Easy Owl Cupcake Toppers

Last week, I mentioned in my inspiration post that I'd decorated the cupcakes for a first birthday party. I figured if I could do it, they were definitely something any body could take a stab at. For how simple they are, I think they're super cute- and you can change up the colour scheme to suit your needs.

Fondant in two contrasting colours of your choice, black, white and orange
Round cutter that fits the top of your cupcake (fluted or plain is fine)
Two oval cutters (one slightly smaller than the other)
Bladed leaf cutter
Small chopping board
Rolling pin
Small paint brush
Piping tip with a round opening (or any other cutter that will create a small circle)

1. Roll a small amount of white fondant until it's about 2mm thick. Cut a circle using your cutter and gently lift it from your work surface to the centre of your cupcake. If you're having trouble making it stick, brush a small amount of water onto the back of your icing before you place it.

2. Roll out the first fondant colour of your choice, and cut an oval using the larger of the two cutters. This will form the main body of your owl. To give the appearance of 'ears' on top of the head, use your smaller oval cutter to cut a small portion from one end.

3. In your contrasting colour, cut an oval using the smaller cutter- this is going to be the belly. Paint a small amount of water on the back of this oval, and pop it on top. You want to align the curved bottom of the two shapes as much as possible. If you can't get the belly super straight, don't stress- majority of it is going to be covered by our wings anyway.

4. In your first colour, cut two tear drop shapes for the wings. When I did mine, I used the flat reverse side of a leaf cutter, but a similar shaped one will do the job just fine. How you arrange your wings is up to you, whether you want them more spread out or closer to the body- since I did so many, I did a couple of variations. Again, use a small amount of water to attach them if you're having difficulty getting them to stick.

5. The hard part's over! Making the details for the face is super simple, just cut two small circles out of your white fondant for the eyes. I used a small piping nozzle for this, but you could also do it by hand or use a cutter if you can find one small enough. Roll some black fondant into tiny circles and gently press to flatten them on the whites.

6. There are two ways to make the beak. The first is to cut a small triangle and place it flat, this method works quite well if you haven't got a lot of space left to work with. The second is to roll a small cone out of the fondant, and place it so it sticks upwards for a three dimensional finish.

7. All that's left to do is attach your little friend to your cupcake, which is easily done with a small amount of water.

That's it! Your little friend is all finished and ready to be eaten. I tried to make this tutorial as easy to follow as possible, but leave a comment if there's anything that wasn't clear. I hope you found this helpful, and please let me know if you do decide to recreate these- I'd love to see photos!