I am super excited about this gift idea! I love to decorate with cute cake stands. They’re not only great for cakes (obviously!), they’re also fantastic for holding stacks of books, framed photos, seashells, pinecones, candles, pretty much anything.
I’ve seen several upcycled cake stand ideas, but I’ve never seen one quite like this one. I am so happy with how beautiful this little cake stand turned out. And even better, it was pretty inexpensive and easy to make… but you’d never know it just by looking at it!
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Materials for Upcycled Cake Stand
Small glass candle holder from dollar store
10 – 12 inch round piece of wood
stamp in the pattern of your choice
ink
rolling pin
strong glue (I like this one for projects like this)
How to make a Clay Cake Stand
I wanted to make sure the cake stand was actually sturdy enough to hold something, so I did not make it entirely out of clay. The base of the stand is a small glass candleholder from the dollar store. The top part is a small round piece of wood (you can get these at your local craft supply store).
I started by covering the candle holder with clay to make the base. I rolled out a piece of the clay using a rolling pin until it was nice and even. Then I used my stamp and Clearsnap ink to stamp my design over the entire piece of clay. (You know I had to choose aqua ink right? Love this color!)
The only tricky part of this entire project was covering the curves of the candle holder smoothly. I found that the easiest way is to cut the clay into strips and wrap the strips around the different sections of the candle holder.
To make the top of the cake stand, I rolled out another piece of clay with the rolling pin. This time I rolled the clay into a circle about two inches larger than my wooden circle. I again used my stamp and ink to stamp the entire circle.
I carefully draped the circle of clay onto the circle of wood. I pressed the sides of the clay to the sides of the wood circle; this caused the overhang of clay to gently ripple. Originally, I was planning to cut this overhanging clay off but it was so pretty I had to leave it on! I did trim around the edges of the clay circle with scissors to make everything nice and neat.
Once all of the clay was completely dry, I simply glued the top to the base.
I love this cake stand as a decorative piece, but you could also use it for displaying cakes and cookies. Just be sure to seal it with a food safe sealer first. (Or go the easy route and just put a circle of wax paper between any food and the clay surface.)
Personally, I’m loving it as a centerpiece for candles.
Happy making!
Clare Gotpaintinmyhair says
Brilliant idea!
Carrie says
Thanks Clare!
Shawn Mosch says
LOVE the snowflake! After they open the gift they can use it for decoration too!
Shawn ~
Design Team Coordinator for The Buckle Boutique
Personal Blog ~ Crafty Chics Blog
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Carrie says
Exactly what I was thinking Shawn!
Debby L says
Extremely creative. I love this. Now to just be brave enough to give it a shot.
Carrie says
Thanks Debby! You can do it. And really, even if it turns out terribly, you aren’t out much money and you can have a good laugh!
Dixie says
Stunning!
Carrie says
Thanks!
chris aka monkey says
carrie that stand is gorgeous love the curves love the color, make me one, i won’t be naughty any more pinky promise xx
Carrie says
Haha! It is ok to be just a little naughty. And thank you so much!
Asia King says
Fantastic project! What a great idea to decorate a cake stand with clay! Awesome!
Crafty hugs from Asia at Under a Creative Spell
DT for Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Carrie says
Thanks Asia! I am in love with how it turned out!
Ann says
Oh, the cake stand is so creative, love it. And super cute snowflake.
Carrie says
Thank you so much!
Katie Cooper says
Very cute cake stand. I liked the of your color choice. Thank you.
Carrie says
Thanks Katie! I just can’t resist a good blue.
Amy | Club Narwhal says
Oh, this is just GORGEOUS! I haven’t worked much with clay and it never even occurred to me that you could make a cake stand from it–what a brilliant idea. Thanks so much for sharing on The Makers!
Carrie says
Thanks Amy! I haven’t worked with clay much either but I got this crazy idea and had to give it a try. I’m so glad I did because I love how it turned out!
Susan Homeroad Stevenson says
Carrie that’s amazing and soooo beautiful!
Carrie says
Thank you so much Susan!