Mixed Media Category

Wedding Cake Toppers

Artist: Jacqueline Stence (Austin, TX)
Polly's Pick, Mixed Media

"My niece was looking for something different for her wedding cake topper last fall. She and her fiance were getting married on the beach in Mexico around the time of Day of the Dead. I offered to make it for them. Struggling about what to use for heads, I looked through my beads and desperately wanted to use the skull beads if she didn't find them 'creepy.' Not only did she love them, she had "Till Death Do Us Part" written on the cake. I stood them in brown sugar "sand", with some shell beads scattered around their feet. The groom's tie is cut from aluminum sheet metal, stamped with an asterisk pattern. I love the symbolism as well as the shape of using hand-blown heart beads for their torsos. I started at the tops of their heads and worked down. Each figure took me about an hour to construct, with dressing them being the hardest part."
-- Jacqueline Stence

Want more options? We have several colors of gemstone magnesite skulls!

Jacqueline topped her toppers with a dragonfly wing bead "tiara" and a hematite tube bead top hat. She used E-6000 adhesive, 4" head pins, thread and electrical tape to construct these adorable el Dia de los Muertos figures.

Polly’s Picks are designs we especially like despite the fact that they did not win a formal prize. These designs are often simple, practical and/or whimsical examples of how to use Rings & Things components well.

View All 2011 Winners, or check for details about our most recent contest!

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