Deco Poly Mesh Cupcake

Cupcake decoration made with deco poly mesh. This was my first project to use the 2 1/2" mesh ribbon, and adjustments had to be made along the way. The overall project turned out just fine though. This cupcake measures about 16" at it widest part and 17-18" in ht. This project started with chicken wire, wire cutters, and a tape measure. I wear old dress leather gloves. Garden gloves are too bulky, but you need something to protect your fingertips. This roll of chicken wire came from Lowe's and cost around $8.00. I've made several projects off this roll already, and still have a lot left. I also used an empty ice cream bucket minus the lid and handle. I needed enough wire to go around the bucket. The bottom wire just needed to be long enough to tuck under the bucket and the top portion needed to be long enough to attach to the rounded portion that would be the cupcake top. Any similar container would work. Cut the wire and shape around the bucket. I taped the bottom edges of the wire to the container using clear tape, but duct tape or anything would do. You could cover the bottom of the container later if desired. Roll out another piece of chicken wire to cut as the top portion of the cupcake. This piece was about 26 or 27 inches. If your piece is too big, you can always mush down the size a bit. Better to cut too large a piece than too litte. I needed a rounded shape for the upper part of the cupcake, so I used a basketball. Just wrap the wire around the ball to get the shape. Gently peel back the wire to remove the basketball. I just wanted a dome shape to fit down over the cupcake base. Just keep molding and shaping the wire until the desired shape and size. I had to crunch down the edges quite a bit to get the final shape. It started out a little larger than I needed. But, that's the good thing about chicken wire, you can just keep molding and scrunching until you get your shape. The wires sticking up from the cupcake base were pressed inward and the top dome portion placed on top. Wire edges were the secured together. You may have to occasionally clip a wire so you have something to wire together. I chose a White Metallic 2 1/2" mesh ribbon for the cupcake base and Pink Metallic for the top. Used white chenille stems (pipe cleaners) for the base and dome. The stems were cut into thirds. Start adding the white mesh. Place a chenille twist anywhere along the bottom edge. Just give it a couple of twists. Anytime you can fasten the stems to more than two pieces of wire it will help stabilize the frame and keep the twist from slipping and sliding. For some projects I may place all the twists then come back and start with the ribbon. But for this project since I was working with a more narrow ribbon, I placed a twist, attached ribbon and continued on around the base. Sometimes the twists work out pretty evenly and other times they don't. Just make adjustments as you go. And remember you'll always be able to go back and fill in a gap after you're done if you need to. I kept the loops rather small and tight going around the base. The raw edge of your beginning piece can just be tucked to the inside of the wire. Just place a small bunch of ribbon into the next twist and continue working around the base. I noticed the label on the ice cream container at this point, and thought that it might show through. Covered it up with white label paper just in case. Just continue working around the base. You may find that the chicken wire has too big a gap and no place to put a twist. When this occurs, just add in a chenille stem as a base to add your twist to. When you reach the point that you've covered it all the way around, cut the ribbon with a 3-4 inch tail and when fastened in the last twist, tuck the tail underneath the wire. You made need to reshape the dome portion a little. For the dome portion, I went ahead and put the twists in place before I started the mesh. I also wanted the dome portion to have more depth or size to it, so I chose to use two ribbons and made the loops a little larger and a little farther apart. The pink and purple ribbon was started together in one twist, raw edges tucked under the wire. The ribbon is the same on both sides so you don't have to worry about it twisting. Continue working from one twist to the next going all around the dome. I made the dome twists just a little larger, about 3-4". Once you've completed the loops, cut the tail 4-5" and tuck to the inside. Look around for any gaps and fill with loops of mesh. I did this by cutting strips about 6-8 inches, folding and just tucking the tips into the holes. This project was for my own use, if I were making it to give away or sell, I would secure the loops with a stem. Also take this time to tuck in the chenille stem ends. A RAZ Sequin Spray was used to decorate the cupcake. The sequin balls were cut off leaving a short piece of wire and hot glued to the mesh. A red ball was cut with enough wire left to look like a long-stemmed cherry. Little bits of Glitter Strip Garland was cut and hot glued as "sprinkles." This was a fun project to make and easy to do! It would make a great birthday table decoration, baby shower or Christmas. And the fun part is, you can make it in any color combination - red and white with Peppermints, black and orange with spider sprinkles for Halloween.