A CHARMING CELEBRATION

Sometimes it is the tiniest of memories that are the most magical. Once upon a time when I was a little girl, my mother started a tradition by baking a silver charm in my birthday cake each year. Once found, the charm was added to a sliver bracelet for collecting. A very fond memory as well as a beautiful tradition. And a very exciting way to eat cake!

Follow this journey to make your own celebration cake (with a little twist) to celebrate any moment in life, big or small. Maybe this will become a special tradition for you too.

Decorating the cake you will need these-

Decorative Wire, 12 gauge (easily pliable)

Floral Wire, 26 gauge

Glass Pearls

Needle Nose Pliers

White Card Stock Paper

Heart Hole Punch, 1 ½”

Tiny Star and Tiny Heart Hole Punch, about ½”

Hot Glue Gun, Glue Sticks

Bamboo Skewers

Ribbon

To make the cake charger, I loosely wrapped the decorative wire around an inverted 6” cake baking pan. I wanted it to be larger in diameter than the cake. I aimed for the finished charger to clear the pan by at least an inch.

Next, overlap the wire and cut, giving enough length to overlap and twist together.

Punch about a dozen paper hearts from the 1 ½” heart punch. Lightly fold them in half.

Cut a dozen, three inch lengths of the floral wire. String one glass pearl on each wire.

Then cross the wires. Twist the entire length of wire.

Carefully add the twisted wire by wrapping it around the decorative wire a couple of times. Leave a little bit of the wire extending up.

Add a small drop of hot glue in the fold of the heart near the top.

 Quickly place the paper heart under the decorative wire to catch the twisted wire in the hot glue.

Pinch the heart slightly together.

Repeat all around the charger. Slightly bend the hearts to look like leaves.

To hide the twist, add a satin ribbon and tie it in a big bow.

Check to see if your charger is larger than the cake, place over the pan.

To make the cake toppers, cut three banners, two pennants from white card stock. I made the banners 3 ½” long by ½” wide and the pennants 2 ¼’ long by 5/8” wide. I shaped the ends by cutting a “V”. With the tiny punch, cut 6 stars and 4 hearts.

Fold the banners not quite in half. Fold the pennants in half. Erase any pencil lines.

Put a drop of hot glue in the fold of the banner.

Wrap the banner around the skewer. Repeat for all banners and pennants.

Place a small drop of hot glue on the star.

Place the skewer on top of the glue.

Place another drop of hot glue on the top of the skewer. Place a star on top. Repeat for all stars.

Repeat for the small hearts.

Gently roll the banner to look like it is blowing.

With your pliers, cut all skewers so the topper will be 5 ½” long.

I baked a white cake with buttercream frosting. Any cake and frosting can be used.

I chose to use 6” round baking pans. Once baked and cooled, I pushed the charm into the bottom layer of the cake. I tied a blue ribbon on the charm just to make sure the charm was found before it left the fork!

I placed a piece of tape on the platter next to the spot where the charm went so as to keep tabs on the location. That way you can slice the cake and be sure the charm goes to the person of choice. PLEASE USE CAUTION HERE! Alert all about the treasure inside before serving. No need to spoil a celebration with an emergency run to the hospital!

Time to frost and decorate the cake.

If you look closely, you can just make out the hidden charm in the middle of the layer on the left hand side.

What a fun way to celebrate any occasion in life. All you need is a little magic to create a tiny little memory that will last a lifetime. A beautiful tradition.