Semi-Homemade Cake Topper

A while back I discussed cake toppers but I didn't really do much about it until a few weeks ago when I realized I needed to cross it off the list.  Mr. B and I decided to go with a simple gold fleur de lis, which was easier said than done.  I did not like anything I found on the internet but I was able to find a silver FDL that I really liked.  Of course I decided to buy it and paint it gold myself.

This is the topper I ordered from Wedding Favors Unlimited:

When it arrived I grabbed some gold paint from Hobby Lobby and got to work.

The first coat did not go as expected and I was worried I made a mistake thinking I could make this work.  The paint wasn't as opaque as I thought it would be and getting into all the little details was a lot more difficult than I expected.  After about 15 minutes, this is what I was left with:

Hmmm, not exactly what I had in mind.  I evened out the paint as much as I could and let it dry.  Since I was painting all sides I needed to figure out a way to let it dry without resting it on anything.  Two picture frames and some magazine pages worked perfectly.

I applied two more coats about a day apart (overkill for drying time, but that's how my schedule worked out) and in the end I was left with something I love!

 

You'll notice the gold paint does not go all the way down the section that goes into the cake.  This is mostly because I do not want to poison our guests with gold paint and keeping as much paint out of the cake as possible seemed like the best way to avoid that. 

Want to know the best part? 

Topper plus shipping and handling:  $11.60
Paint: $3.49
Grand Total:  $15.09

$15.09 for a cake topper?  Not too bad at all, especially considering some of the pet replicas I looked at would have set me back $150.  I guess I can use my savings to do something about a cake stand?

Did anyone else semi-DIY their cake topper?  

All photos personal