How to Make Your Own (Temporary) Cake Stand (For Cheap!)

This past summer, my cousin got married in California, but he had grown up here in Minnesota and they are living here now, so this past weekend the family held a Minnesota reception for them. Now, his new wife, his mother and I are all kindred crafting spirits–so of course this reception was full of DIY details, as was the wedding. One of these fun projects was creating cake stands to use as part of the centerpiece for each table. Want to make your own? Read on for full (simple!) instructions!

Ready to make your own? It’s easy! We wanted these to be temporary, as they were only being used for one event. I’m sure you could achieve a more permanent effect with superglue or a special glass glue.

You will need:

• glass candle holders OR candy dishes
• glass plates
• hot glue gun

Cost? I personally thrifted items for three stands from St. Vincent’s on 7th for $15–that’s $5 per stand!

Choose a candle holder and plate to compliment each other. If you have an especially heavy plate, look for a thick, sturdy base.

Literally all you do is apply a liberal amount of hot glue to the top of your candle holder (as in the above photo), then press your plate on top of it. You’ll need to make sure the plate is carefully centered, because once you’ve set it on top there’s no wiggling around to adjust the placement!

Again, we wanted to make these so they could be taken apart again at the end of the reception. With a firm application of pressure, the base came away from the top, and the hot glue peeled up without any damage to either piece. They were remarkably durable! Every stand made it safely through the reception, even being moved several times while being FULL of items (we had to change table locations). We had only one plate casualty while cleaning up–a guest was being so sweet and helpful bringing things in, didn’t know they weren’t “real” cake stands, and carried one upside-down to the house.

That being said, there was one stand that I could NOT pull apart for the life of me. To the best of my knowledge it is still firmly stuck together, sitting on the counter of my cousin’s house.

And that’s it! What will you put on your stand? We baked individual pies for guests as dessert, and those cuties went on top as a centerpiece for each table. Again, that marriage of form and function… I love it!