April 20, 2014

DIY Sturdy Display Stands



For my Easter dining room table display I was all geared up to
make some cute candlestick cake plates (like I had seen tutorials
 for on several blogs like this one) to put Easter items on.

I'm sure they would be fine to put light-weight items on
 like sisal bunnies, etc. but I started thinking about 
making stands that would be sturdy enough to use in
 the future for heavier items too. Maybe even in for
food buffets, etc.

In looking at the real elevated cake stands that I have, the
bases seemed to be fairly wide at the bottom to give more
stability...almost like an upside-down vase. 

My own hoarder house turned up several items that could
be used to follow the basic candlestick tutorials but use
vases instead of candlesticks. The glass vases also have
more weight which will probably help the stands' stability.

Here is a low glass vase (previously painted white),
a lonely saucer and a mis-placed plate combo...

This is a thrift store footed vase and another odd plate...

These are small baking dishes I got several years ago when
I thought I was going to make the neighbors treats for
Christmas...that hasn't happened yet.  I was looking for 
something square to match the shape of the baking dish
and found these heavy Dollar Tree glass vases/votives.

Now this combo does not qualify as "sturdy" since it is all
plastic disposable food items.  Since I'm already painting, 
gluing, etc. they are going to be added into the mix for fun. 
The plastic dome came off of a mini-cake from the store.

A side project that also involves paint and glue are jars
with little animals attached to the lids like this.
They already have a base coat of white.

Most tutorials for the making of cake/treat/cupcake stands
use E-6000 glue to join the pieces together.  I had the
"Amazing Goop Household" adhesive on hand so I used it
to join the pieces.  It worked great for this project. 

I turned the plates face down on the table, put glue on
the bottom of the vases then placed the glued side
 of the vase down on the plate.  With this glue
you have time to move the vase around a few minutes
so you can eyeball from a few angles where the center is.

After a few hours of drying, you can paint the plates.
I think that painting the pieces joins them visually.
The instructions say that the glue is not completely ready
for 24-hours so if you paint before the 24 hours is up
 be careful how you pick the stands up.

I tried the bottled paints in the craft section that said
 "glossy" but they were not glossy enough to look glassy.
They didn't look bad but they did not have the look I wanted.

Spray paint to the rescue!  It really does give wonderful
results. Not that I want these stands to look like milk glass
but spray painting glass is a technique that I have had
good results with. 

The first time I tried spraying items to try to mimick
milk glass was for a magazine copy cat challenge blog
party.  That post was "Martha, Milk Glass and Myrtles".

Since then I have been on the lookout for glass pieces
that can be spray painted and added to my faux
milk glass collection I have going now.

I didn't want the new display stands to be milk glass white, however. I have found that an off white color is useful
in seasonal vignettes and in food presentation. 
A couple of the stands got sprayed with a combination of
white spray paint and then almond spray paint.

Those sprays were not glossy paints so then these stands
 got a couple of coats of a clear gloss finish sprayed on.

I tried to be good and spray paint inside boxes but it
is harder to get around all the sides that way.
These little Easter animals got spray painted blue before
the plastic cake stand got into the box so I could get
all the way around them.  
Do you see the dandelion seed that floated into the box during spraying?

I glued a wooden ball on top of the plastic cake dome to make it look fancy.  
I should have waited to glue it on until the ball was painted.  This way I had to tape it off. 


Here is the pretty dandelion seed blinged out with
a touch of Easter blue.

I was hoping that the paint was not getting on the "faces"
of the square baking dishes while they were getting spray
 painted green.  That way food could be placed in the dish later.

I wanted one of the little chick jar toppers to be pink
but I didn't have pink spray paint.  She got painted
with acrylic paint...she may get a gloss coat later.

Here's how she and her friends turned out...

They got to be in the Easter vignette along with
 the sturdy display stands.

In the center of the display are the mint green cake stands
that gave me the idea to use vases as bases.
The larger cake stand holds cute lambs from Pier 1.

The smaller mint green cake stand holds a vintage-
looking pink bunny with a cart of eggs. 

The home-made display stands mix in well with 
the "real" cake stands to elevate Easter items.







Behind the main Easter vignette is a display cabinet with
more assorted Easter items.

In the kitchen is a new two-tiered display stand that
is not a DIY project.  I saw it at World Market and thought
that it had good potential to have lots of future uses. 

I'm hoping that my hodge-podge/glued together/
spray painted sturdy display stands with have lots
of future uses also.  On the painted surfaces of the stands
I will not place food directly on them.  If the stands need
to be washed, they will be hand-washed only. 

Be looking for them in future blog posts! 
I'm sharing this blog post at
 Share Your Creativity @ It's Overflowing
I Made It Link Party @ Make it & Love It
Masterpiece Monday @ Boogieboard Cottage
Say G'Day Link Party @ Natasha in Oz
Sunday Showcase @ Under The Table and Dreaming
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch
Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

10 comments

  1. I love all your ideas but those jars are my favourite. They are so cute!

    If you have a minute to spare please stop by and join my Say G'Day Saturday linky party-this post would be a fabulous addition!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha in Oz

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  2. Love these! You always come up with the best ideas for holiday décor. Looks like your Easter theme might be one of my favorites. The stand with the baby chicks is adorable. They look so real . . . as if trying to escape! Too cute!

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  3. Your ideas are super clever. I think they will go viral on Pinterest.

    Happy Easter.

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  4. Those turned out great. I have glued glass to glass with good success, too. And the jar toppers are REALLY cute-I just might steal that idea from you (with credit given to you, of course, if I do).

    Everything looks just wonderful. Happy Easter to you- xo Diana

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  5. Miss Kitty…..this is THE CUTEST Easter buffet *ever* I think it's the cutest I've seen all season. What super ideas!!!

    xo,
    RJ

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  6. Wowsers! Everything is simply fabulous! Faux Ironstone? LOVE! I'm all about creating beauty on a budget so count me in as a follower!
    Blessings to you,
    Patti
    P.S. Off now to Pin so many of your fab ideas.

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  7. Love these Miss Kitty! You are so clever!

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  8. All I can say is Wow!!...I love how you created those tiered stands and never thought to paint them too!...The animal jars are the very cutest and great choice on the colors...You are such the most creative one!!!

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  9. Visiting from A Modern Commonplace Book and My New Favorite Design. I love Ginny's new design for your blog! It is so beautiful, and the colors are fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lot of information is helpful in some or the other way. Keep updating the blog, looking forward for more content...Great job, keep it up. display stands services in Malaysia.

    ReplyDelete

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