Cake Stands Fit for A Queen

I recently discovered Betz White's blog, Stitch Beautifully...Tread Lightly and have been inspired by her creativity. She has lots of craft tutorials on her blog; most use recycled materials, an approach that resonates with me. I have her book, "Warm Fuzzies," which features a range of felting projects, but now I'm a blog groupie of hers as well.

One tutorial is for a cake stand made using vintage glass plates and parfait glasses, something she calls Dish-play Cake Stand. I thought I'd give them a try, so went out and scoured our local ops shops for some raw materials:

Was happy to nab this vintage glass plate, obviously dating back to Queen Elizabeth's coronation, as well as these other two:

I decided three different shapes and sizes would be enough of an experiment. The Queen's plate set me back $12 at the Hospice shop, the other two were $3 each, and the cups/stands for the bases were $1-$2 each.

My biggest challenges were around using (and finding) the right adhesive sealant. Betz advises using clear caulk or silicone sealant. I learned belatedly from Kelly in Holdfast's customer service area that there's a much easier product to use (Holdfast Silaseal RTV Silicone Sealer), which comes in a manageable 80 ml. tube.

But that wasn't what the Takanini DIY store sold me, was it? It seems I sometimes learn these things the hard way, it's rarely a straight line to the finish. I know, it's all about the journey, not the destination...

I came home with a clear sealant in one of those long plastic tubes with the nozzle at the end, which I then couldn't figure out out how to open! (Product packaging refers users to a website that didn't explain the first step in the process, opening the tube, so I went back to the DIY store, feeling like a complete moron... I also emailed the manufacturer's customer service department from their website--email was entitled "basic question from a silly woman," but it was over the weekend.)

Maybe this is just a girl thing: being somewhat intimidated by the prospect of toxic sealants spewing out on the kitchen bench or dining room table? Those of you who have tiled or do mosaic are probably ahead of the game on this score; it was a learning experience for me.

It turns out I needed a caulking gun, which the store hadn't sold me, plus a utility knife, commonly called a "Stanley knife," to cut the heavy plastic. Once I had the proper supplies, I was on to the next step, actually making the cake stands.

I did find it hard to press the sealant out of the tube with the caulking gun, needed to use two hands, but eventually I got it applied to the tops of the bases and pressed them into place.

Things learned from this project:

Hamilton-based Holdfast, a New Zealand manufacturer of sealants and adhesives, has a great customer service department that responded back to me first thing Monday, and an outstanding employee in Kelly, who deserves a gold star for persisting via email to come up with a product that will definitely work better the next time. They've won a loyal customer in me, John already uses their products.

Black marks to my local DIY store, which didn't sell me all of the stuff I needed to use the product they sold me, requiring a second trip back to the store. They also could have sold me a product better suited to my project as Kelly has pointed out.

But isn't this a great idea? The stands can be used for cupcakes, cake, chocolates, even yarn!

Voila, cake (or yarn) stand fit for a Queen: