Cupcake Chalk Tutorial

We had an early birthday party for friends last weekend themed Union Jack. Last year it was Cracker Jack, this year Union Jack. Turns out, I like quirky little parties. Unfortunately, throwing “quirky little parties” mean very few options when it comes to decorations or favors. Remind me of this next year when I’m walking the aisles of Party World looking for obscure “Jack” references!

But back to this year…I was looking for a quick and easy favor to make for about 16 kids. If I had planned ahead of time, I would have just bought cheap British flags for everyone and called it a day. Instead, I decided to try my hand at chalk. In the shape of a birthday candle. Two days before his party. Do you see where this is going?

After three tries, a ruined mini cupcake pan, a dozen discarded silicon molds, two bottles of tempura paint  and the biggest mess in the history of the world…this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy!

Cupcake Chalk

Materials:
– tempura paint (wet or dry)
– plaster of paris
– disposable containers
– disposable spoons
– small foil cupcake liners
– small muffin tin (you won’t be able to use for food again)
– disposable piping bag (or ziploc bag)
– paper towels
– more paper towels

Instructions:

1. Assemble and organize all your supplies. Once you start working with wet plaster, things have to move very quickly. Having everything everything accessible is an absolute must.

2. Line your pan with liners. The first batch I made, I used old silicon liners and took forever to dry. Unless, you’re super prepared and are making these weeks in advance (I hate you), I highly suggest using foil liners instead.

3. Ok, here’s where things get kinda tricky. Start with mixing 3/4 cup of warm water with 1 1/2 cups of plaster. Add in a bit more water if you’re not able to spoon easily into your foil liners. Allow cupcakes to set for 5 minutes. (24 cupcakes = double recipe)

4. While you’re waiting for the cupcake body to set slightly, mix up your “frosting” using 1 cup of water for 1 1/2 cups of plaster. At this point, you can add the tempura paint to the “frosting” if you want some color. I used liquid blue and got an extremely light blue frosting. (If I remember correctly, because I used liquid tempura, I could only add so much paint before it got too runny. Powdered tempura paint might work better.) Working quickly, spoon the frosting into a piping bag and moving in a circular manner, frost your cupcakes. Allow to dry completely (at least 12 hrs).

5. Wrap each cupcake individually with either plastic wrap or a sandwich baggie cut in half. Tie in place with a ribbon and label.