Make super easy Christmas cup cakes. I am hoping people share this project to help to raise awareness (and hopefully money) for Crisis at Christmas!

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-at-christmas...

Crisis are the National UK charity for homeless people. This Christmas, Crisis Edinburgh hopes to welcome 300 guests. They provide meals, gifts, hairdressing, podiatry, entertainment and most importantly a first step out of homelessness.

If you like my Instructable, and would like to donate, please visit my giving page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JennyWhyte3

I hope you enjoy my tutorial. Please let me know what you think.

Step 1: What You'll Need...

These cupcakes are designed to be made with minimal tools (and no expensive cutters etc).

Equipment-

A small sharp knife (like a vegetable knife)

A small rolling pin

A small, clean paintbrush (for dampening/sticking the decoration)

Butter or palette knife, for spreading jam

A sieve (optional, but useful for sprinkling icing/confectioners sugar)

Circle/cookie cutters (in most people's kitchen cupboards, but available from £1shops in the UK)

Dog bone and straight edged cake tools (available for less than £2 on Amazon, but you can use the end of a teaspoon and the back of a butter knife if you don't have tools)

6 cupcakes- home-made or store bought.

Jam (about a teaspoon, for sticking the sugarpaste to the cake)

Icing sugar (to prevent the icing sticking to your work surface)

Sugarpaste- White, black, brown, red, pink/flesh, orange. All are available ready made from large supermarkets, or you can buy paste colours (such as sugarflair) and colour the paste yourself.

Step 2: Cover Your Cakes...

If your cupcakes have a peak on top, slice it off before you begin.

Find the circle/cookie cutter the closest size to the surface of the cake.

Smear a tiny amount of jam on each cupcake and spread thinly.

Knead the required colour of sugarpaste with the heel of your hand until smooth.

Roll out thinly (about 3mm), cut a circle and stick to the top of the cake. smooth down gently with your hand, pushing out any air bubbles.

Place any excess sugarpaste in a bag, keep it airtight to prevent drying.

Repeat in the correct colour for each cake (Santa- pink, Polar bear and snowman white, teddy and Rudolf-brown, penguin- black).

Cover all of your cupcakes and clean all jam and crumbs from your surface before you begin decorating.

Set the covered cakes aside until you're ready to decorate.

**If you like frosting on your cupcakes, make the 'faces' on a flat surface (with icing sugar under to prevent sticking), allow to dry overnight, then carefully stick on to the frosted cupcake**

Step 3: Penguin...

Use the black paste covered cupcake.

Roll out a small amount of white paste. Cut a semi-circle (same size as the cake top). Cut a rectangle using the rounded edge as the top. Stick on to the cake just above the middle.

Roll a ball of orange sugarpaste (about the size of the top section of a finger). Flatten it in 2 opposite directions into a rounded cube. Pinch it by 2 opposite sides to flatten. Pinch 2 adjacent corners flat, stick the beak to the cupcake, just under the white eye area.

Gently cut open the beak with a sharp knife. Open the beak into the desired expression, or leave it closed.

Roll a small ball of pink sugarpaste (less than 3mm diameter). Flatten, and stick inside the mouth on the lower section of the beak.

Roll 2 tiny black balls of sugarpaste. Position them on the white eye area.

Roll a small sausage of sugarpaste, cut in 2 and position diagonally over the eyes, angled towards the middle as eyebrows.

Admire your completed penguin!

Step 4: Christmas Bear...

Start with a brown covered cupcake.
Roll a ball of brown sugarpaste, about the size of a top section of your finger. Roll it gently in the middle to make it oval. Stick this on the cupcake, just below the centre to make a muzzle. Roll 2 tiny black balls and one larger (aprox twice the size). Stick the smaller balls on as eyes. Roll the larger ball into an oval and stick on at the centre top of the 'muzzle'. Roll a brown ball of sugarpaste, slightly bigger than the one for the nose. Stick it on the top of the face at the left hand side. Mark where the ball meets the face with the dogbone cake tool.

Roll a tiny ball of pink paste, Stick it into the 'ear'. Shape with the dogbone tool.

Roll out a large sausage of red sugarpaste, about the size of your pinky. Roll one end to taper it into a cone. Stick this onto the top of the cupcake from the ear, across the top of the head, and down the right hand side.

Using a straight edged cake tool (or a blunt knife), mark lines making creases in the Santa hat.

Take a piece of white sugarpaste, do not knead it. Rip the paste apart, making a textured, fluffy edge. Cut off this edge and stick it along the edge of the hat. Use a small ball of this textured paste as a pompom.

Admire your bear!

Step 5: Polar Bear...

Start with a white covered cupcake.
Roll a ball of white sugarpaste, about the size of a top section of your finger. Roll it gently in the middle to make it oval. Stick this on the cupcake, just below the centre to make a muzzle. Roll 2 tiny black balls and one larger (aprox twice the size). Stick the smaller balls on as eyes. Roll the larger ball into an oval and stick on at the centre top of the 'muzzle'.

Roll 2 white balls of sugarpaste, slightly bigger than the one for the nose. Stick them on the top of the face. Mark where the centre of the ear meets the face with a dogbone tool (or the end of a spoon). Roll 2 small balls of pink sugarpaste, stick them into the ears, and press again with the dogbone tool to define it's shape.

Admire your polar bear!

Step 6: Santa...

Use the pale pink/flesh covered cupcake.

Roll a long, fat sausage of red sugarpaste, about the size of your pinky. Roll out to the right, tapering the sugarpaste to a point (making a cone). Stick this to the cupcake, along the top edgeand down the side of (what will be) Santa's face. Mark diagonal crease lines with a straight edged cake tool (or blunt knife).

Using your dogbone cake tool (or the end of a teaspoon) mark 2 eye-holes.

Take some sugarpaste, and without kneading it, fold it over on itself, then tear off a strip. This should give a textured, fluffy looking edge. Cut off a strip of this and stick on as hat trim. Cut off a small round section of the textured sugarpaste to use as the pompom. Stick on at the end of the hat.

Role a sausage of white sugarpaste to the length of you pinky (but only 1/2 as thick). Stick along the bottom edge of the cake. Mark vertical lines with your straight edged cake tool (or a blunt knife).

Roll 2 tiny balls of white icing, insert onto the eye-holes and flatten with the dogbone tool (or your fingertip).

Roll 2 smaller balls of black sugarpaste, flatten and stick onto the white eyes, (taking care to make sure they're looking the same way).

Roll a small ball of pink/flesh sugarpaste, stick to the centre of the face, between and below the eyes. Roll another small ball of pink paste, stick to the side of the face, use the dogbone tool to mark the middle of the ear.

Using a straight edged cake tool (or blunt knife) mark a smile.

Roll a thin sausage of white sugarpaste, about the length of a finger. Cut in half. Curl the outside edge of each into on itself until it makes a circle. Stick on under the nose/over the beard, repeat on the opposite side to make a moustache.

Admire your Santa!

Step 7: Snowman...

Select a white covered cupcake.

Take a small amount of orange sugarpaste. Roll a ball, then taper to one side to make a cone. Flatten the wide end on your worksurface. Stick the cone on to the middle of your cupcake.

Using your straight edged cake tool (or a blunt knife) mark lines across the top of your 'carrot nose'.

Roll 2 very small, and 5 tiny balls of black sugarpaste (they don't need to be very even or round). Stick the 2 larger balls above and either side of the 'nose'. Place the 5 tiny balls in an arc to make the mouth.

Knead and roll out a small amount of black sugarpaste. Cut out a rectangle, and a straight strip. Stick the rectangle on the top of the snowman's face to make a hat. Lie the strip over this to make a brim.

Admire your snowman!

Step 8: Rudolf...

Take a brown covered cupcake.

Roll a large brown sugarpaste ball About the size of a section of finger) and squash it into an oval. Stick to the middle of the cupcake.

Roll a tiny sausage of brown sugarpaste. Squeeze it to a point at either end and cut it in half. Stick the two points on to the outside/top of the head. Mark where the 'ears' meet the cake with a dogbone cake tool (or the back of a teaspoon). Roll 2 tiny pink sugarpaste balls and stick into the ears. Press again with the dogbone tool to shape.

Using the straight edged cake tool (or a blunt knife) mark a vertical line in the 'muzzle'.

Take lighter brown sugarpaste (or mix some of the brown paste with white paste) and roll a small, thin sausage.

Cut it in half. Cut each half down the middle, in a vertical line. turn the cut edge down onto your worksurface and bend into antlers.

Roll 2 small black balls, stick on as eyes.

Roll a medium ball of red sugarpaste, add as the nose.

Admire your reindeer.

Enjoy your cupcakes!