Printable Mermaid Cupcake Wrappers

Article written using Photoshop Elements 11 with Windows 8

Summer is drawing to a close, and the new school year is underway. While I am personally celebrating this joyous time of year, my kiddos aren’t quite as enthusiastic. So, being the fun-loving mom that I am, I decided that we all needed a special treat to celebrate/mourn this forthcoming event.

I’m not one for whipping up big gourmet meals at my house; I figure there’s no use in cooking what won’t get eaten. Besides, if the hubby knows I can cook like that, how will I ever get him to take me out to fancy restaurants?

As a result, our special treats usually come in the form of baked goods or dessert items. While cruising the Internet, my daughter and I found a delicious-sounding Lemon Cupcake recipe and decided to give it a try.

In order to play up the “special” part of our treat, I decided to fancy up our cupcakes, but how? To find the answer, I turned to my digital scrapbooking supplies, and there it was… ScrapSimple Craft Templates: Cupcake Wrapper by Cherise Oleson. I could make my own personal printable cupcake wrappers – how awesome! Not only that, but I could also put together some of those cute little toppers that you stick into the cupcakes as well! If that doesn’t fire up those kids for the start of the new school year, then nothing will! (Ummm, yeah, right!)

Elisha Barnett’s Mermaid Mystique Collection was the perfect complement to my summer theme, and I knew that my daughter would love the mermaids, while the treasure chest and sea life would appeal to my two sons and husband.

To put together the wrappers, I opened the template in Photoshop Elements and added my papers and embellishments. Cherise gives a great set of directions with the templates, but basically it’s like a mini layout. You can make it as embellished or simple as you would like. For the topper templates, I used Durin Eberhart’sScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Altered Art Essentials Lockets. All I had to do was add a paper and an embellishment to coordinate with the wrappers, and I was done. I placed all of my finished products on an 8.5×11-inch layout and saved it as a PNG file for printing. I was able to fit four wrappers and four toppers on one page and printed them on photo paper, because that’s what I had on hand, but cardstock would be a nice, sturdy alternative. After I printed them, I cut out everything, taped the toppers to toothpicks, and decorated my cupcakes.

Because we really enjoyed the cupcake recipe we found online, I also made a matching recipe card.

After I finished and saw everything together, I realized what a great little personalized gift set this could make for someone – the wrappers, toppers, and a recipe card. Much better than those generic wraps and toppers at the grocery store!

Digital scrapbooking supplies can be used for so much more than just making layouts. In just a few clicks, I was able to add a little something special to our day, and while the kids are no more enthusiastic about school starting than they were before they ate all the cupcakes, they did appreciate the effort.

What are you doing with your digital scrapbooking supplies today? Come share your creativity with us in the Scrap Girls Gallery.

Digital scrapbooking supplies used: