Waterfall Cake Topper

I originally made these beaded cake toppers for a wedding cake, there was a large one on the top, with smaller ones pushed into the side on an angle.

I have made this one with Gemstones, but you can use any beads that you desire, just make sure they are not too heavy for the wire. This design also looks great as a hairpiece if added to a hair-comb, or as a plant pot decoration.

You will need:

• 75cm of 0.8mm wire 
• 2.5m of 0.5mm wire 
• Selection of beads (approx 40 in total) 
• 1 x Posy Pick )available from Cake Decorators

What you do:

• Cut a piece of the thicker wire -15cm long. 
• Cut a piece of thinner wire 50cm long and hold a piece of thick together with a piece of thin leaving about 3cm loose. 

• Start to twist the thinner wire around the thicker wire in a uniformed coil, make three twists. 

• Take a Gemchip or bead, thread it onto the wire and hold it in position about 3cm from the main thick wire. 

• Holding the thick wire tight in one hand, use your other hand to twist the beaded wire until it forms a tight coil and stands up on its own. 

• Twist the thinner wire around the thicker wire 5 times over the space of 1.5cm and repeat step 5 with another bead or gemchip, this time placing it closer to the main wire. 

• Repeat from Step 5 until you have 7 or 8 beads in various heights along the wire. Twist your wire a few times round to finish. 

• Curl the end of the wires two or three times round a round nose pliers, or knitting needle. 

• Make 5 of these stems. Then bunch them all together, it doesn’t matter about the design at this stage as you can move them about later. 

• Take a piece of the thinner wire and bind all the ends together. 

• Push all ends into a posy pick (from Cake Decorators – this saves the metal touching the cake) using a dab of glue if necessary. 

• Bend the wires to form a pretty waterfall feature.

© Sue Simmons /The Bead Shed 

SEPTEMBER 2007