Cupcake Stand

For a few weeks now, I've been (unsuccessfully) looking everywhere for the perfect cupcake stand. I'm not a huge fan of those wire ones they sell at Target and Hobby Lobby, and I don't think the plastic ones are very classy. I just haven't found one I love. So I did what I do every time I can't find what I'm looking for  -- I looked online. Still, not much to be found.. especially not in my price range. Then it occurred to me. Maybe I could just make one. I'm crafty, right? Sort of.

I finally found one that was appeased me and was pretty simple at Annie's Eats. If you haven't already, check out her blog. She's one amazing woman.

I picked up the things that I'd need, and I got to work. (Yes, at 8:30 this morning. Over a cup of coffee, sitting next to Molly as she blogged about her engagement. What a wonderful world!) Here's a run-down of what ensued:

Supplies
Hot glue gun
Two 8-inch cardboard rounds
Two 10-inch cardboard rounds
Two 12-inch cardboard rounds
Ribbon
Two cans from your pantry (of something that's been there for a substantial amount of time)
Sheet of cardstock
Scissors

How-To
Once your glue gun is pre-heated, take each pair of cardboard rounds and glue them ugly-side-together with their partner (the 8-inchers together, the 10-inchers together, and the 12-inchers together) so that you have three more sturdy circles of cardboard, white on both sides. Or gold if you splurged and got the fancy cardboard rounds.

Hot glue the ribbon around the circumference of each cardboard round. You don't have to glue all the way around, just every couple of inches so the ribbon stays in place and doesn't droop. If you have more transparent ribbon, you might need to go around the circumference twice.

Next measure your cans and cut the cardstock so it will go around each can to cover the label. My cans were 4 3/8 inches tall, so I essentially cut my cardstock in half lengthwise. Wrap the paper around the can then hot-glue it in place. (Sorry Mom, not eating those green beans!)

If you're using your cupcake stand soon, you could glue the cans & rounds together to make your tiers, but if you're transporting it you can leave them separate and put them together once you're at your destination.

And voila! Here's my finished product. You can obviously use any ribbon you want, but I thought this would be pretty versatile. And I think I might put another stand underneath the whole thing so the bottom tier sits up off the table a little.

And since this cupcake stand will initially be used at a friend's baby shower, here are the cute new-baby-boy cupcake papers I found. It's a lot of polka dots, I know, so I might have to revamp things a little. But for now.. So Super Adorable!