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!!

Mardi gras masks

Fun Mardi Gras masks!

These Mardi gras masks are not so hard to make, just a little labor intensive.

Materials you'll need (to make blue mask) :
Blue poster board
3 Ostrich feathers (white)
Assorted matching sparkly ribbons and glittered tulle strips;
about three yards long each, different widths (cut off 1 yard of at least 6 or 7 of the ribbons to use for bow)
Stringed beads...metallic (silver or gold)
Blue glitter
Assorted embellishments
Honeycomb metallic ribbon (for ruffle around mask)
Glittered curly reeds
Stapler and staples
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
White glue
Small paint brush
Florist wire
1/2 inch diameter wooden dowel cut down to 18 or 20 inches long
One 10x10 inch square of black felt
1 small amount of black acrylic paint

All of these supplies may be purchased at Michaels, Hobby Lobby or Floral Supply Warehouses.

Draw a mask shape of desired size on blue poster board. Cut it out including eye holes (do the same with the black felt for use later). Use small paint brush to apply white glue all over the front of poster board mask, cover entire area with blue glitter, tap excess glitter off, set aside to dry. (may need a couple of hours to dry) Clean paint brush and use it to paint the dowel black.
Meanwhile, gather all the ribbons, stringed beads and glittered tulle and fold in half lengthwise, secure with a 10 inch length of florist wire.
Make florist bow with the ribbons that had been cut and set aside before, attach the gathered ribbons to the back of the bow with the wire used to make the florist bow and set aside.
Now, back to the mask, after the glitter has set and dried then you may begin to embellish it. Click on above picture to see close up. To make the ruffle around the mask, you will need to take the honeycomb ribbon (as in the picture) or other ribbon of your liking, gather it into a ruffle, securing each ruffle with a staple until you get the length to go around the mask. Glue the ruffle all around the BACK of the mask, making sure it shows prettily from the front of mask. Glue the curly reeds first then the feathers also to the back of the mask (see picture for placement), then embellish the front of the mask to your hearts content, use white glue or hot glue to attach items until you get it just the way you want it. You may also glue embellishments on the feathers. After your mask is decorated just the way you like, take the painted wooden dowel and place it on the right or left hand side of the back of the mask next to the eye hole and hot glue it down. The dowel is used for holding the mask up to your face. Take the black felt mask shape that you cut out at the beginning and glue it to the back of the mask, covering the back entirely (except, of course for the eye holes), leaving the back of the mask neat and clean. Now attach (glue) the bow and ribbons to the dowel right below the mask.
And there you have it...a beautiful Mardi Gras mask that you made yourself!! ENJOY!!