I don’t make cupcakes very often, but I do always seem to have cupcake liners floating around in my cupboards because every time I find some cute ones, I am helpless to resist buying them! :-) Luckily for me, those little liners are a treasure trove just waiting to utilized! I’ve combed the web for the best and brightest ideas for using cupcake liners, and I’m really excited to share what I’ve found. With all of these great uses for paper, foil, and silicone cupcake liners, you’ll never look at a cupcake the same way again!
More Ideas You'll Love
Paper Liners
Dress Up a Gift
As you probably know, I’m a big fan of homemade gifts. :-) If you’re giving a gift in a jar, like homemade jam or a homemade hot cocoa mix, there’s an easy way to dress up your jar. Just place a cute paper cupcake liner over the top, and use a piece of baker’s twine to tie a sweet bow around it. Cute and festive, with minimal effort!
Single-Serve Cups
For parties and gatherings, it’s often easier to pre-portion out certain snacks and foods, rather than having to do it during the meal. Sturdy paper cupcake liners are perfect for this! Plus, there are so many cute options out there these days that you’re sure to be able to find liners that fit your party colors or theme.
Keep Bugs at Bay
A cupcake liner is all you need to keep your drinks bug-free when dining outdoors. Make a small hole in the center of a paper cupcake liner, then place it upside down on the top of your beverage. Slip your straw through, and you’re done!
Flower Lights
I think this project from Oh Happy Day is so fun! She uses different colors and sizes of paper cupcake liners to create flowers around each of the lights on a set of string lights. It would make a great addition to any sort of “Spring Fling” you might be hosting in the coming weeks! For full instructions and details, visit the post here.
Playful Light Fixture
And here’s another fun decorative idea from HGTV. A light fixture for a playroom created using paper liners hot-glued to an inexpensive paper lantern. Click here for full instructions.
More Ideas You'll Love
Pom Pom Fringe Drink Toppers
Yet another fun way to use cute baking cups… these festive fringy drink toppers from Layer Cake Shop! Flatten standard size baking cups and fold into quarters. Cut off the very tip to make your center hole, and cut fringe around the outside edge. Scrunch up the fringe a little, unfold, and slid onto a cute paper straw. Four baking cups per straw.
Bottle Skirts
Simply remove the circle from the center of the liner and put the skirt around a bottle. A cute and quick way to mark your drinks from Megan Hoeppner!
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Mini cupcake liners make it easy to create a variety of treats, including delicious homemade Peanut Butter Cups! Visit the link to get the recipe and instructions. (And I apologize in advance for how many of these you are about to eat!) ;-)
Drip-Free Popsicles
Since I am a lover of most frozen treats, I am also a big fan of popsicles. But I am NOT a fan of drippy popsicle stains! But there’s an easy way to avoid them – cut a small hole in the center of a paper cupcake liner, and slip it up over the popsicle stick to the base of the popsicle. The cupcake liner will catch any pesky drips, and keep them off of your clothes.
Foil Liners
Mini Tart Pan
This idea from Our Paleo Life might just be my favorite tip out of the bunch. She shows how to use a jar to turn a regular, foil-lined cupcake liner into a mini tart pan, perfect for an individual serving of cheesecake, fruit tart, or whatever you want! Visit the link for photos and more details.
More Ideas You'll Love
Party Decor
The creative minds over at Hey Look have devised several different ways to turn plain old foil cupcake liners into festive and fun party decor. They created an adorable garland, and shimmery photo backdrop, and the cutest gift wrap! Visit their site for all the details and more amazing photos.
Votive Holders
Use foil cupcake liners to hold tea lights. They’re cheap enough to use by the dozen, and cleanup is a piece of (cup)cake. Simply toss the liner when the wick is snuffed.
Silicone Liners
Cup Holder Cleanliness
Silicone cupcake liners are great, not only because they are reusable, but because they’re so easy to clean! Place a silicone cupcake liner into the cupholders in your car that normally aren’t used for drinks (you know, the ones you put crumbled receipts or loose change in?). Then when it’s looking a bit grungy, you can take it out, toss it in the dishwasher, and it’ll look good as new. Think of all the time you’ll save not having to scrape crusted gunk out of your cupholders! For more clever ways to keep your car clean and organized, visit my post here.
Food Dividers for Picky Eaters
A few of my kids were picky eaters when they were younger, and I’ve had several friends and family members who have had picky eaters as well. One of the most common complaints (in my experience) for picky eaters is that they HATE when different foods are touching each other. If you are accommodating a picky eater, an easy way to pack lunches is to use silicone cupcake liners as dividers. The tacky silicone won’t slide against the container, so everything will stay in place.
Congestion Relief
A silicone cupcake liner makes a great mold for several DIY creations, including Homemade Shower Discs. Press the mixture down into the liner, allow it to dry completely, then pop it out, and place on the floor of your shower. The steam will release the beneficial essential oils, and you’ll be breathing easy in no time. For the full recipe and ingredients for my Homemade Shower Disks, visit the post here.
Freezer Friend
Use silicone cupcake liners to freeze and store food items that you won’t use immediately, but want to hang on to, such as bacon grease, sauces, fresh herbs, and more. Put the silicone liners in a standard-sized muffin pan, and pour whatever you want to save into the liners. Freeze until solidified, then pop the frozen discs out of the liners and store them in a freezer bag.
Food Prep
Another food-related use for silicone cupcake liners is to use them as small containers when you’re prepping food. Rather than putting a couple cloves of garlic into a larger bowl, which will take up valuable dishwasher space later on, put them into a cupcake liner! No more double-loads of dishes after dinner. :-)
Corral the Small Stuff
Having a drawer with little items rolling around inside every time I open or close it will eventually drive me crazy. There are a million and one small containers you can keep small items in, but how do you get the containers to stay put? One simple solution is to put those small items into silicone cupcake liners! The tacky silicone won’t slip around in the drawer, so your items will stay right where you left them.
What’s your favorite way to use cupcake liners?
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Check out this beautiful summer wreath made from cupcake liners!
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/summer-wreath-using-cupcake-liners/
What a great post! I always have a ton of these floating around too… people know I love to bake so I always get them as gifts. I especially love the use as a bug preventer on a drink and the cute decor for a gift. I give away lots of homemade lotions as gifts so I am definitely going to try that!
I love these ideas. I use my silicone cups when I make lip balm with coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax. Once all is mixed and melted and essential oil added, pour into the cups. Once they harden, they pop right out!
Great way to serve deviled eggs. They don’t slide around and can be picked up individually.
Great idea!
I’ve never known so many uses for cupcake liners. I love your blog. I’m a dedicated reader.
Thank you Carolyn!
What a cleaver idea. SAVE some trees.