Have you ever been stuck in the quandary of wanting to give someone a cupcake or two as a gift, only to find yourself at a loss for how to package said cupcake(s)? Well. I gotchu! Here are seven different ways to package cupcakes for gift-giving.
1. Single Cupcake Boxes & Containers
This is the most obvious method, of course, though perhaps not the most practical because these are a little tough to find. I’d still recommend purchasing some just-for-cupcakes boxes or containers and keeping them on hand because they come in handy more often than you’d think!
You have two options here: boxes + inserts, or clear plastic cupcake containers. I’ve had success finding boxes at Michaels and Mr Take Out Bags, and clear containers at Amazon. You can also check out specialty cooking/baking supply shops like Orson Gygi in Salt Lake.
Note: When ordering containers onine, you might want to consider teaming up with someone to share, say, a bulk case of 200 containers. You’ll save tons of money that way!
2. Makeshift Cupcake Insert
This is a variation on 1. Perhaps you don’t have special cupcake holder inserts, but you do have a cupcake-sized box on hand. You can create a makeshift insert with card stock by cutting and folding it to fit, cutting an X in the middle for the cupcake to sit in.
3. Clear Cup + Clear Gift Wrap

4. Take-Out Box

5. Cake-In-A-Jar
I talked about this in this post about baking cake in jars. Check out the method there, then decorate your jars to your heart’s content.
6. (Parfait-Style) Cake-In-A-Jar

This is especially great for when your cupcakes don’t come out quite as pretty as planned, as I talked about in this post about salvaging sub-par cake and cupcakes. Simply layer bits of crumbled cake with some frosting to create a parfait-like treat. Ha, I’d definitely decorate the jar a little and label it before giving it away because it looks kinda weird otherwise.
7. Box-From-A-Cup
Guys. I saw this on Pinterest, and it totally works. (I would totally cite the source if I could, but I kept hitting dead ends with a bunch of Chinese characters.) Find a paper cup whose base is around the same size as that of a cupcake. Cut off the top rim, cut equal-sized strips all the way around, and then fold them all down to secure. See?
Whew. Ok, that’s all of them. Do you have any go-to methods for single cupcake packaging? I’d love to hear ’em! Shoot me a comment below.
Love, Maurine
6 Comments
These are seriously the cutest ideas! Do you remember that time we gave those guys that jumped Sana's car the cupcakes? I bet they would've appreciated them like this as opposed to the paper plate we handed used haha
Ha ha yeah I do remember that! Weren't they the Neapolitan ones?
Yeah those were the ones! In the shape of hearts too. I'm sure they appreciated that.
These are the Coolest ideas! I will be trying them. thanks!
Do you have any idea how big the paper cup should be to fit the cupcake in??
I’m pretty sure they were 8 oz cups!