Cupcake Photo Holders
Lately I've been busy making models so that I can use them to make moulds, and those models have been baked but I haven't started on making the moulds yet. However, I did make two cupcake bases out of polymer clay, and was wondering what the heck I will use as icing for them, when I got the free referral gift from Sofie & Toffee an etsy seller that I've bought a couple of things from. Anyway, the gift was pink fuwa whipped cream! Basically this:
I've been wanting to try it out and see what kind of fake cream it will turn out to be for my cupcakes, but I had been dithering about buying it since I wanted to try out using modelling paste, but this came just in time when I had finished baking the cupcake bases! So no complaints there ^_^ Anyhoo, I painted and glossed the bases, and I had the idea in my previous post to turn my cupcakes into photo holders, you know, those stands with a peg at the top to clip your photos to display? Having the cupcake as a base would be cute, and happily, I already had some skewers and small wooden pegs on hand.
I think that wooden pegs are better than those metal clips, since those tend to leave teeth marks on your photos, and these would not, plus it'll just go with the wooden skewers better, heh. In the kit, it had a star tip and a disposable plastic pastry bag, and the whipped cream clay in a separate bag. Following instructions, I softened the clay, opened it and scraped it into the pastry bag (that should have the star tip in already. I really should have just put the clay in the pastry bag and smoosh it in there, so messy scraping semi-liquid clay into that bag!
I tried piping some swirls, but the clay was a bit too stiff, and it was such a pain having to squeeze the bag with an even pressure, since I had to squeeze it really hard! It even broke the bag and forced the tip out, and I had to use a new bag, and a coupler and tip that I had bought from Spotlight, since with that method the tip would be more secure. Frustrated, I mixed it with a bit of water, and spent a few hours trying to get the consistency right, and ended up putting in too much water ... T-T so then I had to leave the bag open for a bit for the clay to dry so it wasn't so liquidy, but then I got it right! Finally! I was then able to pipe some swirls on the cupcakes I had and decorate them with some gems, and candy swirl and strawberry slices:
I've used the polaroid picture of Pooki (my dog) to see if the photo holder works - it does, and the cupcake base is one style I'm thinking of using, it's quite good, and has a sort of border to hold in the cream, so I think I may stick to this one.
I painted the stripes of the base in pink white and red, and I think I'll call it the 'Strawberry candy cupcake photo holder'. It's good to try out a prototype ^_^
I've used polymer for the bases, but I've decided to switch to air dry clay from now on, the reason why? Polymer is quite durable and great for charms, since charms will be carried around everywhere and get knocked into things and etc, and so it should just be used for charms.
For things that will just be sitting on a table, or used as magnets (I'm considering making some magnets too) air dry clay or paper air dry clay should be used, it's cheaper that way, and means less baking for me to do :D I got some Crayola air dry clay to try out, since it's heavier than paper air dry clay and would make a more stable base, and made a batch of bases:
Once they're dry I'll paint them and glue the skewers and pegs on them, and try a different way of piping the cream - luckily I still have alot of the cream left, and I'm going to try to get some height to the cream, since the first two was a bit low. Once this cream is finished I think I will try using modelling paste (if I can get any), and if that doesn't work out too well, I'll buy the fuwa whipped cream, but the ones with the clay in the pastry bag already, like the ones from gracefulhands:
I think the fuwa whipped cream is pretty good, once you get the consistency right you can pipe pretty good swirls. But I will try using the modeling paste first before I decide. I got the tip for using modelling paste from this blog from a sweets crafter Hikaria and so far I've only found impasto, it's become quite difficult to find Monte Marte things, and this is when I have also gone to the shop that sold that Monte Marte paint! *sigh* There is Jackson's left, so crossed fingers that they have it! But for now, I've bought the impasto, with the idea that even though it may be a bit sticky once it dries, I can paint over it instead of mixing it with paint, and also give it a layer of gloss - and that may solve the problem of attracting dust, and since I'll not be mixing it with paint, it won't become too runny, just as it is should be a good consistency. We shall see, and I'll update on how it goes :D
But anyway, I've finished the cubed watermelon platter!
I've stuck the watermelon and slice on with velcro, and the business card holder I've just glued on. Now all I have to do is order the roc candy! Though I think I may do that closer to Wai-con to make sure the candy is fresh ^_^ So far I have also designed a piggy hat, and cut out the fleece for it, so once I've finished this batch of cupcakes, it is back to sewing hats!
EDIT: I called around to a number of shops and found out that Angus & Robertson (of all shops! a book shop) in the city, has modelling paste! And I should make a tutorial on how to bake the polymer clay, some people have their own separate toaster oven for their clay, but for those who have to use their kitchen oven, and are worried about the gases released from the clay while it's being baked, there's a way to do it to make sure that the oven won't be affected by your baking.
^_^
I've been wanting to try it out and see what kind of fake cream it will turn out to be for my cupcakes, but I had been dithering about buying it since I wanted to try out using modelling paste, but this came just in time when I had finished baking the cupcake bases! So no complaints there ^_^ Anyhoo, I painted and glossed the bases, and I had the idea in my previous post to turn my cupcakes into photo holders, you know, those stands with a peg at the top to clip your photos to display? Having the cupcake as a base would be cute, and happily, I already had some skewers and small wooden pegs on hand.
I think that wooden pegs are better than those metal clips, since those tend to leave teeth marks on your photos, and these would not, plus it'll just go with the wooden skewers better, heh. In the kit, it had a star tip and a disposable plastic pastry bag, and the whipped cream clay in a separate bag. Following instructions, I softened the clay, opened it and scraped it into the pastry bag (that should have the star tip in already. I really should have just put the clay in the pastry bag and smoosh it in there, so messy scraping semi-liquid clay into that bag!
I tried piping some swirls, but the clay was a bit too stiff, and it was such a pain having to squeeze the bag with an even pressure, since I had to squeeze it really hard! It even broke the bag and forced the tip out, and I had to use a new bag, and a coupler and tip that I had bought from Spotlight, since with that method the tip would be more secure. Frustrated, I mixed it with a bit of water, and spent a few hours trying to get the consistency right, and ended up putting in too much water ... T-T so then I had to leave the bag open for a bit for the clay to dry so it wasn't so liquidy, but then I got it right! Finally! I was then able to pipe some swirls on the cupcakes I had and decorate them with some gems, and candy swirl and strawberry slices:
I've used the polaroid picture of Pooki (my dog) to see if the photo holder works - it does, and the cupcake base is one style I'm thinking of using, it's quite good, and has a sort of border to hold in the cream, so I think I may stick to this one.
I painted the stripes of the base in pink white and red, and I think I'll call it the 'Strawberry candy cupcake photo holder'. It's good to try out a prototype ^_^
I've used polymer for the bases, but I've decided to switch to air dry clay from now on, the reason why? Polymer is quite durable and great for charms, since charms will be carried around everywhere and get knocked into things and etc, and so it should just be used for charms.
For things that will just be sitting on a table, or used as magnets (I'm considering making some magnets too) air dry clay or paper air dry clay should be used, it's cheaper that way, and means less baking for me to do :D I got some Crayola air dry clay to try out, since it's heavier than paper air dry clay and would make a more stable base, and made a batch of bases:
Once they're dry I'll paint them and glue the skewers and pegs on them, and try a different way of piping the cream - luckily I still have alot of the cream left, and I'm going to try to get some height to the cream, since the first two was a bit low. Once this cream is finished I think I will try using modelling paste (if I can get any), and if that doesn't work out too well, I'll buy the fuwa whipped cream, but the ones with the clay in the pastry bag already, like the ones from gracefulhands:
I think the fuwa whipped cream is pretty good, once you get the consistency right you can pipe pretty good swirls. But I will try using the modeling paste first before I decide. I got the tip for using modelling paste from this blog from a sweets crafter Hikaria and so far I've only found impasto, it's become quite difficult to find Monte Marte things, and this is when I have also gone to the shop that sold that Monte Marte paint! *sigh* There is Jackson's left, so crossed fingers that they have it! But for now, I've bought the impasto, with the idea that even though it may be a bit sticky once it dries, I can paint over it instead of mixing it with paint, and also give it a layer of gloss - and that may solve the problem of attracting dust, and since I'll not be mixing it with paint, it won't become too runny, just as it is should be a good consistency. We shall see, and I'll update on how it goes :D
But anyway, I've finished the cubed watermelon platter!
I've stuck the watermelon and slice on with velcro, and the business card holder I've just glued on. Now all I have to do is order the roc candy! Though I think I may do that closer to Wai-con to make sure the candy is fresh ^_^ So far I have also designed a piggy hat, and cut out the fleece for it, so once I've finished this batch of cupcakes, it is back to sewing hats!
EDIT: I called around to a number of shops and found out that Angus & Robertson (of all shops! a book shop) in the city, has modelling paste! And I should make a tutorial on how to bake the polymer clay, some people have their own separate toaster oven for their clay, but for those who have to use their kitchen oven, and are worried about the gases released from the clay while it's being baked, there's a way to do it to make sure that the oven won't be affected by your baking.
^_^