Sweet Mermaid Cake Topper with Buttercream Waves~ Video

In today’s tutorial you will learn to make an adorable mermaid cake topper! This cake is perfect for beach themed parties, pool parties, summer birthdays, and more.

We love to create cake toppers because of the instant pop of personality that they bring to a cake! The sweet mermaid in this tutorial is not difficult to create, but she is so cute and can be easily personalized by changing the hair or skin color to match the birthday girl!

We will also show you how to create simple buttercream waves with a simple piping technique that is perfect for ocean themed cake designs! I just love the ruffled look of the frosting!

We hope that you enjoy the video!

Materials

* The cake in this tutorial is a double barrel 6″ cake. If you’ve never made a double barrel {tall} cake and would like to, you can find instructions in this tutorial. We also used the Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream recipe from our Recipes section. Any frosting will do as long as it holds it’s shape well. Ours was medium consistency.

Mermaid Template
Gum Paste (or fondant with tylose kneaded into it)
Lollipop stick- we used the longer size
Piping gel (or your edible glue of choice)
Xacto knife or sharp knife
Coloring Gels: Americolor Lemon Yellow, Wilton Rose, Mint Green, Teal Blue (or your colors of choice)
Pink Petal Dust- optional. Used for rosy cheeks
3 inch circle cutter for plaque
Clay extruder- optional. We used for creating the number “5” but can be done by hand.
Pixie Dust- optional for giving mermaid sparkle
Americolor Food Writer Pens in Black & Pink (available in other brands too). Optional. Can use toothpick/tiny brush dipped in gel or actual pen since mermaid is gum paste & will not be consumed.
Vodka or Lemon Extract for painting
Piping Tips: Wilton 104 petal tip for waves, and Tip 3 for dots on plaque

Miscellaneous: Small Paint Brushes, Parchment paper, cake boards and supports if doing a double barrel construction {tall cake} like mine.

Looking for More Beach Themed Cakes? Here are some more Favorites!

CUTE & Easy Flip Flop Cupcakes- Free Tutorial

Mermaid Splash Cake- From our Member Section

Crab Cupcakes and Lollipop Fish Cupcakes- Free Blog Tutorial

Cute Fish Cupcake Cake- Free Blog Tutorial

Beach Tiered Cake Design (with Flip Flop Cake Topper!)- Member Tutorial Section

Easy Swimsuit Sheet Cake (Kids Parties) & Beach Cupcakes- Free Tutorial

My Cake School- Online Cake Tutorials, Recipes, and More!

If you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, we have made tons of cake decorating tutorials over the years! You can find lots of Free Cake Tutorials in our Free Tutorials section, which also includes a growing collection of Free Cake Video Tutorials!

Make sure to scroll through our favorite Cake Recipes and Frostings! You can find them in our Recipes Section!

Finally, if you would like to have access to every cake decorating video tutorial that we’ve made over the years, you should consider becoming a member of My Cake School!

We’ve made hundreds of cake decorating video tutorials for our members over the years! As a member, you will have full online access to every cake tutorial that we’ve made for as long as you are part of our site. We would love to have you!

You can find all of the joining details here: Learn Cake Decorating Online with My Cake School!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Comments

Dene Swearingen July 13, 2015 at 4:35 pm

Adorable!

Melissa Diamond July 13, 2015 at 5:10 pm

Thanks Dene! xo

Tammy M. July 14, 2015 at 8:51 am

So beautiful!! I loved the mermaid. Thank you!

Niki July 14, 2015 at 12:10 pm

So cute! Thank you!!

Jennifer Daniel July 14, 2015 at 1:46 pm

Ohhh my goodness Melissa, I can not wait to make this one!!!!! Each tutorial/design is just as cute as the last!!!! I LOVE My Cake School!!!!! I have a mermaid/under the sea birthday cake already on my calendar in a couple of weeks. I will post a picture soon.
~Jennifer

Melissa Diamond July 14, 2015 at 3:46 pm

Thank you all so much! Jennifer, I’m so glad that this is a design you are planning to use! xo

Janet Harvey July 15, 2015 at 5:48 pm

I love the mermaid topper. Is the pattern posted anywhere on the site?

Janet Harvey July 15, 2015 at 6:13 pm

I believe I found the one you used online.

Melissa Diamond July 15, 2015 at 6:15 pm

Hi Janet– If you click on the Mermaid Template above (listed beneath Materials), you will be taken to a printable page. ;0)

MsGF July 25, 2015 at 2:19 pm

Very cute cake! The Mermaid is adorable. Love the wave pattern on the sides, very clever as always! :)

Susie Minor August 15, 2015 at 9:01 am

Love this adorable cake!

Paula M. September 13, 2018 at 2:43 am

Just watched. So cute and clever!!

Melissa Diamond September 13, 2018 at 9:49 am

Thank you! xo