I made my own cake toppers using wooden pieces, polymer clay and some fabric. Don't ask me why,but this was one of the first things I started researching for my wedding. I wanted a unique Indian bride topper and started looking online for what was available. I came across several craft sellers who make custom cake topper figurines resembling the bride and groom. They'll even create outfits matching your real ones!
After browsing several indian bride and groom cake toppers I figured I could make it myself for WAY cheaper. Total cost of the project was around 14 dollars! (I'm a thrifty shopper)
Steps
1. Getting supplies:
Wandered through the aisles of a local craft store searching for supplies. I decided to make the figurines out of polymer clay, and to save on the amount of clay used purchased 2 wooden spheres for the heads and 2 wooden eggs for the body. I doodle cartoon people with large heads, bug eyes and small bodies so I decided my figurines would have the same look. Polymer clay is available in a variety of brands and colors so I had no trouble finding colors for our hair and skin tones. I also purchased teal colored clay for our outfits, though I only ended up using it for Dusty's tie.
2. Creating the base structure:
We (me and my nephews) cut the top tip of the egg off, sanded the surface to make it flat and used a glue gun to attach the doll head to it. Next we started softening the clay by rolling it out and working it with our hands. I had left the clay in my car which dried it out a little, making it harder to work with.
3. Working with clay:
For the heads, we created skin by rolling out the clay (like a roti) with a rolling pin till it was approximately 4 inches in diameter and 1/8 of an inch thick. We carefully draped this over the head and cut of the excess. It took a little time to smooth out all the bumps. To make the hair, I rolled the clay between my fingers and the table to make a spaghetti like string and cut in into small pieces. I just arranged the hair how I wanted and squished them into the "skin" clay a little. Next I created the eyes, nose, and eyebrows. Lips/mouths proved to difficult for me and my nephews to master so thats why my figurines are currently lipless. I might draw them on later. The noses were hard to shape properly and then affix to the face without messing up other bits. If you notice in the pictures my face looks a little lumpy and uneven complexioned...it was definitely a trial and error process. Dusty's tuxedo is also made of clay. We rolled all the remaining black clay we had into a flat sheet and draped it over the body portion, cutting of the extra bits and using them to create the lapels.
4. Bake the clay
We were really nervous about baking the figurines. We were worried they might catch on fire because of the wood. We baked them approximately 250 degrees for a half hour or so. I kept checking on them every few minutes to make sure they hadn't spontaneously combusted or anything.
5. Making my lengha
After making Dusty's tux, we were decided it would be best to make the lengha out of fabric so it would flare out and drape nicely. So we made a second outing, this time to the fabric store. We learned you can buy as little as two inches from a bolt of fabric. We went bought 6 inches of a heavier canvas material for the lengha lining and 6 inches of tissue material for the top layer of the lengha and chunni. We also picked up some green ribbon, fabric glue and a strand of gold glass beads. I enlisted the my mom's help to create the lengha. She was a home science teacher back in India so creating a miniature lengha wasn't too difficult for us to manage. She did most of the sewing, I did most of the embellishing. The skirt portion consists of three layers. The bottom layer is made with the canvas material and the top two layers with tissue. To the top most tissue layer we added embellishments of sequins, ribbons and beads in a design that resembles my own lengha. To the circumference of the chunni we added the gold strand of beads and a few more sequins. We even added a tikka and bindi!
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