Fake Cake (Money Tree) #5

Another fake cake money tree for a Quincenera Celebration for this weekend.
This time the colors are Fuchsia, Black and White. I think that color combination is so pretty.
The ribbons are Grosgrain, nice vivid colors. I used glittery fuchsia tulle to make the skirt and hot glued it around the bottom of the cake, giving it a nice finished look. Made a large black bow for the cake topper. The cake is 25 inches tall, from the tip of the top feather to the bottom. It is 41 inches around the largest layer. It's pretty large and will accommodate lots and lots of birthday cards.

Complete instructions on how to make a money tree cake is in my blog archive dated October 21, 2009.

This is a close up view of the bottom layer.
This is a close up of the fuchsia tulle skirt that is hot glued from underneath the cake.
This the the top view, where you can see the slot for dropping in the well wishers cards.

Stepping back I realized that maybe it needed something more............perhaps some black feathers........hmmmm. I decided to add a few black feathers to the fuchsia ones and added feathers to the bow cake topper as well.
Okay, I think that did the trick. I'm happy with it now. Hope they like it!

BABY SHOWER fake cake (money tree)

Made another fake cake (money tree) for a baby shower this weekend. For "It's a girl", pink and white. It looked so cute with the Kewpie Doll cake topper, got that at Hobby Lobby.
I love creating and making things for baby showers!!
This cake is 25 inches tall from the base to the top of the Kewpie doll's head and 41 inches around the larger cake part (bottom layer).

View of cake top. Slot for the cards to be dropped into.

BIRTHDAY "MONEY TREE" FAKE CAKE

Adding a picture of another "money tree fake cake" I created for a large birthday party being held this weekend.
It's only two layers this time with the slot for the birthday cards in the center of the top layer. I love the ribbon with the stars and swirlies, very colorful! I added some glittery metallic stars garland over the ribbon giving it some glitz. The topper is made with a square piece of styrofoam, wrapped it up with the same ribbon, placed some crinkle paper on it then inserted some birthday picks and some metallic frills. I was very happy with the end result.

This is a close-up of the cake topper.

MONEY TREE (fake) CAKE

For any party that needs a money tree....well, instead of a tree, why not make a fake cake! Decorate it to match the party theme and the guests can drop their (money filled) cards into a slot on top of the cake where they safely stay until you are ready to remove the contents. It looks so much like a real cake and will look really pretty on the gift table.I made this one for my niece for her "Quinceanera" this upcoming weekend.
I used hat boxes that I had purchased at my local craft store. If you are interested in making one, you can find the instructions in my October 2009 blog post.

Here is the cake in action at the Quinceanera.


This is the before picture, I used Taping Compound (from hardware store) for the frosting. It's in powder form and when mixed with water it looks just like real frosting and spreads on just like the real thing too and it dries rock hard, at which point you can brush paint it or airbrush it. I simply gave it one coat of white Gesso.
Here is the top view of the cake, before and after.

Fake Cake (money tree)

Fake Cake/Money Tree
Hi again, here is a fake cake that I made for one of my brother-in-laws and his wife for their Wedding Anniversary Party. It took the place of a money tree...the guests just dropped off their cards into the slot on top of fake cake! It was a big hit...looked just like the real cake!! It was in December thus the poinsettias.

To make one like this, you'll need:
3 hat boxes, different sizes - 1 large, 1 medium, 1 small (remove all lids, save for later use)
white acrylic paint
1 or 2 sponge paint brushes
small piece Styrofoam 5"x2"
hot glue gun and glue sticks
craft knife
About a foot of wide red ribbon (any type, to cover Styrofoam)
Silk Poinsettia bush with multiple blooms (medium flower size)
--the amount of blooms depends on the size of the finished cake.
Bush of sparkly Christmas greenery
Embellishments (I used strands of gold puffy hearts for this cake)

You can buy most of these supplies at Walmart or Dollar Stores.

Paint all boxes, excluding lids, with white acrylic paint. Let dry thoroughly.

Large hat box.......turn box upside down, take medium hat box and place on top of the large box - center it carefully, then trace all around it. Remove medium box. Take craft knife and cut about one inch on the INSIDE of the traced circle on the bottom of the large box.
Medium hat box....turn box upside down, take small hat box and place on top of the medium box - center it carefully, then trace all around it. Remove small box. Take craft knife and cut about one inch on the INSIDE of the traced circle on the bottom of the medium box.
Small hat box.....turn box upside down, measure about the length of a large greeting card (roughly 9 1/2") add 1" to that, draw a line that length (10 1/2") on the outside of the bottom of the small box (make sure it is centered) and cut a slot on the line on the bottom of the small hat box wide enough to allow the envelopes to slide through easily, about 1/2" wide. After all the cuts have been made, paint the boxes again..to ensure good paint coverage.
Take the large lid and carefully remove and discard the band leaving only the circle of cardboard. Turn large box right side up and glue the circle of cardboard to that side of the large box thus sealing it. That will be the bottom of the cake. You will still have the opening on the other side of the box that you cut out before, that will be the top of the box. Next, place the medium box (upside down) over the cut out part of the large box and center it, once you know where it needs to go, lift it and apply hot glue along the rim then place it back down again. Now you have two layers with an opening between (for the cards to fall through into the large box). Take the small box and glue it upside down to the top of the medium box making sure the slot for the envelopes is on top(which is actually the bottom of the box). After all three boxes are glued to each other, you have a three layer cake. Run a bead of hot glue along the layers where they come together to secure. Paint the complete cake again if you like.
Then comes the fun part...Decorating it!! I glued a running strand of gold puffy hearts along where the layers meet (to cover the bead of hot glue) See picture. Then I hot glued poinsettias going up along one side of the cake curving around all the way to top. Make a small arrangement on the small piece of Styrofoam for the top of the cake. Cover the Styrofoam with a wide red ribbon, glue the arrangement to the top of the cake behind the card slot to allow for the people to insert their cards. The contents of the fake cake can be removed by cutting out the bottom of the cake after the party. It can easily be fixed for the next party!

You may of course make this cake for different occasions, use your imagination, let your creativity run wild!! It will be the hit of the party!!