Cupcakes Anyone? Tutorial

I made some "fun" cake balls. I had seen them on other blogs and they actually put them on sucker sticks. Well, I tried that and when I went to dip them they came off the stick. They didn't fall off or slid off they just ripped through the ball and went "plop" right in the dipping bowl. NOT fun!!! LOL

SO I fished it out and set it aside. There wasn't much I could do with it except let it set up and tell hubby it was one for him to test!!! LOL

After I got done making my cake balls, setting them in the small cupcake cups and putting the candy sprinkles on I thought they looked too cute to just set out as is. The old light bulb went on and I thought I would make a small cup cake box for it. I'd seen the larger boxes and maybe if I would have remembered what blog I saw it on I could have seen if just scaling that one down would have worked. It sure would have saved me some time. But that's ok, I needed some practice in making these kinds of boxes anyway.

The box is made in three pieces. The base, the holder (the piece the cupcake sits in) and the cover.

For the base you will need a piece of card stock cut just a hair over 4-1/4" x 4-1/4". Score at 1" on all 4 sides. Snip two score marks at 1" in on two opposite sides. Fold the score lines in. Now fold in the little flaps you created. This will help reinforce the sides of the box bottom. Glue them to the inside of the box so they outside looks neat and clean. Set it aside to dry.

To make the cupcake holder part cut your card stock 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" and score at 1" on all 4 sides. Next you will need to cut away the square corners the scoring has created. You only want the center flaps. Once cut away you will have a piece of card stock that looks like a big plus sign. Fold in one flap and take a 1-1/2" circle punch and punch out the center of the piece of card stock. You will punch a bit of the flap but it won't show once it's in the box with a cupcake paper in the center of the hole. If you have the Coluzzle Cutting System or another type of circle cutter you can cut the 1-1/2" circle in the center with out cutting a flap. Using the punch is just easier and quicker. Once your hole is cut out fold up all score lines. Insert this piece in the base piece. It should drip in nicely. If it doesn't than the base piece is a bit too small. They are quick to make and you may want to redo it.

Now for the top. This part is a bit trickier but not bad to make. You will need a piece of acetate or transparency that measures 6-3/4" x 6-3/4". Score on all sides at 2-1/4". You will be cutting away most of the corners. What I mean by "most" is that you need to leave about 1/4" piece on each of the corner pieces. You will do this on two opposite ends. If you do it on each side you will have a seam showing no matter which way you set your box. Look at the photo before you cut those corners off. I made a sample out of card stock so you could see the cut marks better. After cutting I then folded all the score lines. Take the Stampin' Up! Sticky Strip tape and tape the small flaps you created to the inside of the lid. You may need to trim the tape a bit or you can cut your flaps the same size as your tape so you won't have to trim. Your box is now ready to assemble. Just slip the lid on between the base and the cupcake holder part and it's done. You can add a ribbon, bow or even use StazOn on the acetate before you tape it together.

These are SO fun and with this pattern you can use it for any holiday or occasion!!! It's all in how you decorate it!!! The patten photos are as follows, the first white one is the base, the second is the holder/insert and the last one is the top of the box to be cut from acetate. The last photo is of the finished box with no ribbon on it. The ribbon adds a lot to it, doesn't it? And if you don't want to add the ribbon it really serves no other purpose than looking pretty. The "lid" will stay on without it!

The little cupcake stamp I used is from the Stampin' Up! set "Holiday Blitz." That is one fun and VERY versatile set!!!

Now I know you want to know how to make those cute little cake balls. Well, here's the recipe. It's not hard at all. First you bake a cake. A boxed cake, not a homemade cake. I don't think I've ever made a homemade cake, I thought they always came from a box!! LOL Then you let it cool completely. I baked mine the night before and I was ready to work on it the next day. Remove the completely cooled cake from the pan and crumble it in a large bowl. Take a tub of frosting and mix it in the bowl with the crumbled cake. Roll the cake and frosting mixture in balls. Dip them in melted chocolate/white chips or bark. After each one I put sprinkles on. I didn't want it to set up before I got them sprinkles on. And that's all there is to it. Sorry, I didn't count how many a batch made. I do know it was well over 2 dozen!

Have fun with the box and the cake balls!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda