Monogram Cake Bunting Tutorial Made With Real Shells

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Cake bunting is such a charming trend, but I wanted something just a little more elegant for my nautical wedding inspiration shoot.  

A cake bunting featuring a monogram and natural materials like shells and sand was the perfect solution.  Elegant and playful at the same time.

Nautical Monogram Cake Topper made with tiny shells and sand.

This tutorial is very similar to the Shell Table Numbers project, but actually even easier!

Materials for Nautical Monogram Cake Topper:

Monogram letters being cut out of heavy card stock for making a Nautical Monogram Cake Topper.

Start by printing out the bride and groom's monogram on cardstock.  Carefully trim the letters out.  If you have better handwriting than I do, you could definitely freehand this step. 

Yellow bowl full of sand, next to a card stock J and container of glue, for making a Nautical Monogram Cake Topper.

I wanted the larger, central letter in the monogram to stand out, so I decided to cover the smaller letters with sand and a few shell accents, rather than completely in shells.  A little craft glue and a little sand covered the smaller initials perfectly and quickly.

Nautical monogram cake bunting made with shells and sand, on a dark blue background.

Once the glue and sand had dried completely, I added a few accent shells with a hot glue gun.

Tiny shells being glued on a letter M cut out of card stock to make a Nautical Monogram Cake Topper.

The larger, central monogram letter was decorated very simply by using a hot glue gun to cover the surface of the letter with tiny shells (bought at my local craft store).  

Nautical Monogram Cake Topper decorated with small shells and sand, on a dark blue background.

Once the letters have been decorated and are completely dry, it's a simple matter to tie string to a couple of bamboo skewers, and hot glue the monogram letters to the string.  I used a twisted cotton twine that reminded me of classic nautical rope, but on a smaller scale.

Nautical monogram cake topper on a sandcastle shaped cake.

On the day of the event, just pop the cake bunting into the top of the cake.  It's the perfect, easy, elegant DIY touch for a shower or wedding.

Other Cake Topper Ideas You might Like:

Navigational image leading reader to mini balloon garland cake topper tutorial.

Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

Links on this page may be affiliate links. We may receive a small commission for something you buy through those links, at no additional cost to you.