How To Make A Custom Acrylic Cake Topper

Today I will take you through a super easy tutorial to help you make a custom acrylic cake topper using vinyl, your cutting machine, either a Cricut or Silhouette, and, if you have one, a Glowforge. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Glowforge; you can also buy acrylic cake topper blanks from Amazon. These are a great alternative to layered cake toppers.

These personalised cake toppers are so easy to make, and rather than using paint for the back of the cake topper, we are using a vinyl cut paint splash; it’s less messy and looks great.

The wonderful thing is that you can save money by buying a store-bought birthday cake, add your cake topper, and it will look fabulous. Plus, you can make mini versions for cupcakes or multiple cake toppers in one cake. Be as creative as you want; it’s your design. These can also be adapted for weddings, Christenings and baby showers.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended at no extra cost to yourself. I earn from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Cricut and Glowforge associate.

How to Make a DIY Acrylic Cake Topper

What do you Need

• Double-sided vinyl, I used pink and white removable vinyl in gloss and matt from Greenstik Materials. By double-sided, I mean the same colour on the front and back.
• Acrylic cake toppers or a sheet of laser-friendly acrylic
• Cutting mat
• Cricut Machine, Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air or Cricut Joy with a fine point blade.
• Weeding tools, scraper and brayer.
• Transfer tape, omg I am obsessed with the GM Crafts one. 

Exclusive Discount Code

If you want to try the transfer tape or vinyl from GM Crafts, use XCHAOS at checkout – this will provide a 10% discount off HTV / Self Adhesive vinyls.

If you have a Glowforge, cut out Your Cake Topper.

This is optional; you can buy acrylic cake topper blanks. But if you have a laser machine, you can easily cut acrylic yourself. You can also cut the template on your Cricut. However, I cut these cake toppers in less than 3 minutes on the Glowforge. You can grab the free cake topper template here. I cut my cake topper 4.5 inches and the smaller, 2 inches wide. 

Create Your Cake Topper in Cricut Design Space

Start by grabbing a circle in Cricut Design Space. This will be a size guide for your cake topper, but you will delete it before cutting. To get this precisely right, measure the width of your acrylic cake topper and ensure the circle on the Cricut Design Space canvas is the same. 

Type Your Message

Now decide on your message; I used my Ballerina-themed number 6 and added happy birthday around the edge. I chose Love And Beach font because it’s a nice thick font and more straightforward to weed; I typed my message and then clicked the curve tool on the top bar of Cricut Design Space. This allows you to curve the text to any degree; you might need to mess around and resize your text; you want it to fit on the circle and not overlap.  

You can now position your number in the centre of the cake topper.  I just used the number for the smaller cake toppers and removed any small contours from the image by clicking the contour tool on the bottom right corner of Cricut Design Space.

To make transferring easier. (I didn’t do this, and it would have made life simpler) position the text and number, move the circle template away, select all and click weld. This will keep the whole thing together. 

Add Your Paint Splash to Your Cake Topper

Now click on images in the right-hand toolbar of Design Space and type paint stroke into the search bar. Choose a paint splash to decorate your acrylic cake topper and add it to the canvas. Now click on the image, click unlock on the top toolbar and drag it so it sits just inside the circle.

Cut Your Vinyl Messages for Your Acrylic Cake Topper

Before you send your project to cut all the layers, delete the circle template and colour the text and images the colour of the vinyl you intend to cut. This makes it easier when cutting. Now click Make it. Also, use a brayer to attach the vinyl to the cutting mat.

Weed and Build Your Cake Toppers

Weed your project and apply the transfer tape to transfer the images and text to the cake toppers. Start by transferring the splash to the back; I recommend double-sided, as the colour will shine through the back of the acrylic cake topper.

Use the scraper as you apply it to stop any bubbles. When you are happy, transfer the front message again using the scraper to ensure the letters are completely stuck down. Now continue onto the smaller cake toppers, and you are ready to grab a cake and wow your party guests. Pop the cake toppers in a cake, and you are good to go. 

Alternatives to Using Acrylic

If you don’t have acrylic, cut a poster board or thick glitter card stock circle to a wooden dowel or bamboo skewer using a hot glue gun. However, you would apply the vinyl paint splash to the front under your personalisation on this occasion. 

This post is a paid collaboration with GM Crafts, but all designs and thoughts are mine.