Unicorn Cupcake Toppers

I usually try to make fun cakes for my kids birthdays but I am definitely not a great cake decorator. For my daughter's birthday a couple months ago she told me she wanted a unicorn cake. She also wanted a unicorn cake last year so I decided to try a version of the unicorn cake with the closed eyes that is all over Pinterest, it is usually a tall round layer cake with the eyes on the side of the cake, and a horn, ears, and frosting mane on the top. Sounds easy enough but it didn't quite turn out like the pictures on Pinterest. I think I only used one cake mix, thinking it says it makes 2 layer and that should be enough to give me some height. Not so. It may say it makes 2 layers but only if you want layers that are only super thin, I probably needed more than 2 layers anyway, and a smaller diameter probably would have been better too. My cake ended up big and flat, with barely enough room for the eyes on the side and a mess of frosting for the mane (that's what happens when you have lots of little helping hands). She loved it, it was just not how I was picturing it turning out. When she said she wanted a unicorn cake again, "just like the one you made last year", you can imagine how excited I was.

I decided instead to make a simple batch of cupcakes, frost them with pink frosting, and add little unicorn toppers. It ended up being so quick and easy and she loved it. They were pink, sparkly, and unicorns, what more could she want.

I'll be honest, I don't know if the way I made these is the best way but it worked for me. If I was making them for a party or something I probably would have done a couple of things differently to make them just a little bit nicer but it worked great for just our family celebrating her birthday, she was super happy with them, and they were very quick to make which I loved.

How to Make Unicorn Cupcake Toppers

You will need:

• cutting machine (I used the Cricut Maker)
• Cricut Sparkle Paper
• wooden skewers or lollipop sticks
• glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions:

The first thing that I did was look in Design Space for a unicorn to use. You can find my design space file HERE. 

Once I had chosen a design and sized it to a size I thought would be good for a cupcake topper I chose the paper I wanted to use. I decided to go with Cricut's sparkle paper because it is pretty thick and sturdy so I felt like it would stand up well, it is super sparkly which was perfect for this project, and it has a smooth, almost plasticky, finish so even though it was glittery no glitter would be falling off into my cupcakes. It comes in a lot of colors, I chose Rose Gold from the Classic Sampler.

I cut out a dozen because I figured that was plenty for just our family. I just used the quantity arrow on the cut screen to get the number I needed. One sheet of paper was more than enough for 12. 

I used wooden skewers to stick the unicorns into the cupcakes, I have also seen people use lollipop sticks and they probably look a little bit nicer. I had to cut down the skewers, I just held one to where I would need to glue it on the back of a unicorn and cut it long enough to stick into the cupcake without getting the unicorn in the cake. Then I cut the rest the same length. I cut one from each end of the skewer because I wanted an uncut end on each one to stick into the cake. 

Then I just glued the sticks on the back. I just used hot glue, put a little line of glue on the back, stuck the stick in the glue, and it worked really well. I glued the end that I cut onto the unicorn because I was worried about little splinters ending up in the cake if I poked the cut end in. It wasn't super pretty on the back. If you wanted the backs to look nicer you could cut some more unicorns (or whatever shape you are using) and mirror them, then glue 2 together with the stick sandwiched between. But for me, this way worked just fine. 

Then all that is left to do is stick them in some cupcakes.