Decorate Cakes Using DIY Templates

Here are my top suggestions for decorating cakes using DIY templates. You can accomplish so much with your ideas without spending a fortune on cake decorating equipment.

I am an avid do-it-yourselfer. If I can find out how to accomplish anything without spending a lot of money on a specific tool, I’ll do it. Now, I’m not insane.I know when it’s worthwhile to invest in a cake decorating tool, but most of the time I attempt to find out how to get by without one. In this article, I wanted to share my techniques for decorating cakes using DIY templates, as well as the many methods I prefer to design and utilize templates.

DIY cake decorating templates may be used in a variety of ways. In this piece, I’ll provide some thoughts and examples of how I’ve utilized templates in the past. I’ve also opted to organize them into categories since I believe it makes things simpler.

There are affiliate links in this post. I earn money as an Amazon Associate by making qualifying purchases.

The categories are:

• Templates created in a word processing tool such as Word or PowerPoint
• Templates made from clipart and Google images
• Templates from coloring book pages
• Templates from real life objects

Templates made in Word or Powerpoint:

Word processing software is excellent for creating number, letter, form, and word templates. Simply write in your desired text and then modify the font size from there.

Here are a couple of examples:

Number Topper Template:

I just put in the desired number and changed the text size for this number topper. You’ll need to print it out so you can see how big it truly is. These templates are best printed on card stock paper.

Once printed, just put it over laid out fondant and cut around it with an exacto knife before decorating or painting as desired. The entire instruction for this cake can be found here: 40 & Fantastic Cake

You may enter entire names, initials, or other phrases into your Word application. Simply print them on card stock paper since it is much simpler to handle.

Chocolate Heart Cake Ball Cake:

I didn’t have a heart-shaped pan when I baked this cake. You sometimes have to make due with what you’ve got. I opened my PowerPoint application and added a heart shape. Over the span of a few pages, I blew it up. I do this in PowerPoint since it is much simpler to blow out the form to whatever size you want and spread it over numerous presentations.

To do so, just copy and paste the form onto a Powerpoint show and enlarge it to the size you want. Then duplicate the form you just blew out and paste it onto other slides. Rotate the form such that a different section of the enormous shape appears on each slide.

Print all of the slides, cut out the shape, and tape all of the pieces together to make one giant shape. When I don’t want to take a photo to a copy shop and have them blow it up, I utilize this approach. However, you may need to print it many times to reach the desired size.

Click here to view this cake tutorial: Ball Cake with Chocolate Hearts

Here’s another example of a huge shape being blown up:

Patriotic Buttercream Star Cake:

So, in this case, I didn’t cut out the cake with the form; instead, I utilized it as a piping guide for the top of the cake. If you want to know what kind of template spans two pages, here is a link to the comprehensive cake instruction where you can get the real template: American Flag Buttercream Star Cake

Templates made from clipart and Google images:

If you search for clipart online or on Google Images, you will get an infinite number of results. For this one, though, we must use extreme caution and refrain from using copyrighted photos. But here’s the thing: sometimes you simply want a form or a guideline to print out. Now, I’m not a lawyer or anything, but if I’m searching for the form of a pair of sunglasses or a fidget spinner, for example, I’m fine going to Google Images.

So lets get to the examples of this.

Summer Cupcakes:

I just went online and sought for clip art for waves and sunglasses for these. The suns are simple to make since they can be split in half using a circular cutter.

I just copy and paste the clipart into my Word software, modify the size, and print on paper.

You may also divide your templates into portions and cut each area out separately, like I did with the ocean waves.

Click here for a complete tutorial: Summer Cupcakes

Fidget Spinner Cake:

I just googled a fidget spinner, uploaded it to Power Point, blew it up over the course of a few slides, printed it off, cut out the shapes, and glued them together for this one.

You may always print out the shape and take it to a copy shop to have it blown up for you. Sometimes I’m simply tired of driving to town to have stuff blown up.

I made the cake board and the cake form using the pattern. I increased the size of the pattern for the cake board.

The whole technique can be found here: Fidget Spinner Cake.

Here are some previous cakes I made before I started blogging.

Fireman Crest Cake:

For this one, I actually utilized all DIY templates, from the cake form to the lettering to the center picture.

I printed and cut out multiples of the same picture for the central image, then cut out the individual pieces from card stock. That enabled me to cut out the individual parts in various colors and stack them together to create a 2D look.

Two sided guitar cake:

This is one of my all-time favorites. The wedding cake had two sides. One side was white with scroll work and wafer paper flowers, while the other side had a giant guitar that spanned all three levels.

The bride sent me a photo of the groom’s guitar and asked for the brand and model. I went online and obtained a face-on image of the identical guitar, which I then copied and pasted into PowerPoint and stitched together from there. I created a single huge template and then divided it into three portions, one for each tier. Estimate the size of each layer so you know how large to cut each component.

I then cut out the gumpaste using it as a pattern.

Templates from Coloring Book Pages:

Coloring book sheets are a simple and fast method to adorn cakes. There are several possibilities available here, particularly for children’s birthday cakes. The possibilities are almost limitless, ranging from princess desserts to farm animals, among other things.

Here’s a Christmas cake I made using a coloring sheet as a template:

You may use the picture’s form to cut out the shape of your cake, like I did for the cake above, or you can just cut around the shape on the page and use it as a guide for piping.

The detailed post on the above Teddy Bear dessert can be found here: Cake with Christmas Buttercream

Templates from Real Life Objects:

My last piece of advice is to utilize genuine items. My teacup cake is an illustration of this. Now, don’t criticize my photo since it was created before I started blogging and when I was using an outdated iPhone to shoot images.

I needed to construct a genuine teacup out of gumpaste for this one, so I used a real teacup and saucer as a pattern. I just molded gumpaste around the interior of the teacup itself.

I applied gumpaste to the top of the saucer, molded it, and cut around the borders. To avoid the gumpaste from clinging to the interior of the genuine teacup and saucer, I sprinkled cornstarch all over them.

That’s all there is to it! Lots of ideas for creating your own cake decorating templates! There are probably many more methods to utilize DIY templates, but these should get you started. Use these as a starting point and let your creativity go wild!

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