Knock-down Tier Stand

So my husband says to me the other day, "Have you updated your blog lately?" and to tell you the truth, I've been so busy juggling my 2 year old and my dear, darling newborn infant that I really haven't had any opportunity to create anything much except a bunch of clean laundry!  But the bug to create bit me again this week, and I've made myself a super frugal and super customizable tier stand!

You'll need two plates and a candlestick for this project.  I picked up some coordinating melamine plates on clearance at the store, and a cheap metal candlestick at our local thrift store.  I paid 99 cents for the candlestick and $3.48 for two plates (of course I bought 4, not 2, as you can see in the picture).  The plates are two different sizes, since I thought that would look nice and balanced.

You only need TWO plates, but I bought some more to practice with in case I broke one.

The key here is that you find a candlestick that unscrews in two places, since that's where the plates will go.  this also makes it possible to break this down for storage, so it doesn't take up a ton of room in the cupboard!

The candlestick, all broken down.  You want to make sure that the threaded parts are longer than your plates are thick.  This project might also look cute if you spray your candlestick with white paint, and use two small silver dishes.  Then it would make a cute jewelry tray!

 I used my drill press to drill a hole in the center of the plates.  Melamine drills fine, it's just plastic, but it's brittle plastic, so you should start with a very small drill bit and work your way up until you have a hole that's big enough for the threaded part of the candlestick but NOT bigger than the body where it meets the threaded part.  And drill slowly, that will help prevent the plate from cracking.

The body of the stick and the threaded end.

The plates, with holes drilled.

Then thread the bottom plate on the candlestick and hand tighten.  Don't over-tighten or the plate may crack!

The bottom of the candlestick!

Screw the top plate on and ta da!  You have a lovely, customizable tiered stand for cupcakes or hors d'oeuvres or jewelry!  You can fill the top part, where the candle would go, with a pretty drawer pull and epoxy that in or just leave it empty.  I'm probably going to look for a pretty crystal knob but I don't have one yet.  And if you want to replace the plates with seasonal or themed ones or ones that match your decor, you can do that and it's cheap!

 Regards, and happy crafting!

 The Messy Mommy