Creativebug My daily practice, Crochet Cakery, launched this month (woohoo!). I’ve been joyfully crocheting cakes for years, and I’m so excited to share that magic with you. I know some of you might be wondering, “What do I do with a crocheted cake?” If making full cakes for your house or your friends doesn’t quite feel like something you’d put on your to-do list, I’m going to share some other fun ways to “cake-over” your world. You can crochet cake-themed embellishments to decorate objects you already use in your daily life and make them a thousand times more delightful.
Crochet a Cake Book
Turn your journal or sketchbook into a sweet and simple cake with some bobble piping from Day 10, a piped rosette from Day 16, and a little maraschino cherry from Day 19. I used hot glue because it sets quickly, which makes positioning the border piping efficient with no need for clipping or clamping.
I was going to suggest that you stick with paper or fabric-covered books so that the hot glue will stick, but my sketchbook ended up feeling kind of plastic-y or vinyl-y and the glue still had fantastic grab.
While admittedly not the most functional way to decorate a journal (might get dirty quickly, might get a little fuzzy from going in and out of a tote bag), it’s definitely one of the cutest.
Crochet a Buttercream Sweater
I love classic buttercream roses. They’re vintage and a little bit granny but also still so gorgeous on a cake. The crocheted rose from Day 25 and leaves from Day 28 can turn any of your sweaters or cardigans into a buttercream delight.
If the sweater is for you, I would suggest pinning the embellishments and trying on the garment before hand-sewing everything down with a needle and thread. The neckline can really affect how the decorations look on your body, and you might end up wanting to move things around or reposition them depending on the sweater.
Piped frosting is definitely fun to play with around necklines, pockets, and wrists. However, if you need those areas to stretch, remember that sewing down decorations will reduce that stretchiness.
Make Berry Bag Charms
The whole and half strawberries from Days 21-23 make the best bag charms. I added more chains to the stems in different lengths, and I used the leaves from Day 28. They don’t look exactly like real strawberry leaves, but I think they do the trick. You just need to get some keychain hardware and tie a lot of knots (I promise I will streamline this process eventually and share!).
Crochet a Cake Hair Clip or Brooch
Many years ago, I was obsessed with Japanese street fashion, especially a style called fairy kei which was inspired by the 80s, pastels, and vintage cuteness. Everything was more-is-more, and I would turn ANYTHING into a hair clip. I crocheted tiny cats, ice cream scoops, toadstools. If I could glue it to a hair clip, I would put it in my hair.
While I realize this is not going to be everyone’s aesthetic, a cake-themed hair clip is still fun for kids, tea parties, or super cool birthdays. They’re like tiny over-the-top hats.
This is the swirled dollop from Day 17 with a cherry from Day 19. I may have gone a little over-the-top with the faux sprinkles, but it can be hard to exercise self-control with those because they are so excruciatingly adorable. I usually line the bottoms of my hair clips with a piece of felt glued on with Tacky Glue. Then I hot glue a hair clip to the felt. Alligator clips are great because you can also clip them onto headbands if you prefer not to clip them into your hair.
For a slightly less cake-tastic hair clip, the roses and leaves from Days 24, 25, and 28 also make cute hair baubles and you can hot glue everything together. I used pin and hair clip combos so you can stick them everywhere – your hair, your coat, your tote, your shoes! The pin/clip combo is pretty chunky, so stick with regular pin backs, hair clips, or even hair elastics for something more streamlined.
Crochet a Cake Box
Instead of wrapping your gift box, you can turn it into a glorious cake! I used the puff stitch piping from Day 9, slip stitch drop strings from Day 11, and little raspberries from Day 20.
Or, rather than putting a gift inside, you can keep it for yourself and store things in it like your extra chapstick, hand lotion, nail polish, or device chargers.
I mostly used hot glue (be really careful of oozing) for the embellishments, and then I used FabriTac for the drop strings because I didn’t want to burn my fingers. The FabriTac took a lot more patience because it doesn’t stick as quickly, but the safety of my fingertips seemed worth it!
I only covered a few projects here. Watch my daily practice, take a look around the house, and see what you can give a cake-over!