DIY Cake/Cookie Stands

October 18, 2011 | 161 Comments »

This all began with a case of cake stand envy.  My friend Glory has the most amazing collection of cake stands, and since I stalk her blog, they were always nearby, tempting me, calling my name…

The problem is, I have not ONCE in my life made a beautiful cake, which makes it hard to justify a collection of cake stands… ESPECIALLY when most of them cost the better part of a hundred dollars.

And even if I could find a way to justify buying one, I need them to display cookies and most cake stands are WAY too big for that.

Then one day, I stumbled upon this amazing idea from Centsational Girl, and my whole world changed.  Suddenly it was possible for me to have cake stands in every color without breaking the bank.  Even better, I could make them cookie-sized.

That very weekend I hit every thrift store I could find looking for candlesticks and saucers.  I found an amazing selection and not one of them cost more than a dollar.  All it took was a little E6000 and spray paint and I wound up with THESE!!!

They were SUPER simple to make. First, I matched all the saucers to a base. Then I used  E6000 to glue them together.  At that point, they needed to dry overnight {It takes at least 24 hours to cure}.

The next day I sprayed the stands with frosted glass spray to prep them for painting.  This helps the colored paint adhere to the surface.

When the frosted layer dried I sprayed them with colored paint.  I could tell immediately I was going to love the final product.

While making these I learned a couple of things I should share.  First of all, it seemed like Rustoleum brand paint gave the heaviest and most uniform coverage. Also, I found it worked best to start with the stand upside down, spray the bottom, let it dry, turn it over and spray the top.  After that dries, flip it again, and do any touch ups that are needed.

It’s a pretty simple and inexpensive project, and they really make beautiful display pieces.  However, please note, these are not food safe.  Be sure to place a barrier between the food and surface of the plates when using them to serve.  I used paper doilies as the Centsational Girl suggests, but clear or decorative plates in a similar size work well too.

I LOVE my bargain-priced cookie stands, which is kind of obvious, because I made tons of them!

Every once in a while I  would even find candle holders that worked without gluing.

But one day, on another thrift store run, I found something that took GREAT to OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I bought this old cheese dome for three dollars.

Turns out, they make perfect lids for cookie-sized cake plates! {I also noticed later that if you look closely, you can see me snapping the picture and Belle hanging out beside me =)}

As for the base, you can either keep it, or do what I did and use it to make this adorable button wall hanging from Cap Creations.

Two great uses for one bargain buy?  That’s a win-win in my book.

I started this obsession way back in June and it’s still going strong.  Can you guess holiday what my latest “collection” is for?

{For the record, I didn’t make all of these.  The large black stand, bottom right, and the black one up top are store bought}

I hope you can use this idea to pretty up your parties without breaking the bank.  I also encourage you to scroll through the comments on Centsational Girl.  Her readers had many more brilliant tips and ideas for these.

If you can, I highly recommend taking a day off from cookies to make these.  They really are the icing on the cake cookie.  With minimal effort and investment you can make your cookies even prettier than they already are!

I love linky parties!  YOu find the best things there. I’m linking up with:

Tidy Mom

Tatertots and Jello

Lil Luna

I ♥ Naptime

and

Add A Pinch

Sweet Sugar Belle, Tutorials
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