DIY: Cake Pedestal

The window of the bakery was filled with beautiful display cakes in all shapes and sizes, the one thing they all had in common was that they were all displayed on beautiful cake stands. At the end of the appointment I asked her if she could show us what options she had for us to use. Unfortunately, our cake was too large to go on one of the stands she had but she would look at her suppliers and if we found anything we liked we could use that.

Our Requirements

• 16" in Diameter, at least
• Must be able to hold at least 100 lbs
• Must be very stable - no wobbles!

After 2 hours of googling, surfing Etsy and Ebay and hunting through T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, etc. I couldn't find anything larger than 12" and under $60. Then I started looking for materials to make my own. I had seen DIY tutorials on Weddingbee where the poster used a vase or glass and a plate. Still no luck. Everything was either too small or too big or the plate was to curved or it had a ridge.

Walking through Target, I found it! A wooden candle holder meant for a 3" pillar. It was about 7" tall and had a cool shape to it I bought it for $10 figuring we could cut the platter part from wood easily. After scouring Michael's and only finding 6" & 8" wood plaques, we headed to Lowe's. Instead of getting a sheet of wood to cut up we found precut circles meant for table tops or barstools. At 18" wide it was a little bigger than we need but it works. Also needed were screws, screw in "eye" hooks, and paint.

Materials Pic

Jon did all the hard labor, I just did the decorating.

1. Remove the metal dish on the top of the pillar

2. Find the center of the 18" wood disk and mark 4 screw holes

3. Match pillar up so it will sit in the exact center (Super Important! If its not in the center the balance will be off potentially making easier for it to tip once the cake is placed on top.

4. Make sure the stand is level and test with weight

We thought it was a little too shaky so I ran to Micheal's and picked up the 8" wood plaque to place on the bottom - same process as top. Then we tested again. Much more stable!

5. I then sanded the whole thing. I really wanted to get all the finish off the candle pillar.

6. I painted the whole thing with 3 coats of Valspar Tropical Sea. Letting it dry between each coat.

7. At this point, you can spray with a shiny finishing spray.
8. After letting it really dry for a few days I measured the circumference and did some math, I screwed in the eye hooks equally around the underside of the dish.

9. Once they were all in I started beading, first all the dangles, then all the swags using beads I found at Michael's.

 The finishing touch was a 15" mother of pearl scalloped charger plate I found at Pier 1.

The Final Product

Total Cost: $40 ish

7" Pillar from Target: $10
18" Wooden Disk from Lowe's: $10
8" Wooden Plaque from Michaels: $5
8 Screws: $4
10 Eye hooks: $2
Sample can of Paint: $3
Beads: $26 but I'm using them for other projects too.