How to Make a Rainbow Cake Topper - Pretty Abstract Makes

This rainbow cake topper is so cute and has an adorable Boho vibe. Perfect for birthdays, weddings or baby showers, this DIY decoration is reusable and really easy to make! With only a few felt pom poms, a piece of cardboard and some hot glue, you can create your own impressive cake decor in no time!

RELATED: Simple Pom Pom Wall Hanging

DIY Rainbow Cake Topper

I love a good DIY especially when it comes to parties. Cake is an essential part of any celebration, and how it’s decorated is almost as important as how good it tastes! Cute cake toppers are trendy but can get pricey so why not make one yourself? This one is really simple and you only need a few basic supplies.

DIY cake toppers have been around for a while and I wanted to make one that could be used for a number of occasions. This one is affordable, reusable and easy to put together. It has a neutral colour palette, but that can easily be changed or customized depending on your theme!

In this blog post I’ll give you a step by step tutorial on how to make your own pom pom rainbow cake topper and the cute styrofoam cloud that goes with it!

Supplies you’ll need:

The full printable list of instructions is available at the end of this post, but here’s a list of affiliate links that will take you to products on amazon and etsy that are similar to the supplies I used.

Felt Pom Poms (Canada)
Felt Pom Poms (US)
Cardboard
Wooden Skewers
Scissors
Felt (optional)
Styrofoam Balls (optional)
Glue Gun
Pencil

One of the best things about this project is how few materials you need. The hardest things to source are the felt pom poms and I’ve provided links above to two great suppliers! They both have a wide variety of colours/sizes that you typically won’t find at your local craft store.

For this rainbow I used 5 colours of 10mm pom poms. I went with a gradient theme. Here they are in order: Terracotta, Brick, Nude, Blush and Wheat. I ordered them from Wool Mob on Etsy.

Crafting the Rainbow:

Grab a piece of cardboard. I cut one of the flaps off of a small cardboard box. For reference, the piece I used measured 4 inches by 8 inches. Using a pencil, lightly sketch a rainbow shape onto the cardboard. You only have to focus on the arch, since the bottom is already straight.

For reference: my rainbow measured 5 1/2 by 3 1/4 inches.

Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut out the rainbow shape. Wait to cut out the bottom of the arch until you have all the pom poms glued on.

Start gluing the first colour onto the cardboard. I used Terracotta as the top shade. It took 30 pom poms to complete the top of the arch.

Continue to glue the rest of the colours in order of darkest to lightest. Add a small strip of glue then press a few poms on top and so on. It’s easier to work in small sections rather than glue each pom one at a time.

Glue each colour right next to the one before it so little to no cardboard peeks through.

When you’ve glued all 5 colours, take your scissors and cut out the bottom piece of cardboard.

Take two wooden skewers and secure them to the back of the rainbow using hot glue. Use a generous amount to make sure they’re sturdy.

This step is optional, but if you want to make the back look a little prettier, grab a neutral piece of felt and cut two patches to cover the skewers.

Add some glue and press them down over the skewers.

Side Note: If I had been smarter and thought ahead, I would have traced my wooden rainbow onto the felt and cut a piece to cover the entire back. Food for thought if you decide to make your own – learn from my mistake!!

And you’re done! Your pom pom rainbow is complete!

Crafting the Cloud:

Full disclosure, I wasn’t even going to make a cloud topper, but the rainbow just looked lonely and I had some small styrofoam balls, so I went for it!

To make the cloud, you’ll need 9, 1 inch styrofoam balls. You’ll also need some white/off-white pom poms, and one more wooden skewer.

Using hot glue, attach the styrofoam balls in a 4, 3, 2 pattern (see photo below.)

To make the cloud “fluffy” and in keeping with the pom pom theme, glue some white or off-white pom poms onto the styrofoam cloud. I used two sizes: 10mm and 20mm.

The styrofoam balls are a different shade of of white than the pom poms. I wanted to use the same colour poms I used in the rainbow so they’d be coordinated. The styrofoam balls I used were 3/4 of an inch.

Secure the wooden skewer onto the back of the cloud using a generous amount of hot glue.

If you want to cover the back, cut a piece of white felt and glue it on top of the skewer, just like you did with the rainbow.

There you have it! A fluffy pom pom cloud to go with your boho pom pom rainbow! Cute right?!

This was really simple to make and looks so pretty on a plain or minimalist cake. You could even make mini versions for cupcakes or tiny pastries!

Making your own cake topper adds such a sweet and personal touch to any cake, especially if it’s for someone special.

How to trim your wooden skewers

You may need to trim your wooden skewers depending on how deep your cake is! Just snapping off the ends and hoping they break even isn’t easy and will leave jagged pieces of wood behind. Instead, measure and mark how much you want to take off each end, then carefully and repeatedly score the marks with a pair of scissors or a knife. Flip the topper over and score the other side as well. Once you have both sides scored, gently snap off the ends. They should come off easily and will leave an even and symmetrical pair of skewers behind!

DIY Rainbow Cake Topper

This DIY rainbow cake topper is SO cute and has a cool Boho vibe.

Glue gun
Scissors
Pencil

10mm felt pom poms ((gradient colours))
1 piece cardboard
2 wooden skewers
9 2 inch styrofoam balls (optional) ((white))
2 pieces felt (optional) ((coordinating colours))

Rainbow Cake Topper

Cut a piece of cardboard from a box.
With a pencil, lightly sketch a rainbow shape onto the cardboard in the necessary size.
Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the shape from the cardboard.
Begin gluing the first and darkest colour of pom pom around the top of the arch of the rainbow.
Continuing by gluing the second darkest shade right next to the first. Glue them so very little cardboard shows through. Then glue the third, fourth and final shades in a rainbow pattern.
Cut out the remaining cardboard on the bottom to create the final arch of the rainbow.
Flip the topper over. Using a generous amount of hot glue, secure two wooden skewers on each side of the rainbow.
To cover the skewers for a cleaner look, cut two pieces of coordinating felt that match the shape of each side of the rainbow. Glue each one down so the skewers are covered. (Optional)
Your Rainbow Cake Topper is complete!

Cloud Cake Topper

Glue 9, 3/4 inch styrofoam balls together in a 4, 3, 2 configuration.
Randomly glue white/off-white felt pom poms to the joints of the styrofoam cloud. Cover the cloud with enough balls to give it a softer, fluffier look. Use two different sizes for more variation (10mm + 20mm)
To cover the skewer cut a piece of white felt in a similar shape to the back of the cloud but slightly smaller. (Optional)
Using hot glue, secure it to the back, on top of skewer so it's completely covered.
Your Cloud Cake Topper is complete!

This rainbow cake topper is SO cute and has a cool Boho vibe. Made with gradient coloured pom poms and a piece of cardboard, it’s super simple to put together and looks amazing on top of a minimalist cake! Such a sweet and special DIY cake topper idea!