{Martha Stewart - Cupcake Paper Carnations}

Baking liners make sweet gift toppers for Mother's Day, or anytime. Nesting pastel papers in different sizes -- petit four, mini muffin, and cupcake -- creates fluffy blooms that will add a flourish to beribboned presents. You'll find liners in the baking section of grocery stores and housewares stores. Combine a bunch, then secure with a brass fastener.

Cupcake-Paper Carnations How-To
Use up to a dozen liners for each flower. (The more liners you use, the fluffier the results.)

1. Separate and set out liners.

2. Fold them in half.

3. Nest folded liners inside one another. (If using a variety of sizes, stack from largest to smallest.) With an awl, poke a hole in the center near the folds.

4. Send the stem of a mini brass brad through the hole. Pierce an unfolded cup with the brad. Spread brad to secure. Fan out liners to create ruffles.

5. Rotate each folded liner about a quarter turn, and overlap each one with the next until you've formed a flower shape. Hot-glue the liners directly to a gift or ribbon.

MarthStewart.com First Published: May 2005