Cupcake Topiary

My Mom saw this Topiary Cupcake Tree on Good Morning Utah and thought that this would be cute to do for my Birthday.  So we took sorta what they did and made our own version of it.  To find everything  we went to IKEA to get the pot, Orson Gygi to get all the black and white cupcake holders (But I know you can find them on-line as well), and Roberts craft store to pick up the rest of the supplies.  It was really simple to make and only took about 45 minutes...

So what you will need:

-3-5 packages regular cupcake holders in a variety of patterns and or colors. (Depends on the size of the topiary.)
-2-3 packages of mini cupcake holders in matching designs.
-1 package of floral pins
-Variety of buttons, they sell them in packages at the craft store.
-Foam topiary tree
-White ribbon
-Decorative pot or bucket
-clay pot and rice

Step one- take your clay pot and place it in your decorative bucket and fill it with some rice.  I did this to add height and to stabiles it a little.  Depending on your pot you might not need to do this step. If not just place the topiary in your pot.

Step two-take a ribbon of your choice, I picked white since my theme was black and white and wrap it tightly around the top of the topiary, once finished cut off end and use a floral pin to keep it in place.  Depending on the look your going for you can also paint the rod to cover it.  I just was playing around as I went, and didn't think about it until after i had started my flowers... i'm new at the whole crafting part of blogging, so its a little weird stopping to take pictures every step you take... so bare with me!

Step three- this is the hardest part of the entire project, and honestly, its not hard.  So you start with two of the regular cupcake wrappers. and you turn one of them inside out and then put them together.  This way both sides of the flower has a pattern on it.  Next i folded another regular cupcake wrapper in half, then i scrunched up with my fingers the smaller ones, placed them in the middle of the "flower" and then put the button on top.  Lastly I took two floral pins and placed them through the button holes and put them on the topiary.  Each flower can be different, so have fun with this part and be creative.  The main point is to just make sure you fill every spot so theres no green showing in the end.  At the top, I only used the mini cupcake wrappers so I only layered it with three.

After you finish covering the entire tree its done!  See simple, easy, but makes a statement!  With the left over cupcake wrappers, we strung them on lights and just pushed them through to make little lanterns, and then of course i made cupcakes with some of them as well.  My friend Andrea made a cute garland with them for one of the parties she has done as well (http://itsthelife.typepad.com/my_weblog/holiday-stuff/).  So if you have left over cupcake wrappers, dont stress it and get creative.  If the main focal point of your table is a cupcake topiary, then try incorporating cupcake wrappers else where.  Hope you have fun making this project!