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Your friends will love them and keep them forever.
Ever since I designed the drawstring gift/storage bag, (see this link http://linda-allfreepatterns.blogspot.com/2010/07/recycle-cds-giftstorage-bag-sew.html ) I have been staring at the small stack of CD's that Kim handed to me to 'do something with'. She had cleared out old CD's when she went through her computer stuff as a lot of them were what she called 'toast'. She had managed to rescue most of the dater, but as anyone knows who work with computers, when you change over programs, things happen. Fortunately she is quite clever with computers.
Yesterday, I had a brain wave that these plastic discs could be turned into fake cakes. They would make wonderful table decorations for parties and showers and it would be a great gag gift for someone you know who is always on a diet. Just say "Happy Birthday" and give her an appropriately decorated cake. She's is sure to have a good laugh at it and keep it forever.
Here's how to make a fake cake.
Materials. you need two CD's, cardstock, felt or faux suede fabric, satin fabric and trim. These cakes are very cost effective to make. For glue and stuff I use, visit this blog.
Make a cardstock pattern for the wall of the cake. You will need to cut a piece fifteen 1/4" wide by three 1/2" tall. I used some of my 17" by 11" cardstock which I keep because I make all kinds of hat patterns with them, (see the link above) but if you don't have it, simply put two sheets together by cello taping on both sides. Mark a line half inch from the top and bottom and one end. Keep this one as your continuous pattern to use.
Note. You will make several pattern pieces when you make your first cake, so keep them all for future use and store in a Ziploc bag. Once your first cake is done, the rest will take you very little time.
Cut out a second piece using your pattern and turn the two 1/2" edges in and press for a good fold.
My experience as a milliner has made me an expert in how to get materials to curve. You must do this part or your cake will not turn out right. Cut slots to the 1/2" line, 1/2" apart on the top and bottom. Then clip each slot into a point. You will find your cardstock will want to curve around immediately as you do this.
The cake wall will now form a circle easily. Take a piece of cello tape to join.
Test the CD on top and if you see any gaps like this, undo the cello tape move a bit further and re-tape.
Put a generous amount of a good tacky glue around the edge of a CD.
Once you have a perfect fit, glue both CD's on each side of the wall. Stand the cake upright and put a small weight on top until it is dry.
When it dried, I was surprised at how sturdy the cake felt so I tested it. Here you can see that I set a gallon of milk on the top without any problem.
You need to make a plate pattern to set the cake on and a 6" circle is perfect. Use a plate you have or I used a cardboard cake circle, which I keep all sizes to make my patterns. Cut the plate out of cardstock.
You can see the cake board is a good fit to the cake, but don't glue it on yet!
Draw around a CD on paper or tracing fabric and use the pattern to cut out a circle of padding for the top of the cake. You can use white felt or thermal polyester that is used in clothing to keep warm. I used the latter because I had it. You could use the color of felt of the cake you want to cover it, but I like to make my things a bit different and I want to add satin fabric on top for a more elegant look.
Glue the padding on to the top of the cake. It should be a good fit, or turn over and trim off any extra that sticks out.
Make another pattern by drawing around the CD once again, then cut it out leaving 1/2" seam all around. Then cut out a circle of satin with this pattern.
On your satin circle, draw around the CD again in pencil and cut slots every 1/2" all around to the line.
Fold and glue the slots down onto the cake wall like this.
You will make a fabric pattern now for the cake wall. It should be two and 3/4" high by fifteen 1/4" wide.
Cut one piece out of faux suede or felt.
Glue the fabric on the wall of the cake. There should be a small overlap and with faux suede it will be okay. However felt needs to have a perfect join or it will be a bunch out at the join area, so cut off the extra felt before joining so that it lays flat.
Now to decorate your cake.
I found this ribbon one and 1/2" wide with "It's a girl" written on it. I bought it at my local dollar store. I glued it around the center. It is easier to glue a ribbon on the cake before gluing the cake to the board.
Make a cake board fabric pattern out of paper or tracing fabric and cut a circle out of faux suede or felt, however LEAVE A SMALL LIP OF FABRIC EXTRA ALL AROUND.
Glue it down on the top of your cake board, then turn it over and trim off the extra fabric or felt. This way you will be sure that you won't show any cardstock edge when you finish.
Glue the cake to board and make sure you have centered the cake.
Choose a trim to go around the cake that will curve in a circle. Many trims won't without rippling. I am using this pink and pearl trim that my daughter picked up for me recently at 80% off. Before you glue the trim, run a bead of glue around the join of the cake to cake board and this will ensure the two won't separate later.
Glue another piece of trim around the top as shown. Your cake is done.
Add a topper and set on top of a cake stand.
I am fortunate to own many cake stands bought in clearance sales. This is a smaller size and it is a perfect size to display this CD cake. You can add a commercially made cake topper you can find at dollar stores such as plastic booties etc; I however have put my mini mice that I had dressed for this occasion on top of my cake. The pattern for these mice will be available for sale shortly. You can email me if you want me to let you know when it is ready.
More designer cakes.
I added a small platform on top of this cake that I made out of an empty ribbon reel. I bought the tiny bride and groom at my local dollar store. It was a perfect size for a small cake.
Here is a close up of my Valentine cake. I used a narrow red lace ruffle around the base and a ribbon that was covered in roses. It was a wired ribbon, but I pulled out the wires so that it would lay flat on my cake. On top I used some small red ribbon roses that I had purchased a long time ago and they reminded me of confectionary sugar roses. My Valentine mice couple sits on the top.
This time I decided to make a cake that would be a perfect birthday gift for anyone of any age. The purple satin ribbon with white dots inspired me to make the cake with a white satin top and lavender sides and plate. I took the perfect candle as a topper, a battery powered flicker candle and made a small card board ring that slipped over it and covered it with the same ribbon. No worries about a fire with this candle and the recipient can enjoy it anytime. Just add love.
You can purchase many kinds of baby items to top the cake, but a baby photo frame would be wonderful for a new or expectant Mom.
I used a wider layered blue and white lace around the base of the plate and it is quite effective. A pair of proud mom and pop mice announce the new arrival.
Make a cake and add a cake stand.
Tomorrow morning I am off to visit a friend, so I thought I'd take her a friendship cake. I decided to make this cake it's own cake stand that will be attached to the cake board.
I found a wide ribbon in my collection that I had bought 90% off last summer. (29c for a roll) It has the words "Of all the blessings great and small, friendship is the best of all" Perfect! I used ruffled lace at the base of the cake and white pearl trim around the top. I die cut 4 leaves out of a light green satin and glued them on top of the center circle. I then hand made the sheer white rose. For this tutorial visit this link on my other blog.
Built in cake stand-more recycling!
I love to make things out of empty sewing stuff so I keep them in a handy location. You will find that as I continue with this blog you will use more recycling bits, so don't throw them away.
To make this cake stand I used an empty thread reel and a small empty cardboard ribbon reel. I cut a cardstock circle to cover the writing on the ribbon reel.
I filled the indentations of the ribbon reel and thread reel with the thermal polyester. Then I covered them with ribbon and fabric. I drew a circle around the thread reel in the center underneath the cardstock cake board. Although I don't use hot glue for most of my work, putting these pieces together is perfect for it. I hot glued the stand bottom (ribbon reel) to the stem (thread reel) and then hot glued the completed stand to the cake board.
Here you can see all three pieces assembled together upside down. Now my cake is ready for delivery tomorrow.
Now make your CD cakes and email me photos.
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