4th of July Cake Toppers
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Looking for a fun and easy way to make your 4th of July extra special this year? I’m sharing three festive and colorful cake toppers (or drink garnishes—whatever your preference) to make your Independence Day desserts the life of the party!
The older I get, the more I am drawn to the red, white, and blue of the patriotic decorations for the 4th of July. I love what the colors represent (yay, America!) and they just really look great together! Not to mention, I will look for any reason to pull out my vintage Campfire marshmallow tins!
I am definitely not a big seasonal or holiday decorator (other than Christmas—that’s another story), but I do like to make get-togethers and occasions seem at least a little special. Since food is my love language, it’s normally where I like to put a little more focus on extra fun touches…even just leveling up store-bought items. Anyone else remember the show Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee?? That’s a blast from the past, but she really did this concept so well!
For the 4th of July this year, I wanted to create some fun homemade or DIY decorations for our dessert table. Something that would give the goodies I bought from the grocery store a bit of pizzazz, for our Independence Day celebrations. Honestly, the cake toppers I created are all made with things that you might already have in your pantry—I love when that happens! And like I mentioned above…not serving desserts, but are going to make some cocktails? All of these would make the cutest garnishes for your 4th of July drinks!
I will fully admit that these ended up taking a little more time and skill than I really had thought they would. I didn’t think about the process at all when I decided I wanted to make them—I just thought they were so cute! Once I had to actually start making them, then I realized they were going to take a little longer to make, but once I got the hang of it, they weren’t really that bad.
What you’ll need:
Seedless Watermelon
Blueberries
Cookie sheet
Directions:
1. Cut the watermelon in half and then into slices—making sure the slices have enough area to fit the entire cookie cutter.
2. Place the cookie cutter over the slice of watermelon, pressing down to create the star shape. The melon was kind of thick when I made mine, so I had to cut the watermelon around it to release the shape.
3. Insert the pointed end of the skewer into the star toward a point, making sure that you’re in the center of the piece and that you don’t push it so far that it comes out the top.
4. Start threading blueberries from the bottom of the skewer up toward the top, under the watermelon star. You’ll want to choose the fattest blueberries you can, so they keep their shape when you thread them. I put 7 berries on the skewer and that seemed to be just enough!
*Depending on how you are using the fruit sparklers, you can cut off the end of the skewer to create the right length for what you need. I stuck them into a frosted angel food cake, so I wanted to make sure there was enough length of skewer that they would stand up securely.
I wanted to be able to make the watermelon and blueberry sparklers ahead of time, so I laid them out on a cookie sheet and froze them after I put them together. I only made 5 and we have space in our freezer for them to just hang out that way. If you’re making more, you could freeze them first and then transfer to a container. I would layer parchment paper between layers if you’ll be stacking them and then let thaw a bit before removing.
I have to be honest and tell you that these are my favorites from the three cake toppers I made. They are pretty easy to make, are so colorful and fun, and actually look like what I envisioned!!
What you’ll need:
Red, white, and blue sparkling decorating sugar
Water
Cookie sheet or plate
Directions:
1. Have a cookie sheet or plate ready to place the finished marshmallows onto
2. Fill one bowl with water
3. Fill the remaining bowls with the different colors of sparkling sugars
4. Working one color at a time (I would do red last), dip a marshmallow into the bowl of water and then roll it around in the sparkling sugar until well-coated. Stand the finished marshmallow up on your cookie sheet or plate. Repeat until you’ve finished each color of sugar (changing the water between colors).
5. Let the marshmallows dry. They’ll also harden a bit, making it easier to thread them onto the paper straws. If you want the marshmallows to stay fresh, let the sugar dry just enough, and then use a skewer to start the hole—then you should be able to thread them onto the paper straws a bit easier.
These are so cute added to a cake, cupcakes, or even just in a jar to be enjoyed on their own! They’d also be a fun addition to a s’mores bar! Again, if you’re serving fun cocktails instead of desserts, just thread the marshmallows a little further down on the straw so that the top of the straw comes well out of the top—for drinking.
These cake toppers turned out so cute and are perfect for both the top of a cake or cupcakes…depending on what you’re feeling! I did end up cutting length off, so if you wanted to use them as a fun drink garnish, just skip that part!
What you’ll need:
Silver Sparkling decorating sugar
Directions:
1. Insert skewer toward the top of the Twizzler, stopping about 2” from the top.
2. Carefully pull each piece of the Twizzler away from the rest until they are all separate. If you need more length in the candy pieces, you can pull the skewer further down to make room.
3. Pour the silver sparkling sugar into the bowl and then dip the loose pieces of the Twizzlers into it. The sugar should naturally stick to the candy without adding anything else.
4. Store in an airtight container until you’re ready to use. You’ll need to “fluff” the pieces of candy that you pulled apart when you’re ready to use them—you want them to look like a pretty firecracker!
You can trim the candy and skewer to any length that you want, depending on what you’re going to be decorating. You don’t have to use the skewers, but they will help the Twizzlers to stand up straight…otherwise, they tend to bend over.
I think these cake toppers are so much fun and I love that they’re all edible! They’re also economical, since you might already have a lot of the items already in your pantry. If not, the ingredients and supplies are pretty inexpensive, and you’ll have extras for other projects and recipes in the future.
I hope that you have fun making one or all of these and that your 4th of July is a special one this year!
If you decide to make any of these 4th of July cake toppers, I would love to see it! Share a picture of yours in your Instagram stories and tag me when you do! You can find me on Instagram at @hilaryprall.
Want to set a pretty table for Thanksgiving, but don’t want to spend a lot of money? Shop your local thrift store! I always make it a fun challenge to myself to look for the perfect decor for holiday tables when I’m shopping secondhand. I thought I’d share mine with you this year, to help inspire you to do the same.