with icing or tiny flowers.
ADHERING THE HANDLE TO THE TEACUP
- Roll a piece of gumpaste about 1/6 inch in diameter into a smooth ball.
- With two fingers, press and roll ball to elongate it to 3/4 inches long.
- Bend the elongated piece of gumpaste into the shape of the handle. Set aside.
- With the back end of your small brush, press to form two holes where the handle ends will be glued on to the teacup.
- With the brush end, wet the two holes with water.
- Attach and lightly press the handle onto the holes of the teacup.
- Set aside and allow the handle about 15-30 minutes to dry before continuing to work o the teacup.
PAINTING THE TEACUP
- In a small container, pour a few drops of alcohol. Place yellow gel color off to the side of the same container, allowing you to wet the brush with alcohol and gel color. Do not mix the gel in the alcohol ahead of time (unless you use a lot, and that may be a waste of gel) because it’ll be too watered down to paint with. Use alcohol, instead of water because it evaporates faster, drying the gel paint within minutes.
- Paint yellow polka dots on the teacup, then burgundy flowers, and teal leaves. Clean brush and use fresh alcohol in between colors.
- If using gold metallic dust, mix with a few drops of alcohol until it reaches a thick consistency. Use a slightly bigger, flat brush to color the edges of the teacup and the handle with the flat sides. This helps ensure that you don’t go beyond the edges. Set aside to dry for 30 minutes.
CREATING AND PAINTING THE SAUCER
As I mentioned earlier, check out this post to see step by step instructions on how to make the saucer. These pictures show you a quick summary of that post.
BRINGING THE TEACUP CUPCAKE TOPPER TOGETHER
Once the teacup and saucer are dry, dampen the bottom end of the teacup and place it on the now dry saucer with light pressure. Set aside.
Dampen the center of a doily with water (see how to make the pink doily here).
Place the teacup and saucer on top of the center of the doily. Press lightly to ensure the saucer sticks to the doily.
Once you’ve made all your cupcake toppers, you’re ready to bake your cupcakes. Check out the lemon cupcake with white chocolate and raspberry cream cheese icing for an excellent recipe to place these Teacup Tea Party Cupcakes over.
And, the last thing…
Enjoy the special event with your loved ones! Whether the party is for a little one or a not-so-little one, show them the love and how special they are to you with your artistic touch.
Comment below and let me know who your tea party is for.
And don’t forget to sign up for the FREE Fit and Healthy Conversions Cheat Sheets. You’ll have a handy kitchen tool to make your baking and cake decorating smoother.
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