Interchangable Tiered Cake Stand Tutorial
At long last, here is the much-requested thrifted cake stand tutorial. This was a gift I made for my S-I-L for Christmas, and I’ve been wanting to make one for myself ever since. Of course, in my world, finishing a craft without a deadline is impossible. So I used last week’s tea party as the day by which it had to happen.
If you’d rather buy than DIY, head over to Style Garden. She finds the most beautiful pieces and matches them expertly. I’ve actually tried to buy from her myself, but her work is in demand and she was too swamped at the time. If you want to buy now, you’ll find several in her shop, you lucky duck!
Because my S-I-L is quite the party hostess, I thought I’d like to come up with a version where the plates could be switched out. You know, like the wristwatch you had in middle school with the interchangeable wrist bands (there are a few of those I’d still like to own). So keep your eyes open for more pretty plates, because you can switch out plates as your parties demand. Any plate with a hole drilled in the middle will do. Or add a tier by using a longer allthread and a few more candlestick segments. It’s all occasion!
So then, if you’re up for a little shopping and assembling, let’s get started.
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p.s. If you’re new to Giver’s Log, welcome! Be sure to check out my other DIYs, things like edible cupcake stands, or find all kinds of great giftable DIYs from around the web on my gift inspiration board.
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Shop. First, let’s go shopping, the very fun kind of shopping. This is a good excuse to stop by your favorite thrift stores, flea markets, and houseware shops. Go in search of pieces that will make your heart go pitter pat. Here’s what you’ll need:
- A drawer pull you think is pretty. For me, this was a good excuse to stop by Anthropologie.
- An allthread to match, so it will screw into the drawer pull. Pick these up at any hardware store.
- A bolt and washer that fits, for screwing on at the bottom.
- Paint, if you so choose.
- A drill and bit for drilling a hole in the plates (more on this below).
- A candlestick (or pieces of multiple candlesticks) with a hole through the center. Some have a visible hole, others need to be unscrewed and have the center dowel removed. When in doubt, try unscrewing.
- A set of plates, melamine or ceramic will do.
I believe the drawer pull cost me $8. Everything else combined totaled a whopping $4.88.
Make sure your allthread and drawer pull are the same width. If your drawer pull has a rod like mine, you should be able to unscrew so the allthread can screw directly into the pull. It took a little torque but we got ours out. Pick up two allthreads if you’re going to want to change between two and three tiers with your cake stand. You’ll need an allthread for each different height.
Remember the hollow candlesticks I picked up for this tutorial? I’ve had no problem finding several every time I thrift. And especially if you’re planning to paint, you can use as many pieces from as many candlesticks as you like.
Paint. Time to get busy. If you’re planning to paint the candlestick, disasemble it and paint.
Drill. Next you’ll need to drill a hole right through the center of the plate. Both times I’ve sent Brent out to the workshop to take care of this for me. Though I do like the chance to use a power tool every now and then. His advice is to use a wood bit for drilling through melamine and a ceramic bit for ceramic. He also suggests picking up an extra plate. That way if one plate cracks a bit, you have a second chance. You can drill a few extra holes in your broken plate and get a little practice. He taped the plate right in the center, then drilled through there.
Assemble. Now you get to thread your whole creation together. Likely the allthread will be too long, so you’ll need to cut it off. If you want to alternate between two and three tiers, make sure you get an allthread that will be the right length for each. Finally, thread the washer on and screw the bolt on the bottom.
And there you have it. A pretty tiered cupcake stand, and an excuse to have everyone over for a party. Once the party’s over, just disassemble and store it flat until the next shindig.
Tags: DIY gifts a man can make, DIY gifts by GiversLog, DIY handmade gifts, gifts for grandma, gifts for her, gifts for Mom, gifts for the entertainer, housewarming and welcome gifts, inexpensive gift ideas, mother's day gifts, upcycled gifts
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:03 am
I am so thrilled that you made a tutorial for this!!!! I love love love it!
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:56 am
Awesome tutorial!!! I am wondering though, if you place a blot on the bottom, how do you keep it from wobbling?
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:59 am
These cake plates are looooooooovely!
I must*MUST*must make one for myself and maybe even for my sisters. What a fun idea for holidays and such. And, this sure will look better than my very own makeshift cake plate — a turquoise bowl turned upside down with turquoise plate glue-dotted to the bowl’s base. :)
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:30 am
Stealing this idea ten times over! Finally, something to do with all those candlesticks we got as wedding gifts! :)
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:37 am
This is a fantastic tutorial! I’m going to give it a try.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:46 am
Light bulb moment —- these would be great Mother’s Day gifts for our Cub Scout den. The boys could use their building skills in the making of these lovely cake plates and in turn gift them to their mommas who bring them to meetings each week. Thank you for the idea and inspiration!
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:23 am
Yet another fantastic idea. I’ll happily make one myself since the Liberty of London one is all sold out at Target. Blast.
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
You have the luckiest sister in law
March 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Fabulous and brilliant tutorial! I love it. I posted a link to your stands at ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com.
March 23rd, 2010 at 2:31 pm
You are so cool. Also to Sherry up there – thanks for the cub scout idea…
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
You are so clever!
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:56 pm
I love this! Thanks for the how to, I just might have to give it a go! :)
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Ok, sorry, what is an allthread? Thanks!
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
What a great idea, especially from a storage standpoint. thanks for the detailed tutorial. I’ll have to share this on my blog.
March 24th, 2010 at 12:04 am
These turned out beautifully. I love your can-do attitude…I wouldn’t have thought to go for it and make one myself!
March 24th, 2010 at 5:11 am
Hi Vanessa!
An allthread is just a metal rod with screw threading on the whole thing, from top to bottom. I just went to the hardware store and asked if they had a metal stick thingie that’s like a really long screw, and they pointed me to it. But I’m sure the OSH guy will be more impressed if you know the name.
March 24th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Oh my Gosh! I totally LOVE this! I can’t wait to make one for myself and maybe one for each of my sisters! I am sooo gonna share this on my blog! Thanks!
March 24th, 2010 at 9:22 am
What a fantastic idea! Thanks for the tute! This would be a great teacher gift full of fun cupcakes!
March 24th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Love this idea… love this blog. Love the name… everything makes me happy! ~ kim
March 24th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Love it.
March 24th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
I am so glad someone asked what an allthread was! I thought I was the only one who didn’t know! LOL! Thanks for such a great tutorial, I am going to have to give this a try myself!
March 24th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I saw this featured on Be Different. Amazing. Great job. I always passed over those brass candlestick holders. Never again.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I love this! I’ve always wanted one but never wanted to spend that much money!
where did you get the square orange plates? i love that they match but are different from each other!
March 25th, 2010 at 7:45 am
I love this! Especially that you can disassemble it and store it so easily. AND interchangeable plates! I’m definitely adding this to my to-make list! Thanks for the tute!
March 25th, 2010 at 11:45 am
[...] featured is just so beautiful! I thought I’d show you Amberlee’s latest tutorial about how to make a cupcake stand with the ability to switch out the plates for different occasions. I just love that orange stand to [...]
March 25th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Love it! Thanks, I’ll definitely be on the look out for supplies for this. And see if the shop teacher at work has anything laying around that I can use.
March 26th, 2010 at 6:51 am
Great tutorial! Love it!
Can you show a picture of the bottom, or explain how it is not wobbly with a washer/bolt on the bottom of the plate?
March 26th, 2010 at 7:08 am
[...] of Giver’s Log shares this great UpCraft tutorial for an interchangeable tiered cake stand. Because of the way it’s assembled, you can swap out plates as needed to go along with your [...]
March 26th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
[...] Interchangable Tiered Cake Stand Tutorial [...]
March 26th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
This is super cute but I don’t see how you could put a cake on it. Maybe cupcakes or candy?
March 26th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Hey AmberLee-
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE, did I mention I LOVE these? To be quiet honest, I LOVE anything and everything “cupcake.” So, I have the fantastic plan to put all my beautiful cupcakes on these adorable stands. Here’s the deal. . . I already bought 3 amazing knobs at Anthropology! I’d never been there and was waiting for a good excuse. This was perfect! I bought some cheap melamine plates at Target. We live right by an awesome hardware store, so I will pick up the hardware there, but I can’t seem to find those darn candle sticks. I went to our local good will, target, ross and I haven’t seen even one. Do they have a special name? Where did you get yours? Any help from anyone would be awesome. When I see something I love, I have to make it ASAP and it’s killing me that I can’t find the silly candle holder!!! HELP {please}!
March 27th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Ahh! Jessica, you haven’t found one!? I’ve found them at my good will every time I go. Sometimes you can’t tell that a candlestick will have a hollow middle until you try unscrewing it. (Most I’ve found unscrew, and once I pull out the rod in the middle, I can put in a thinner allthread rod to make the stand.) Every now and then I find one with a solid base or top, so I just use the middle pieces, and I played with adding the middle pieces of a second candlestick and painting.
March 27th, 2010 at 6:38 am
Hi Amanda!
Thanks for stopping by! The bottom of the plate is flush with the candlestick piece, which always has at least a little bit of a flat surface. Then I just screw the bolt on under the candlestick, where noone can see. As long as it’s screwed on snug the whole thing stays nice and level and supports cupcakes and treats nicely.
March 29th, 2010 at 12:41 am
Wow!! What a nice idea! I´ll try with two old German plates I have at home.
Thank you Amber… Besitos from Madrid.
March 31st, 2010 at 2:07 am
Cool, cool, what an awesome idea and such comprehensive tutorial!!
I LOOOOOVE it so much. You are the bomb! This will come in handy for my girls to do something for Easter as they have been looking for the perfect cup cake stand
Definitely bookmarking this for the future so I don’t miss anything else! Fantastic and thanks for sharing!
March 31st, 2010 at 4:02 am
[...] interchangeable tiered cake stand is adorable (@ giver’s [...]
March 31st, 2010 at 7:10 am
Beautiful! I love it!
March 31st, 2010 at 10:02 am
Oh, I LOVE this idea! what a great excuse to buy those adorable plates I’m always seeing :)
March 31st, 2010 at 12:27 pm
fabulous diy! i am definitely going to try this! i have a ton of drawer pulls that i keep on buying… put them to use! i need to get some candlesticks… and plates! but this looks so fun and useful! i can use this for my jewelry too!
April 2nd, 2010 at 8:44 am
LOVE IT!!!!!
April 5th, 2010 at 6:32 am
[...] it awesome!! I found the tutorial for the this at a blog called the Giver’s Log. One of the best parts? The tiers are interchangeable and collapsible. It was super easy, cheap [...]
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:00 am
[...] free reign to buy plates since I’ve got several projects in mind for them: wall clocks, tiered cake plates, and those plain old single cake plates I made earlier. Of course, there is a difference between [...]
April 24th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Wow this is great. I found you from Bette at buyyourhands blog. I believe I could do this. Thanks for the tutorial. I’ll be checking out more as time permits me:)
Carol
April 27th, 2010 at 9:32 am
[...] DIY Tiered Cupcake Stand Tutorial @ Giver’s Log [...]
April 27th, 2010 at 11:25 am
[...] The Giver’s Log blog which is a treasure trove of gift-giving goodness! Click here for the treat tray DIY instructions. Filed under digital scrapbooking Click here to cancel [...]
April 27th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
To give mine more pizazz I added a small wooden, plant saucer to the bottom.
May 1st, 2010 at 11:32 pm
[...] http://giverslog.com/?p=6600 [...]
May 7th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
[...] gold) candle sticks. They are also often times hollow in the middle which allows you to make one this way which is where my inspiration came from (her whole blog ROCKS). Doing it Amberlee’s way [...]
May 7th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
I heard about your site from Today’s Creative Blog :) Saw this project, loved it, made a variation of it. Check it out! http://www.designonadollar.com/modern-chic-tiered-serving-tray/
It’s so lovely…
July 8th, 2010 at 12:47 am
[...] sizes. AmberLee shows hers with just two plates, but I thought they should have three. Here are the cupcake stand directions so you can create your own too! It’s super easy too do. It looks like she just created some [...]
July 8th, 2010 at 7:06 am
[...] happier than the cupcake frenzy that is making people crazy for this dessert, and when I saw this tutorial for a cupcake stand from Giver’s Log, I thought it would be a cute way to serve the dessert [...]
July 19th, 2010 at 11:40 am
[...] ¿En qué celebración falta una sabrosa torta? ¡En ninguna! No importa si se trata de una boda, de un cumpleaños o de un aniversario. Las tortas siempre están allí y tenemos que encontrarles el mejor lugar para lucirlas durante la fiesta. Anteriormente habíamos aprendido a hacer un porta tortas reciclado. Ahora te damos la opción de crear otro porta tortas original. [...]
July 30th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Thanks for the response! Now I get it, I thought the plate was sitting on the table, but really the bottom of the candlestick is sitting on the table. Awesome!
August 3rd, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Brilliant! Inspired!
Let the thrifting commence!
I’m also thinking of making one to use to keep all my clunky bracelets on! and I remember seeing a melamine plate once that had a cutout lace pattern around the edges… If I made that the top piece I could hang earrings from it!
Sharing this EVERYWHERE can!! Thanx for the awesome Ideas!
August 4th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Great tutorial. I love the idea of being able to interchange the plates. I’m definitely going to give this a try the next time I have a party.
August 27th, 2010 at 8:22 am
[...] Interchangeable Tiered Cake Stand Tutorial [...]