this blogpost contains 535 calories and 21 grams of fat*

no, seriously. see?!

well hello, missus yum!

ok, technically, it has zero calories and zero fat; plus it's high in fiber! yep, it's made entirely of paper, with a little bit of chipboard and a soupcon of ribbon. before you ask, i cannot take *ANY* credit for the design... (which is 100% lifted from this amazing fabulously artsy video tutorial by the stamp goddess!) ...or even for *finding* the design, which was sent to me by my darling stef. but i know a good thing when i see it, and i wanted to make one of these the second it saw it, BEFORE i even knew...

decapitation never looked so good

...YES!!! it's a giftcard holder, too!!! see, the upper portion of the "cake", under all those luscious layers of "icing"... (made from ribbon, paper flowers, and cardstock that was crumpled and shaped while wet) ...is a styrofoam ball which has been cut in half and then re-attached leaving a slot in the center, for the giftcard to slide inside!

i'm gonna need a cupcake with my coffee, please

the card is held with a small notebook clip, the top of which is cleverly disguised by a painted and glittered bead and a frothy layer of whipped cream--actually a piece of textured cardstock that's been wet, scrunched to fit, and hot-glued around the clip after it was dry.

low on glucose...but not on glue!

i know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "hey lauren! this looks complicated--was it hard to make?!" surprisingly, the answer is "NO!" the fabulously artsy tutorial is excellent, and extremely clear! (those of you who know me, will realize that if *I*--famously "instructions challenged"--am saying this, it MUST BE true!) frankly, the fact that it's a VIDEO tutorial makes all the difference; because you are watching her make one, step-by-step; and so you know going in that she used things you already have...and techniques you can already do!

deliciousness target acquired...bullseye!

ok, there are a couple of "fiddly bits": i had trouble spacing the accordian folds when attaching the cupcake "wrapper" to its chipboard base... (you can see it's slightly wonky, but i know exactly what i'll do differently next time!) ...otherwise it was quite clear cut and apart from the styrofoam ball & notebook clip i did not even have to BUY anything to make this!!!

thank you, stamp goddess, for sharing your creativity in such a practical and clear-cut (not to mention fun!) way; and thank you miss stephanie for sharing your amazing link love with me!!! ♥♥♥


*and yes, i know, you want a REAL CUPCAKE now, and it's all my fault! i do apologize, honestly, but it had to be done, dontcha think?! ♥

(~materials~ 3" styrofoam ball & most of a roll of 1/4" ribbon from michaels; 6" square of chipboard or recycled cardboard (it won't show!); 9 med. sized bazzill paper flowers; 1/2 sheet american crafts patterned paper; 1/4 sheet core'dinations card stock; 1/8 sheet specialty white textured cardstock (but you could use the regular textured kind); 3/4" wooden bead; red acryllic paint; red & clear glitter; small notebook clip; large my mind's eye pearl brad; 4-5 sticks of hot glue...maybe more! (yes, i am serious...this is a GLUE INTENSIVE project...and no, cold glue or 3-in-1 is not gonna cut it!)