Tip Me Tuesday... (a repost)

I have searched high and low for the "perfect" tiered cupcake/cake/dessert server.  I didn't want a cardboard one, I didn't want a plastic one, I wanted glass or crystal.  I found a 3 level one that I liked, the pieces sat on top of eachother, so that made it easy to store, but the space between them was not enough to put cupcakes that were well decorated in there.


Hmmm, what to do?  Well, of course the answer is... Make it yourself Kathy! :)


So, I went hunting...around my house, inside the buffet, on top of the fridge, inside the hutch, I also hunted the thrift store.  I had a large clear glass serving dish on my fridge that is seldom used, (because I can't see it up there).  I found two clear glass plates at goodwill for a whopping .69 cents each...woo-hoo!  Love cheap stuff!


I had a drawer full of crystal and glass candle holders that I NEVER use....and I had a precious, adorable small cake tier that I was willing to sacrifice to get what I want, lol.


So, here is what I did. 

(The final product at a Baby Shower)

NOTE:  If you have no desire to make this but would like to see the final product, scroll WAY down to the last photo. :)

FIRST, I searched the internet, because I had no idea what to do. 

I found out that all I needed was a good "glass glue"...several were listed.  Hubby picked up a 5 minute Epoxy for me that works on glass.


I stacked everything the way I wanted it, trying out various separaters at different levels until it was just right.
I thorougly washed, rinsed and dried all the pieces to be used.  Make sure you rinse them GOOD, you do not want any soap residue to interfere with the glue adhering.


Next, I made paper templates for each plate size so that I could find the exact middles...

I had to tape several sheets of paper togehter for the larger plates...

Cut out a circle the exact size of each plate...

Fold it perfectly in half...

Press the crease to make it sharp...

See how nice and sharp it is? :)  Now, open it up and...

Fold it in the other direction, lining up the crease to itself to  make a perfect cross mark in the center...

Again, press the crease in this direction...

Now, open it out and draw a plus mark in the center where they meet...

Do this to all of your paper templates...

Place your plate on the circle... I put mine upside down so I could line up the edges...

Make sure it is perfectly centered...

With a THIN permanent marker, make a teensy tiny little X by standing DIRECTLY over the center of the plate.  If you do this at an angle, it won't be in the middle.  You are marking the center of the plate.

See my tiny mark?

See how tiny it really is?  You want it small so it isn't visible when it's all said and done...My platets are not perfectly flat, but they are "almost" flat.  If you can find perfectly flat ones, that's best for cupcakes, but those with a slight curved edge are fine for any other hors d' oeurves (did I spell that even close correct?), veggies, fruits, etc...

This is the glue my hubby found for me.  It worked perfectly and he got it at Lowe's Home Improvement.

I have no idea why I felt the need to show you the back... ?

5 minute epoxy dries quick (in minutes actually, lol)...so mix only a little bit and do a plate or two at a time working quickly, but CAREFULLY!!  Apply just as much as you need to cover the edge, not too much or it will goop out...a little bit goes a long way.

This is the base of the main plate, I am putting all three of these on the bottom, just like this, so they all need to have glue applied to them at once.  These are candle holders I bought 700 years ago and never used...

This is the candle holder I am using to separate the bottom plate from the next plate.  It allows enough room for cupcakes to be placed on the tier without smushing them. :) ... I'm pretty sure this one was never used either...but if you don't have any, they are super cheap new (about $1.00) and only about .60 cents at a thrift store.

When the glue has been applied, immediately center your plate on the holder (see my little x?).  Press it into place...

Though it probably wasn't necessary since glass has weight, we decided to weigh them down while they "set up".  The epoxy dries in 5 minutes, but it shouldn't be "handled" for an hour. So we waited an hour before stacking all our tiers.

This wait time allows your husband to use the plates as landing pads for his helicopter...

Nice. :)

When you choose your pieces, be sure that the bottom of your plates will lay perfectly flat on the "stand" you choose.  You don't want a bumpy or wavy edge, as this could prevent if from being securely attached.

After 1 hour, we applied glue to the bottom of the candle sticks (not the very bottom ones though...we didn't want it secured to the table!).  I carefully lined up the centers as best I could, and weighted it with a bag of flour (wheat for extra weight, LOLOL).  Then we went to bed...

When I woke up the first thing I did (even before coffee!) was check it out.  Hubby was the first to lift it up and tilt it, carefully placing his hand underneath incase something fell off.  Every piece is secure and cemented in place... Isn't it pretty?  It's exactly what I wanted, and the cost was an incredible bargain!

Your turn!  What are you creating?

Have a blessed day!

Kathy C.

My May Mish-Mash Monday

Say that fast a few times! :) hee hee hee

Well, following suit with my bestest and another dear friend, I shall simply give you an "update" for this weeks happenings....Bullet style:

*  We will be attending the birthday party for our very favorite 6 year old (to be)...oh yeah.  It should be great fun, considering last year it resulted in this post...Good for a Giggle...I can't wait to see what happens this year. :)

Pretty small for a 6 yr old, huh?  :)

* I made a new Bible Cover...yup. 

 Old faithful was lookin' a bit "granny. Um, why did I use this fabric 10 years ago to cover my bible? Sigh. Oh well, I'm happy with the new one...she's purty. :)

* I got these....

do you know what they are?  They have made my life easier and I love them!  Any guesses???

*  My veggie garden is producing nicely.  Beans are almost ready to be turned under.  Cabbage are forming nicely, I've picked 4 so far and have several more coming along.  I have enough tomatoes to make sauce for dinner, with enough to slice and toss on salad.  Getting ready to put in some summer crops.

* This is my new chicken coop.  I can't wait for them to arrive!  I hope they like their new home...

YES.  I'm kidding. :) 

My precious princess, Stormie, has decided to make this area of the yard her sandbox and has taken the last few months to perfect the area by killing all the grass.  We have "quaranteened" it, so as to let the grass grow back.  She is not a happy camper.

* I shall begin a tough workout program VERY soon.  I'll be blogging my progress (maybe), LOL.  This will include a short period of time where I won't be having any sugar...ok, 3 months...that could feel like a lifetime!  Um, for me that means no coffee!!!  Yikes...or choclate...oh!  OR Cake balls...whatever will I do?  :) 

I'll survive.... I hope. :{

* Um, that's about it... I think.  Oh, I need to kill a plant.  A VERY invasive plant.  I am thinking about pouring vinegar on it.  Will that work?  What do you think?

Laundry "room" makeover

In my fantasy world, I have an indoor, bright, sunny, laundry room.  There are windows that open to the fresh outdoors and a clothes line that can be reeled in so that I can hang my clothes without ever leaving the room.  On the window sill sit birds that sing to me all day long.  Obviously I am some sort of Disney Princess in this fantasy world.... :)

In reality, I have a Laundry "Area" that fits into a space in my husbands very well used and "Manly" garage.  We do not have the type of garage that simply "stores stuff".  My handy husband is a fixer.  He has tools and greasy things and stuff that I can't name.  So the garage is all his....all except for my little area where I do laundry. 

I decided that I would make this little area as pretty and "me" as I could, so using some paint that we already had, a few thrift store finds and a couple of new "splurges", I made my Laundry Area a place that is cheeful, pretty and neat as a pin.

Here is my before "area 51"... lol... basically a disorganized, dingy area that is cluttered and worn looking.

Notice the worn out rug, dingy sink, and orange dog food bucket.

And, After...a much happier place to do laundry! :)
Things to note, no more trash can.  A brand new, very pretty, floor mat, pretty and fun colors, a nicely organized shelf with coordinating colors for storage.

I spray painted the "dog food bucket" to match my color theme and hot glued a band of red felt around my laundry basket.  The red spoon is a soap holder.  I scrubbed down the outside of the sink and painted the legs red to give a pop of color and make it appear as though it were on a "stand".

This was my one "splurge" item... it was $24 at Lowe's.  But it was SO pretty, and I figured with all the other bits and pieces where I saved money...well, I just really wanted it.  :)

Here are some steps I took...

I grabbed a can of white paint off the shelf...purchased for another project, but I bought a gallon so I have plenty!  I painted the entire inside of the cabinet, and the top and sides of the shelves.

Painted the edges and underside of shelves, as well as cabinet door with a Robins Egg blue paint leftover from another project...

All painted and drying...

I had to make it "girly", so I hot glued lace along the edge of the industrial flourescent light.  I purchased these two red collapsable containers to store bug sprays and cleaning supplies in a neat and clean way.

We kept tripping over the little plastic white trashcan (which was simply for dryer lint).  Everytime we took out our bikes, we knocked it over and lid fell off and lint went everywhere...so did the candy bar wrappers that I would toss in there to conceal my love of chocolate!  So, I replaced with this cute tin bucket.  I purchased it at Lowe's for about $2.50 and spray painted it red.

The spray paint station... Hubby wasn't too happy with my apparent "overspray" effect on his concrete...ooops. :/  I purchased the metal "spoon" and plastic bucket at a thrift store.

Here is my "re-organized" shelf.  I was able to toss several empty cans of OFF that had been hiding in the shelf for years and consolidate extra trash bags and rubber gloves to store neatly.

The little red container was perfect for storing sponges and scrub brushes neatly and it was a whopping .50 cents at the thrift store!  The cute little blue plastic vase was only .30 cents, and matched perfectly...great for storing paint sticks.

Last, but not least, I made this "faux sign" for the cabinet door.  I will show you step-by-step how I did this next week...so come back!

I plan to either spray paint or use vinyl stick letters to apply words to the sink, washer and dryer.  They will be:  SCRUB  WASH   DRY  - Can anyone think of a better word to put on the sink?  If you think of one, let me know... I could only think of Scrub, lol.

Oh, and of course, there are just some things that you can't change...

The fact that my little princess gets very annoyed when I won't let her in the house with "dirty feet"...she was obviously doing yard work while I was busy... Hmmmmm

And THIS....the inside of a garage sink.  It's well used.