Whenever the first hint of spring is in the air, I begin dreaming of summer entertaining. Summer is one of the few times a year all my friends and I can get together. They are subjected to my party planning skills, craft projects and recipes I want to try. So far, no one has complained. I love the pastel party dishes that are all the rage now, but I hate the prices. One tiered cupcake stand can set me back $30 or more. Since my budget doesn’t include money for cutesy trays and pedestal dishes, I decided to make my own. (I only wish I had thought of this last year before my daughter’s wedding!) I had to purchase a can of craft paint to make them, which did add to the cost a little, but I could still easily make six to eight tiered dishes for the cost of a $30 one.
Here’s how to make a tiered cupcake stand. (Really, it can be used for lots more than cupcakes.) I started with two plastic silver trays I found in the wedding section of Dollar Tree. I added one glass candleholder.
I wanted to make mine “super springy” so I chose a light pink paint. The beauty of this project is you can choose any color you want or choose several colors to make mix and match trays. I began by spray painting one side of the trays and the candleholder. After allowing the trays to dry, I flipped them over and painted the other side.
When both sides of the tray are dry, it’s super easy to assemble the tray. If you want a permanent tray, you’ll need super glue. Simply glue the candleholder into the middle of one tray.
Place the second tray on top of the candlestick and glue into place. If you don’t want a permanent tray or want to mix and match, don’t glue the pieces together.
This is such a fun project to experiment with. Try different shaped trays, different colors of paint or different shaped candleholders. The basic materials for the tiered stand cost $3, plus the can of craft paint, which will make eight trays. Let the spring and summer entertaining begin! Do you have a favorite easy entertaining tip for summer?
Disclosure: This post has been brought to you in partnership with Dollar Tree, but all opinions are my own.
Very cute idea! I especially love the colour that you chose, perfect for spring!
What a clever idea. I never thought to combine and spray paint Dollar Tree items. Looks great!
I like the easy way you can customize this! Will work great for birthday parties!
What a great fast, easy and cheap craft. Seriously this is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing.
What a clever idea. I am sure many have these already on hand and can upcycle them into something cute!
I have made these before. They are so fun to make and easy as well. They make great gifts.
What a cute idea! It looks so beautiful and I think we could try different colors and it is not going to be expensive as well. I am going to try this on my daughter’s birthday party. Love doing this kind of crafty works. Thanks for sharing it.
I like the pastel pink. That’s perfect for a girl party or just to bring in Spring. And hurrah, it’s Spring!
Wow, that is really cool! It turned out well and I love that springy pink color.
This turned out great. I will have to make one this weekend.
This is a great idea! I really love that it allows you to customize the the look you’re going for.
What a lovely idea Pam. I have always wondered if we could make them easily at home
That is way more affordable than the $30 tired cupcake stands that I have seen. What a great idea.
Such a great idea. It would have been neat to see it with cupcakes on it.
That is such a cool idea. I actually have a few of these in a storage box in the basement. I just need some spray paint!
i had never thought of anything like this before! Thanks for telling me how to do it!
This is a very good idea. we always are looking for cute party platters.
What a great idea. Both my girls have birthday’s this month, this would be great to put their cake on!
That’s an easy way to add a little color to your party! This would be fun for a girl’s birthday party!
This a really awesome thing, I would love to make my own cupcake stand!
So simple! I also love that light color pink, so pretty!
I don’t want to admit publicly how many cupcake stands I own. It’s far too many! But I love to tailor each to different party themes. Now that I know how to make them myself, I may double my collection.
This is pretty cool. My husband and I have tossed around the idea of a cupcake stand for his product, and I think I can make this work pretty simply.
Wow that is uber cute. I wouldn’t ever think to make my own, but this is just adorable and looks really easy to do!
I love that you used Dollar Tree materials to create something that looks far from cheap. This is a wonderful and inexpensive way to incorporate decor to fit and match with any party theme.
Entertaining can get expensive. this is an awesome idea!
Such a quick and simple idea, and so many variations. Is there anything special that you need to do to the glass candle holder to make the paint stick??
No, you don’t need to do anything special to them. Just paint them. 🙂
I love this. So many possibilities and so inexpensive to do. I love DIY like this.
Pam – this is a great idea – I’ll definitively remember it as I look through what I have or see out and about – thank you!
Smart, simple and so much cheaper than what I paid for mine. Love me some Dollar Tree!
I like how it turned out. I need a cake stand, so I might have to try it.
Isn’t it awesome how simple and fun getting ready for a party can be?! I love this idea!
This would be fun for a birthday party! You could layer the children’s cupcakes around it. Much cuter than a cardboard stand.
Wow! That’s pretty crafty and easy to do. I need to swing by my dollar store and pick up the items to make one of these!
Such a wonderful idea indeed – perfect! We will have to try this next time.
way cute!!! I’m so going to do this!
That is SUCH a great idea! It’s so adorable, and cupcakes always look more delicious when they’re on a stand like that.
I’ve made something similar to this before! But I used Gorilla Glue. Don’t do that LOL It expands all over the place!
Good advice! Thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂
Entertaining can be so expensive, great DIY idea! And seriously who doesn’t love cupcakes right?
Very Nice! And now you have a really cool cup cake stand that could have cost you a lot of money.
That is so clever! I love doing at-home parties but am always looking for DIY ways to decorate and entertain on a budget. I need to try this!
Yes, I am all for budget friendly ways to entertain. This is awesome because you can change the color theme anytime you wanted!
Absolutely great idea customizing the color theme for different parties! And not breaking the budget on fresh decor each time too!
I would not of thought of doing the color for the party or event. I would love to make this.
Cool idea, Pam! I never would have thought to do this, but I am definitely stealing your idea 🙂