Paris Party Cake Stands Tutorials

(disclaimer - I use the term "tutorials" loosely, you'll see why when you read them)

Hello All,

I'm back again after twenty-four hours without power. Irene just caused some small problems here in Central Maine, nothing big, heck, none of my food spoiled so I'm pretty happy. My beloved home state of Vermont has not been so fortunate. It's a disaster zone over there. I'm so sorry Vermont. Be safe and be strong.

Onto happier things.

Today I thought I'd share how I made all of the cake stands for the Paris party. Believe it or not, they were all, quick, cheap and easy to do. The three cake stands, four cupcake stands and two hatboxes probably cost me $25.00 for the supplies for all of them. I think that they really made the table special and they can be re-used too! Not bad for nine items!

The Large Cake Stands: (The two tall black ones in the back... Actually, there were three, the other is still in my basement.)

Materials:

1. 3 Milk Glass vases
2. 3 old plates
3. 1 tube glue for ceramics
4. 1 small can glossy black spray paint. 

I found the vases and plates for $1.00 each at an antique store, the spray paint was about $2.00 and I had the glue.  Super cheap! Rather than re-invent the wheel I'll direct your attention to the tutorial I used over at  Centsational Girl. She has a fantastic tut! The only thing that I did differently was I glued first then sprayed. It worked fine my way too.

The Cupcake stands:

 Materials:

1. 3" unfinished wooden disks from Michael's
2. Mini wooden candle sticks from Caramelos on Etsy
3. Black outdoor acrylic craft paint from Michael's
4. Gorilla glue with the fine tip.

Aren't those candlesticks cute?

Directions:

1. Glue the candlestick top to the center of the disk
2. Allow to dry
3. Paint

It was so hard, I have no idea how I managed.... I'm kidding, it's actually so simple that I feel a little silly writing the directions ;-p

The Hatboxes:

Materials:

1. 2 8" round paper mache hatboxes available at JoAnn Crafts 
2. Purple and black acrylic craft paint. I got mine at Micheal's but you can get it lots of places
3. Assorted ribbon: the 1.5" polka dot and Florentine ribbons were from Michael's, the black and white striped and black with white stitching are from Caramelos on Etsy and the Lavender velvet ribbon is from 32 North Supplies on Etsy.
4. Tacky Glue available at most craft stores

Ribbons from 32 North Supplies, Caramelos and Michael's

Directions: (This is EXACTLY what I did, you should use any colors and ribbons you want.)

1. Paint the lid black
2. Paint the box purple - paint note: I used outdoor acrylic for the lid, it covered in one coat. I used the regular for the base, it took four,
3. Allow to dry
4. Put the lid on
5. Eyeball how much space each ribbon needs
6. Cut the ribbon to the exact length, no need to overlap at the ends
7. Put a line of glue around the box in the center of the place where you want the ribbon
8. Smooth the ribbon onto the glue
9. fiddle with it until it's even
10. Repeat with the other ribbons
11. Let it dry

Voila!

I know it's not terribly precise to "eyeball" and "fiddle" but that's pretty much how I approach all my crafts. You could measure, I suppose, but you probably know more about that than I do if you're the sort of person who's inclined to measure in the first place.

THIS IS IMPORTANT! I do not think that any of the  paints that I used are specifically "food safe" so I didn't place the food directly on the surface. The cupcakes had papers and the cakes were on 8" Wilton cake rounds. I'd avoid putting food directly on the painted surface.

Finally, I want to re-draw your attention to 32 North Supplies and Caramelos. They are both FANTASTIC supply shops! I've been a Caramelos customer for years now and I just found 32 North Supplies. They both have really cool craft supplies and are excellent to deal with, fast shipping, everything is exactly as pictured or better in person and nice owners. Go have a look! If you're crafty at all you'll love these shops!

Tomorrow I'll tell you where I got the rest of the supplies and I'm hoping to post all of the printables for the party this week.  Tomorrow is the first day of school for both my kiddos so we're a teensy bit distracted. My oldest is going to be a Freshman! Where does the time go?

Until tomorrow!
H