How to Make Your Own Muffin or Cupcake Liners

Nothing' s more annoying than mixing up some muffin batter and then discovering that you're out of muffin tin liners. Sometimes muffin cups can be hard to track down at the store, and for some people they may be a frivolous expense during these rough economic times. Whatever your reason for wanting to make your own muffin cups, you'll find that they're very easy and quick to make.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clean white paper that is free of harmful chemicals
• scissors
• 1/4 cup measuring cup
• pencil
• a bottle that fits snugly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup
• drinking cup that is 4 inches wide at the top to serve as a template for the circles you will cut out(optional)

1. 

   Stack your paper and mark off rows into 4 inch strips.

2. 

   Cut the strips out and trace a 4 inch wide drinking glass to create muffin cup circles, or cut the strips into squares and round off the edges. Either technique works, it just depends on how pefect you want your circle to be.

3. 

   Find a bottle that fits snugly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Place the stack of circles onto the 1/4 cup measuring cup and push the bottle into the measuring cup, forcing the circles into the cup. A thicker stack of circles will make more attractive and evenly spaced pleats in the paper than pressing individual circles into muffin cups.

Tips & Warnings

• This is a great craft for elementary aged children.
• Children can decorate the outsides of muffin cups for special occasions. If they want to do this, place plain muffin cups inside the decorated ones to prevent bleeding of their marker ink or colored pencil.
• You can make a large supply of these in just a few minutes to store in your cabinet for future use.
• Store the unused muffin cups in re-usable plastic containers.
• Do not use paper that has colored ink. Some colored inks are made with lead.
• Make sure the paper is clean, free of toxins, and not coated with plastic or wax.
• Food grade paper bags work well.

Resources

• How to make flowers from muffin cups!
• How to select a muffin tin.
• How to make your own muffin mix.