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!

Chic cake stands

Because you can't have too many cake stands!

1. Small French cake stand with bird
2. Lisbeth Dahl glass cake stand
3. Lisbeth Dahl two tier glass cake
4. Lisbeth Dahl bell jar cake stand
5. Small clear glass cake stand
6. Gisela Graham clear glass cake stands
7. French cake stand with bird
8. Glass dome cake stand
9. Lisbeth Dahl pedestal cake stand
10. Lisbeth Dahl two tier flat glass cake
11. Tall stem glass cake stand

Have a sweet day!

Pretty tea & cakes

I bring you another selection of pretty gifts, this time for the hostess with the mostess!

1. Acrylic tumblers
2. Green Gate Naomi beige cake stand
3. Pip Studio floral jug
4. Polka dot Tea Story teaplates
5. Green Gate Naomi beige teapot
6. Green Gate Elsa vintage cake tins
7. Pip Studio mug
8. Pressed glass egg holder
9. Polka dot Tea Story cake stand
10. Green Gate Naomi beige ceramic teaspoon
11. Polka dot Tea Story sugar bowl and cream jug

Happy shopping!

Glass cake stands & domes

I am planning my Christmas Winter Woodland candy table at the moment. So, I am delighted to be reviewing some glass cake stands from diverse retailer, CSN stores. They sell all kinds of wonderful products, from beautiful wardrobes to the prettiest cake stands and flan dishes.

Keep an eye out for my review that will feature either my new "Winter Woodland" Christmas cake design or my "Winter Woodland Christmas" inspired gingerbread bird house.

In the meantime, here's what I did last Christmas:

Christmas cakes

Gingerbread bird house

Have a sweet day!

My Halloween cake

Halloween Cake Stand

Over the weekend I decorated a traditional fruit cake for a dear friend of mine, Halloween style!

After marzipanning and icing the cake I had made earlier in the week, I carefully pushed small silver balls all the way around the base of the cake. Using a lace embosser I lighty pressed a lace pattern into the sides. The bones were made by rolling out grey sugar paste and cutting bones out of it using bone shaped cookie cutters. I then lightly painted them with grey fondant icing and covered them in silver sprinkles. The dripping blood was made by dripping bright pink fondant icing round the top edge and sprinkling edible pink glitter onto it. The house and birds were made in a similar manner to the bones and were attached to the cake using cocktail sticks.

Edible art cake glitter in Disco Mulberry
Bird cutter

Haunted House cookie cutter

Have a sweet day!

Whitney Smith

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy", I am featuring the gorgeous ceramics from Whitney Smith, whose designs are based around her love of flowers, birds and other organic forms found in nature.

1. Bird Ceramic Vase in Vintage Green
2. Five Nesting Ranunculus Rose Bowls
3. Bird Cupcake Ceramic Stand
4. Dogwood Flower Ceramic Lidded Vessel in Vintage Green

Have a sweet day!

Lisbeth Dahl Autumn/Winter 2010

This week for my 'shops i love' page I bring you the delightful Danish brand, Lisbeth Dahl. This year's Autumn/Winter collection is called "A journey through a Magical Universe" and what a magical journey it is just looking at the catalogue; filled with pretty, shiny, shimmery objects, plush cushions and beautifully engraved patterns.

On my wish list is one of their pretty etched glass lidded cake stands.


Have a sweet day!

Rosanna

Several years ago I bought the cutest pale blue muffin tray and china cupcake cups in an array of pastel colours from the "Let's Play House" collection by Rosanna and I have been a fan ever since!

Rosanna is named after American creator Rosanna Bowles, who has a passion for tableware. Oh, and boy does it show! She designs the most exquisite dishes which turn any and every day meal times into a special occasion. My favourite ranges from her are "Gelato" and "Decor Bon Bon", with a fresh modern take on some 1950's vintage classics all in a range of faded sorbet colours.

Have a sweet day!

Really Linda Barker

Two Ceramic Birds

Ornate Wirework Bird House

Three Antiqued Glass Birds

Villa Verne Metal Food Stand

Ornate metal plant holder

Zinc and Willow Bird Feeder

Really Linda Barker is a gorgeous online store from Interiors & Product Designer Linda Barker. Linda was born in Yorkshire, England, and trained as a fine artist at West Surrey College of Art and Design. She is also well known as a television presenter, from such shows as Changing Rooms and House Invaders.

The online catalogue is full of a beautiful range of interior pieces, all of which have a calming neutral look to them. I especially love her metal food stand from the "Villa Verne" range, named after her exquisite holiday home situated in a wooded valley just outside the glamorous resort of St Tropez in the South of France.

Have a sweet day!

Clara French

I love cake stands and I am always looking for new ones. I came across these the other day from Clara French. She hand makes them herself and can personalize them for you!

Have a sweet weekend!

Halloween cake stands and cases

Black glass cake stands. Pink glass cake stands



Black skull and crossbones fairy cake cases



Black & white dotty cupcake cases



Spider web cupcake wrapper



SK black baroque cupcake cases



10 silicone mini cupcake cases



Zebra cupcake cases



Pink foil cupcake cases


I love making cupcakes and if you are a regular reader of this blog you will know how much I adore cake stands. So, Halloween was a perfect excuse to buy a few more! I hunted around for cupcake wrappers to fit my Halloween theme and found those above.

I decorated my cupcakes with white butter cream and little black birds in the pink mini cases. I'm still deciding on the others, but black and pink butter cream with pink, black and silver sparkles will be a must! For example, pink edible glitter flakes and silver edible glitter flakes.

I tried out some of my cupcake ideas for the Halloween blog party this past weekend, and will show you more later this week!

Have a sweet day!