You all know that Big Dot of Happiness makes it very simple to execute a perfectly-coordinated shower or birthday party with their themed decorations and tableware, but did you realize that many Big Dot products are easily customized for several different uses? It’s true! In fact, that’s one of the things I love most about Big Dot products—their versatility!

One great example are these adorable cupcake-shaped centerpieces for birthday parties, baby showers and bridal showers.  Naturally, Big Dot’s centerpieces are available to match any of their dozens of themes, and, of course, the centerpieces can be personalized for your particular shower…but really, that is just the beginning of their charm! 

Each centerpiece is made up of three pieces—plus a coordinating mat to set it on—and once they’re (easily) assembled, they can be used for so many wonderful things.

Because the cupcake portion of the centerpiece is essentially a large box, you can put any number of things inside it! You can use it as a place to store party favors or small game prizes, and, since the cupcake can be removed from its base, it makes a perfect box to hold a door prize for some lucky attendee to take home with them, or to house a special gift for the guest of honor. If you’re of the mind that taller is always better when it comes to centerpieces, the cupcake box is an ideal place to hide a weight so you can tie a bouquet of balloons to the top of the centerpiece to add a bit of extra cheer to your table. 

But their versatility doesn’t end there. These darling cupcake centerpieces become even more functional by simply tucking their top flaps down inside—turning your cupcake into a bowl that matches your theme perfectly.

You can fill your cupcake bowl with anything (although I’d suggest securing the cupcake to the base with a bit of poster putty or tape to avoid unfortunate spills.) Of course, an empty bowl is just begging to be filled with a snack of some sort: chips, candy, popcorn—your imagination is the limit! You could even line the bowl with foil and plastic wrap and build a delicious “dirt” cake centerpiece for a child’s birthday party.

A natural centerpiece at baby showers is a fancy, layered diaper cake…and this cupcake centerpiece allows a small twist on this idea. Simply line your cupcake bowl with tissue paper, and nestle lots of baby essentials (think onesies, socks, washcloths, diapers, small toys, etc.) inside the bowl to build a giant “diaper” cupcake, and you’ve got an adorable, unique centerpiece for your baby shower.

If flowers are more your thing, you could place a piece of floral foam in the bottom of the cupcake bowl (line the bowl with plastic wrap first if you’re planning to use fresh flowers and wet floral foam), and then arrange flowers, fresh or artificial, in the foam to fill the bowl with an explosion of beautiful blooms. You could also use the floral foam to hold lollipops or pinwheels in place to use as favors for a child’s party (cover the foam with some shredded paper to finish the look.)

And of course, since this centerpiece is so very charming when it’s fully assembled as a cupcake on a stand, you can simply surround your centerpiece with edible cupcakes (dressed in matching cupcake wrappers,  of course), to create a beautiful, delicious display for your table…because sometimes, when it comes down to it, the simplest idea is the best idea!

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla Blogger