Hand-made cake stands

I love cake stands and have collected quite a few over the years, from pretty pastel pressed glass ones to scalloped edge china ones, all in a variety of sizes. I also made a decorative china cake stand a while back using a cup and plate.

For my Winter Wonderland dessert table this Christmas I wanted a pink one to put my bird cage Christmas cake on and two duck egg blue cake stands for my Gingerbread bird house and bakery tree. So when I saw these mini wooden pedestals from Lacoli and McAllister, I decided to make my own using a wooden candle stick holder and a small wooden bread board. Now I just need to finish my Christmas cake and start designing my gingerbread bird house!

Hand made cake stand

Tools and Materials

• Wooden candle stick holder
• Round wooden bread board
• Undercoat white paint
• Bathroom and kitchen paint in duck egg blue
• Martha Stewart multi-surface gloss paint in poodle skirt
• Wood glue
• Paint brush

How to, step by step


Remove metal candle holder from top of wooden candle stick with a pair of pliers and discard. Carefully paint entire candle stick holder and chopping board in two coats of undercoat white paint, leaving an hour in between coats, and leave to dry. Then paint entire candle stick holder and chopping board in two coats of coloured paint, also leaving an hour in between coats, and leave to dry.




With the chopping board placed upside down on a firm surface, use a pencil to mark the centre of the underside of the chopping board with a cross the width of the top of the candle holder. Apply a thin layer of wood glue in a circle over your cross. Place candle holder upside down and place over glued circle and press firmly down. Remove any excess glue with a damp cloth and leave to dry. Voila! A cake stand to match your decor.

Have a sweet day!

Decorative cupcake stand

Decorative cupcake stand

You will need:

1. Araldite ceramic glue
2. Cupcake candle holder
3. Fleur De Lys cup and saucer
4. Fleur De Lys salad plate

Instructions

1. Glue the bottom of the teacup to the bottom of the plate and leave to dry.
2. Glue the cupcake candle holders to the top of the plate.

I love the cake stands made from teacups and adorned with fake cakes that Wendy McLachlan makes for Anthropologie. See my Anthropologie photos on flickr for more pics.

So, when I spied some of the cupcake candle holders in the sale basket at Anthropologie my mind started buzzing with ideas! The candle holders were a bit battered and missing their candles but with a clean, soak and some replacement candles they would work just fine. I headed over to the dinnerware and played about with the cupcake candle holders with various plate, cup combo's. In the end I opted for the Fleur de Lys plate and tea cup. After making my decorative cake stand I just had to go back to Anthropologie and buy the Fleur de Lys pitcher to use as a vase. They are currently adorning my dining table.






Have a sweet day!

The Conran Shop - What's your style this Spring?

1. Seletti Daily Aesthetics Cake Stand, 2. Geodesis Candle, Aloe , 3. Cake Stand White, 4. Blue Spotty Breakfast Plate, 5. Babell Cake Stand White, 6. Blue Spotty Mug, 7. , 8. Blue Spotty Breakfast Bowl, 9. White Bird Candle, 10. Hand Smocked Cotton Wave Cushion Cover, 11. Turquoise America Chair, 12. Hand Pleated Origami Cushion.

I am loving the handmade Blue spotty casual dining range, looks so fresh and fun, perfect for Spring! You know how much I like a cake stand, so I am coveting the whimsical Daily Aesthetics cake stand and the Babell cake stand would be a wonderful place to serve all my sweet treats in the Garden. I can't resist showing you an apothecary jar to fill with candy and something Birdie, and this candle one is so cute!

To inject a pop of colour into my craft room, I would go for the Turquoise America Chair and to add some Boudoir chic to my bedroom I would go for the bang on-trend origami inspired cushion covers.

Share your new season style update with The Conran Shop and you could be one of their weekly winners of £100 to spend on accessories at The Conran Shop.

Over the past three weeks, The Conran Shop has been unveiling their new season’s accessories, together with pieces chosen by some of their favourite homes magazine editors to update their interiors, but they’d love to hear about the designs that you have earmarked for your own home this spring.

Simply grab a pic from their website of an accessory (costing £100 or less) that has caught your eye and tell them what you like about it – using the hashtag #conranstyle – via Twitter.

Alternatively, you can enter via your own blog – just tweet them a link to
your entry. See their T's & C's for full details.

The competition started on the 7th February and runs for four weeks, finishing on the 7th March. So, get your entry in for the last week and the winner will receive a £100 voucher to spend at The Conran Shop. They’ll also get a dedicated blog on The Conran Shop blog, Conran Talking shop and their choice will appear on the website’s home page.

Good Luck, x

Linda Bloomfield

As many of you know, I love cake stands! From the gorgeous coloured bird and flower ones from Whitney Smith to the adorable "Decor Bon Bon" range from Rosanna. So, today I want to introduce you to British potter, Linda Bloomfield, who makes hand thrown, porcelain, subtly coloured cake pottery in simple shapes with tactile satin matt glazes.

Linda first took up pottery in 1973 in a potter's studio in Bristol, England and since then she has been a visiting scholar to MIT in Boston in the US, opened her first pottery studio in California, and exhibited and demonstrated at Art in Action. Linda currently resides in West London and her tableware is stocked in Liberty, amongst other retailers, as well as being shown in international galleries. Her book, entitled "Advanced Pottery" comes out later this month.

I, of course, love her ice cream coloured three cake stands piled high and filled with pretty cup cakes!

Cake stands by Linda Bloomfield from Notonthehighstreet.

Have a sweet day!