How to Style a Donut Bar with Cricut

There's no doubt about it: Donuts are one party trend that is here to stay! Whether you're serving donuts at your wedding, bridal shower, bridesmaid brunch or bachelorette party, a donut bar becomes a great focal point for the guests, it creates an experience and gives people something to do. Donuts 4 life!

So today, I am showing you a simple way to style a donut bar + a few really cool DIY projects I made with my Cricut Maker.

SUPPLIES:

White dresser
Cricut Maker™ Machine
3 Tier dessert stand (I made my own)
Donuts
Metallic Gold Spray Paint
Light Pink Cricut® Cardstock
Cream Cricut® Cardstock
Yellow Cricut® Cardstock
Glue gun
Cricut Chipboard
Knife Blade
White Coffee cups
Soft Metallic Leather in Gold
Cricut® Iron-on Lite in White
Wooden Floral Green Wood Craft Picks Stakes
Cricut® Tools Scoring Stylus
Cricut® Weeder Tool
Painter’s tape
Cricut® Transfer Tape
Greenery (optional)
Cricut BrightPad™ (optional)
Cricut Easy- Press (optional)

THE PAPER FLOWERS

Let's begin with the flowers, shall we? A couple of years ago I heard the great Preston Bailey (aka florist god) said something that really cut my attention. He advised people to never put natural flowers on their food, meaning cake and dessert. He said the pesticides used to grow pretty flowers can really harm your health. Therefore, I decided to create paper flowers for this project using Light Pink Cricut® Cardstock.

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Maker Machine
Light Pink Cardstock
Glue gun
Wooden Floral Green Wood Craft Picks Stakes or toothpicks

There are so many different flowers you can create with Cricut. But, I started by making 2 roses as statement pieces and then I did some magnolias as filler. The result blew my mind! Follow the instructions below and learn how to make these beauties:

STEP 1: Follow these links to open up the files in Cricut Design Space®:

Roses

Magnolias

STEP 2: Prepare your cutting mats with your choice of cardstock and get ready to cut…

I love the fact that with the new Cricut Maker you can use Fast Mode for up to 2x faster cutting, so you can make a bunch of flowers in no time.

STEP 3: Follow the prompts in Design Space® to cut. Let the Maker do its magic and then weed (aka. remove) all the excess cardstock from your cuts.

STEP 4: Curl the first petals over a Wooden Floral Green Wood Craft Picks Stakes (you can also use toothpicks). Glue the rest of the petals on with your glue gun, working in a circle, from the center outward, with the largest petals on the outside. And voila!

STYLING THE DONUT TOWER

And now that you know how to make the paper flowers is time to style your donut tower. Shall we?!

SUPPLIES:

3 Tier dessert stand
Donuts
Paper Flowers
Artificial FLowers
Greenery

I recommend using a dessert stand that has at least 3 tiers. I couldn't find the cake stand I was looking for so I made my our with crystal candle holders, 3 different size plates, and my trusty glue gun. For my tower I used 3 dozen donuts, however, the donuts are really big so you may need more than that. Btw, should out to Valentine's Bakery for providing us the delicious donuts for the shoot.

After placing the donuts in the stand decorate with the paper flowers. You can also add some silk flowers for an additional pop of color.

THE VIDEO + STYLING TIPS

DONUT BAR SIGN

A backdrop is essential in my eyes! They are great for adding detail to a plain wall and enhance a dessert table. So next in line we have the “Donut Bar” sign. Besides the visual effect, there is no better way to let your guests know about your food stations than with a sign. To create our sign I used chipboard, my Cricut Maker and gold spray paint. Super easy!

SUPPLIES:

You can create your own sign with a different saying, or follow this link to get my file!

STEP 1: Open up Design Space to create your own custom sign sayings! Or follow this link to open up the donut bar sign file in Cricut Design Space®

STEP 2: Prepare your cutting mats with the chipboard. Use masking tape or painter’s tape to secure edges of the chipboard to your mat and get ready to cut.

STEP 3: Follow the prompts in Design Space® to cut images from the chipboard, using the correct cut setting, and the Knife Blade.

STEP 4: Before removing the project from the machine, double check to make sure your project has cut all the way through, and perform another cut pass if necessary before unloading the mat.

STEP 4: Apply to coats of spray paint and let them dry.

DONUT FAVOR BOXES

Instead of using the donut bar as a cake substitute or dessert for your brunch wedding, what about donuts as favors. Instead of cake slices, send guests home with boxes of your favorite iced treats. Fair warning—your attendees might polish them off before they leave the venue.

Using the Cricut Maker I created these adorable donut favor boxes. All you need is cardstock in 3 different shades, I used light pink and cream for the top and bottom of the box and yellow donut for the sprinkles.

SUPPLIES:

How do you make them? Well, it is easy piece! Just follow these instructions:

STEP 1: Follow this link to open up the donut favor box file in Cricut Design Space®

STEP 2: Prepare your cutting mats with your choice of cardstock and get ready to cut…

STEP 3: Follow the prompts in Design Space® to cut. You will need the Scoring Stylus, that will mark every fold for an easy assembly process. Let the Maker do its magic and then weed (aka. remove) all the excess cardstock from your cuts.

STEP 4: Use transfer tape to apply the sprinkles to the donut frosting cutouts, then glue on top of the donut cutout. Glue the assembled donut onto the center of the lid piece.

STEP 5: Fold the boxes along the score lines, and dry fit to familiarize yourself with how the pieces go together. Glue the boxes into shape, using the folded tabs to adhere each side to the next to make a box and lid.

STEP 6: Place a donut inside, and enjoy!

DONUT-INSPIRED COFFEE CUP SLEEVE

Upgrade your donut bar by offering coffee on personalized cups. We created this “Donut Kill My Vibe” coffee cup sleeves using metallic gold leather (sleeve) and iron-on (sign). They will make a great favor or gift for your bridesmaids or bridal shower attendees to take home.

SUPPLIES:

If you are planning on making these for your wedding, I will recommend using more affordable materials such as cardstock and vinyl. That is the beauty of the Cricut Maker, it cuts hundreds of materials, from the most delicate fabric and paper to matboard and leather.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

STEP 1: Follow this link to open up the donut-inspired coffee cup sleeve file in Cricut Design Space®

STEP 2: Prepare your cutting mats with your choice of iron-on color.

STEP 3: Prepare your cutting mats with the leather. Use masking tape or painter’s tape to secure edges of the leather to your mat and get ready to cut.

STEP 4: Follow the prompts in Design Space® to cut images from the ir0n-on make sure to select “mirror”.

STEP 5: Follow the prompts in Design Space® to cut images from the leather, using the correct cut setting, and the Knife Blade. Before removing the project from the machine, double check to make sure your project has cut all the way through, and perform another cut pass if necessary before unloading the mat.

STEP 6: Weed (aka. remove) all the excess iron-on from your cuts. For easy weeding the tiny sign out of the iron-on use your weeder tool and a Bright Pat (optional).

STEP 7: Flip your weeded design over so the sticky side of the carrier sheet faces down and your image is flipped back the right way. Position it at the center of the sleeve. Use your iron on the cotton setting with the steam turned off. (No steam is important, especially when working with leather! It’s best not to have any water in your iron at all. Water can stain and damage your leather surface.) Or use the Easy- Press for quicker, but most importantly, super effective application. (times and instructions, here)

STEP 8: Tie of the treat with hot glue. Slide the assembled koozie over your cup, and enjoy!

CREDITS

Styling + DIY Tutorials: Alejandra Baca from Belle The Magazine | Photography: @johnrodriguez.go | Cricut Materials and Machines: Cricut | Donuts: courtesy of Valentine's Bakery