If you're looking for a gift idea for that special someone, today I'm sharing how I made this bouquet of edible poinsettias for the holidays! Even better—they’re actually cupcakes! This also makes a great activity to do with your kiddos. Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need to Make the Christmas Cupcake Bouquet

• A dozen cupcakes (or more, depending on the size of your basket) in any flavour you like, with red frosting. Mine are chocolate and red velvet.
• Coloured fondant (I made my own—explained here—but you can also use store-bought.)
• Various cookie cutters
• Colouring gels (optional)
• Cutter/X-Acto knife
• Paintbrush (optional)
• Royal icing (optional)
• Rolling pin
• Red tissue paper
• Skewer sticks
• Green basket
• Styrofoam ball or half dome (if you can find one)
• Scrap paper/newspaper
• Plastic gift wrap
• Red ribbons

Instructions

1. Knead colouring gel into homemade fondant to create batches of different colours. If using store-bought fondant, you can skip this step.
2. Roll out your base fondant (in colours different from your decorations) to about 1/8" thickness. Use a circular cookie cutter (b) to cut out circles slightly larger than your cupcakes.
3. Create your fondant decorations and “glue” them onto the fondant circles using a tiny bit of water (I use a clean paintbrush).

Decoration Tips:

• Candy cane: Roll two fondant strands—one red, one white—twist together, and roll until they blend into a candy-cane stripe.
• Holly leaves: I made my own cutter by cutting a 1-inch strip of metal sheet, but you can also cut the shape freehand using a clean X-Acto knife. Lightly score veins with the knife.
• Penguin, Santa, snowman, and Rudolph: Use a small circle cutter for the face, stretch the circle into an oval, and add details as if working with Play-Doh.
• Santa’s sleigh: Cut the shape freehand with an X-Acto knife and pipe details with royal icing.
• Bell or Christmas tree: Pipe embellishments with royal icing, or use thin rolled strips of white fondant as decoration.
• Wreath: Use a scalloped circular cutter (a), then cut a smaller circle inside using the end of a piping tip (c). Decorate on top.
• Gingerbread man: A tiny cutter (d) helps, but you can also cut freehand. Add a red fondant scarf and details using royal icing or white fondant.
• Once all decorations are done, frost your cupcakes with vibrant red frosting (you’ll need a lot of red colouring gel).
• Carefully place each completed fondant topper onto the frosted cupcakes.

Assemble the Basket

• Weave a strand of red ribbon near the rim of the basket and secure it with invisible tape.
• Tie a separate bow using another ribbon and glue it over the taped area.
• Slice the Styrofoam ball into a half dome.
• Stuff the basket with scrap paper or newspaper to create enough height so the dome sits close to the rim (ideally, the dome’s diameter should match the basket).
• Insert a skewer stick into the bottom of each cupcake and arrange them evenly around the dome.
• Cut 4×4-inch squares of red tissue paper and tuck them between the cupcakes to hide gaps and cover the dome.
• Wrap the entire basket with plastic gift wrap and tie the top with a ribbon.

The cupcake bouquet is the sweetest present to give at Christmas, and it also makes a beautiful centerpiece for any occasion. I hope you find this tutorial helpful and inspiring for your next cupcake decorating project.

Have a sweet and joyous Christmas!

Check out my other Christmas DIY ideas!