How to make a cake topper without a Cricut

A cutting machine is the most common answer to this question and the least necessary one. A printer, scissors and a skewer do it in about twenty minutes.

To make a cake topper without a Cricut: choose a design, type the name, print it on 65 to 100 lb cover cardstock (176–270 gsm) at 100% scale, cut just inside the printed outline with small scissors, tape a wooden skewer to the back, and push it into the cake right before serving. No cutting machine, no cut files, no weeding.

What you need

• Cardstock, 65 to 100 lb cover (176–270 gsm), A4 or Letter. The one thing that matters most. Regular 20 lb copy paper buckles the moment it meets buttercream.
• A home printer. Inkjet or laser both work. Ink looks slightly richer on cardstock.
• Small, sharp scissors. Cuticle or craft scissors. Kitchen shears cannot follow the curves.
• Wooden skewers or lollipop sticks. Lollipop sticks are flatter and hold wide toppers better.
• Clear tape. It grips better than a glue stick and doubles as a moisture guard on the front.

1. Pick a design and type the name

   Choose a design for the occasion and type the name in. Check it on your phone at roughly thumbnail size. If you cannot read it there, it will not read across a room either, so switch from a thin script to something heavier.

   Names over eight letters do better on two lines than in a smaller font.

2. Print at 100%, not "fit to page"

   In the print dialog choose "Actual size" or "100%". The default "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit" scales the sheet down by about four percent, so your topper no longer matches a number or second piece printed later.

   Set paper type to "cardstock" or "heavy" in the driver, or the printer will pull the sheet crooked.

3. Let the ink dry

   Give it two or three minutes before handling. Fresh inkjet ink on glossy cardstock smudges on your fingers, and it smudges exactly where you are about to hold it.

4. Cut just inside the line

   Cut a hair inside the printed outline, never on it and never outside it. That way no white edge is left showing. For interior shapes, like the middle of an A or the gap between letters, use a craft knife on a cutting mat.

   Turn the paper into the scissors rather than the scissors into the paper. Curves come out far cleaner.

5. Tape the skewer on

   Lay the skewer down the centre of the back so it reaches at least halfway up the topper, and fix it with two strips of tape. A skewer taped too low lets the topper tip forward.

   For a double-sided topper, print the design a second time mirrored and tape both cut-outs back to back around the skewer.

6. Insert it just before serving

   Buttercream and whipped cream give off moisture that wicks up into paper. A topper that has been standing for an hour picks up a dark line along the bottom. Put it in when the cake goes to the table.

Five mistakes that ruin the topper

Why not just buy an acrylic one

Acrylic looks better in close-up photographs, and if you have three weeks before a wedding it is the right call. The printed version wins on everything time-related: it exists tonight, it costs the price of a sheet of paper, and if the party theme changes on Thursday you print a new one. Most people who search this question are two days out, not three weeks.

Last updated 19 September 2026