Well maybe that is not true. Perhaps paper, glue, batteries and plastic do contain calories, but not the tasty, moreish kind. And my alternative title of ‘inedible cake’ sounds rather less enticing.
I like giving ‘alternative’ or unexpected birthday cards and that box is certainly ticked here. Pinterest is to blame again. I decided to make one of the cute little battery tea lights turned into a birthday cake. I had seen a few, with varying degrees of decoration. Mine are, of course, on the less decorated side. Partly from personal preference and partly because I don’t have much time for anything more.
There are no doubt plenty of tutorials out there, but I chose to ignore them and just go for my own version. Sometimes a quick ten minutes in Pinterest can morph into several lost hours! I took a favourite pad of papers (Craftwork Cards Heritage Rose) so I knew everything would go together, something always worth doing when time is short or a deadline looms. For the first tea light cake I simply covered the sides with spotty paper and die cut two scallop circles for the top and bottom. Then I punched a hole roughly in the centre of one and made some small snips outwards from the hole. This allows you to ease the circle over the light bulb, but obviously looks a bit messy so needs covering up again afterwards. Some punched flowers did the trick. I wanted the same scallop circle for the cake base, but you also have to be able to switch the bulb on, so I used a small oval die to cut a neat aperture. Perhaps those tutorials might have given me a better solution for this, but hey, it works! A simple box from the same paper range helps to present it nicely. If I had more time this box would have been a bit fancier for sure.
I also cooked up a second ‘cake’, even more quickly. This one was made with a Christmas purchase for the bargain price of £1 for 4 tea lights! They are already covered in a smoky quartz shade of glitter – yum! Basically I did the same thing but used a fancier and slightly larger scallop circle die for the base. Also because this light has little ‘feet’ I just stood it on the base scallop die cut. It would certainly be possible to fix it permanently to the ‘cake’, in the same way as the top layer really, but I think it is fine as it is.
So there we have it. Two cakes, no calories. I did think about naming them “shark infested” cakes actually. It’s the shape of the bulbs…..
I haven’t seen anything like this before – they are brilliant! What a great alternative to a card and I love the sweet box too!
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Thanks Karen! They are good fun to make. I would like to have added a bit more embellishment but time was against me.
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Wonderful alternative and such a clever idea!
In my opinion, cake is good. Any cake. Just look at Mary Berry…cake goddess…
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Thanks! I used to be a bit scared of Mary Berry when I was younger. She seemed so disciplined!
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Cute! I can see recipients saving this on their desk or night table for a very long time!
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Thanks, yes, I thought it would be a nice little something for a work colleague maybe.
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Brilliant! What a great idea. Love cake, especially banana and walnut. I know what you mean about pinterest. Where did last “week” go! lol!
Hope your week is going well. Hugs Flo x
P.S. hope you don’t have this comment twice.
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Thanks Flo! Banana and walnut sounds yummy! Oh, now I need some real cake…..
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I know! I thought the same thing after reading your post. Had to have some cornflakes! lol! x
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Wow! Haven’t seen anything like this before, but I was thinking about getting a box of these tealight candles… Your cakes look so yummy! Such a great idea! Very creative!
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Oh that is so cute, what a great idea! Neat way to use up all the tee-lights I bought for Xmas but never used.
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I had the same surplus tea light issue!
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What a GREAT idea. Super pretty and interesting. This is a super unique way to give a gift. Very Pretty!.
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Thanks so much! Sorry for the late reply – life got in the way.
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ohh Trust me I understand -) and no worries!!! You are very welcome!
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Another wonderful project made by you – so cute. Looks like you could almost eat it. Lol
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Thanks! You might break a tooth though! Sorry I am late in replying. Life got in the way of blogging.
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This is so inventive with a nice tutorial. They are both wonderful but the second one reminds me of a chocolate cake with chocolate chips all over it. The paper flowers are a perfect touch with the lighter feel to them. Question: I probably missed this but is the round “cake” part (spotty paper) just card stock or did you cover chipboard? It just looks so sturdy. Wonderful post!
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Sorry I am so delayed in replying. I had to take an unexpected trip. The spotty paper is just wrapped around the tea light and glued where the edges meet. All very simple! Glad you like them!
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What sweet birthday card/cake combinations! I love the idea of calorie free. 😊 As always they are beautifully presented.
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Thanks! Sorry I am replying so late. Life events….
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Busy times! Hope all is well.
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Thanks, just a bit of a curve ball.
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Oh dear. These things are sent to try us! Take care.
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Your Pinterest feed seems so much more interesting than mine. It probably knows that I avoid 3D crafting. I am fairly certain I would have better success at making an actual cake than I would making a paper one.
These are quite cute. The happy little flowers are the perfect disguise! No one would know they are a cover.
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Thanks! I follow a LOT of people on Pinterest. You just never know what little nuggets if cleverness people will come up with. 3D crafting is such fun though.
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Oh you got me with that title! LOL! Really, these are adorable! Those flowers are perfect, after all, don’t most fancy cakes have flowers on them?? Great idea and kudos to you for figuring out how to make them without watching hours of video! 🙂
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Thanks Nancee! Sorry for the delay in replying, but I had to make a trip unexpectedly. Glad you like them!
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No problem! I’ve been so busy with Birthday cards and Valentine’s cards I haven’t had time to create a new post! Ugh! Hopefully in the next few days! Oh, a new 30 Day Coloring Challenge is starting on March 1! I’ve got to get ready for that too!
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Sharpen those pencils….
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sooo sweet!
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That is really so cute! I have never seen those before.
I missed this post because for some reason you are not showing up on Reader for me anymore :(. Stupid wordpress! Sometimes I wonder what the deal is with wordpress. I will just have to make sure I keep checking for your posts.
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No worries – I have similar issues! Glad you like them!
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I love them! I keep coming back here and checking them out :). Did you use chipboard or just really really sturdy cardstock?
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Really cute! They remind me of some extremely delicious cupcakes from a little shop in Monterey, CA – called Mrs. Delish’s. Her cupcakes are limited edition, decorated similar to yours, baked early each morning, and they sell out fast. Your little cakes would at least stick around for more than a morning (and also double as a night light on the bedside table!)
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Thanks! I like the sound of that cake shop!
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These are so fun, really like the idea of a gift box with a difference x
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Thank you!
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This is so clever and sweet too.
PS. I had to start over my knitting blog because the other one wouldn’t post. So now I am happy to be back and will catch up with reading blogs 🙂
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I did wonder if there were technical problems. Glad you are back with the knitting blog though!
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Yes, I even had help from WordPress and they made some corrections but in the end I just decided it was easier to delete and start over 🙂
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Such a cute idea. Great photo’s too.
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Thank you!
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These are brilliant!
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Thank you very much! And thanks for reading and commenting!
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