Mini Me's

Given the large and delicious selection of desserts offered by our venue, we'll be going with a small cake just for me and J. With a small cake, the topper becomes the centre of attention.

Fresh flowers are a beautiful and budget-friendly option...But these customized wooden dolls captured my heart! Etsy sellers IttyBittyWoodShoppe make super cute ones starting at around $50, as do CreativeButterflyXOX.

I have a fair amount of artistic ability, so I ordered some plain wodden dolls on Etsy from gemmielou (reasonable price, quick shipping and very cute packaging) and started brainstorming. Most of these cake toppers feature the bride and groom in their wedding finest, but that would mean giving J an idea -- hopefully a reasonably accurate one -- of what my dress looks like. I decided it would be cute if the cake topper showed us in our work clothes since we both wear a uniform of sorts.

Materials:

Acrylic paints and brushes

Plain wooden dolls

Directions:

1. Sketch out your design on the wooden dolls in pencil. It erases no problem and is easy to paint over once you're happy with your self :)

2. Paint on your design. It's not necessary to use a primer and I found that one coat worked well for dark colours but you'll likely need two coats for lighter colours. I used a fine Sharpie marker to add the details on my lab coat. And yes, our hands are in our pockets to avoid having to draw realistic-looking hands...

3. The finished dolls were given a coat of sealant, a new hairstyle and glued to a thin wooden base. Ready for the cake!