This is a project that has been in the making for a very long time. My friend Sara is getting married in less than a month (!) and she has honored me with the title of Matron of Mayhem. She asked me to make their cake toppers and I wanted to make something that was simple and modern, but would still fit into the beautiful rustic setting of Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota where they will be saying their I-do's.
I made the figures by using a lightbox to trace pictures of them and then scanning the drawings into PhotoShop where I refined and colored the illustrations. I printed them onto inkjet printable Shrinky Dink paper, cut them out and shrunk them down. I then sealed them with a matte acrylic spray. Once that was dry, I carefully painted over Sara's dress with clear nail polish so that it would have a glossy shine to it. They are held up using bamboo kebab sticks-I drilled holes in the base and used E6000 to secure the sticks. Once they were in place and the glue was dry, I applied E6000 to the sticks and glued the figures to them. The live orchid is sitting in a little vial that used to be a container for seed beads. I had trouble finding a flat-bottomed vial that wouldn't break easily until I went rifling through my crafting supplies and came across a tube of Toho seed beads (from Micheals). I used a Dremel to cut off the threading and sanded it down a bit, then swiped the edge with clear nail polish. It is the perfect size and material! The birch base is actually a coaster from Urban Forest on Etsy.
And that's how I done it! I love that they can change out the orchid with other fresh flowers or leaves and the whole look can change with the seasons.
Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms
DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth
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