MAKING YOUR OWN CAKE OR APPETIZER STAND

I will be demonstrating how I made this cake/appetizer stand.  It will begin with the painting of the piece, then baking, and finally assembling it.

Step 1: CLEAN THE PLATE AND BOWL

Start by either washing the plate and bowl and/or cleaning the surface to be painted with rubbing alcohol.

Step 2: DRAW BASE LINE

Center the bowl in the middle of the back of the plate. This will be where it will be glued later on. Use a china pencil to draw around the base to show where the bowl will be glued. This will be a guideline to use when you begin to paint.

Step 3: BEGIN PAINTING THE FLOWER

Start by painting the first four petals of your Tiger Lily. Load your flat brush with two colors of paint. I used orange and yellow.

Step 4: BEGIN PAINTING THE NEXT FLOWER

Move to the next flower in your design. This one will be painted entire outside the circle with a small portion of the petal going around to the top of the plate. Keep the design to the edge so  food does not have to come in contact with the paint.

Step 5: BEGIN PAINTING THE BOWL

Move on to the bowl. Place the bowl where it will sit when glued. Continue with the pattern going up the bowl.

Step 6: PAINT THE THIRD FLOWER

1.Move on to third flower. It is nice to work with odd numbers as it adds interest to the design. It too, will be painted as a full flower outside the center. A little bit of these flower petals will flow around to the front of the plate. Remember to just keep the design to the edge.

Step 7: PETAL SHADING

1.Take a flat brush and fill it with the main flower color. Use the touch and pull technique on the chisel edge of the bristles, from the base of each petal towards the tip. This adds shading to the center of each petal. You will do this to each petal that can be seen as part of the face of the flower.

Step 8: PAINT PARTIALLY OPENED FLOWER ON BOWL

1.Move back to the bowl. This time you will add a partially open Tiger Lily. This flower will be contained on the bowl, not flowing to the back of the plate.

Step 9: ADD FRECKLES

1.The next step is to add the freckles to the Tiger Lilies. Include them on the petals that would be considered the face of the flower, on the partially opened flower.   I used brown for the freckles.  You can use other colors if you choose. 

Step 10: PAINT STAMENS

1.Now you will add the stamens. I used green with burgundy and yellow on the ends. Again, use the colors which best suit you.

Step 11: PAINT THE LEAVES

1.Select a color of green for your leaves. I used a single color of green.    Use a flat brush. On the chisel edge touch and pull the longer One Stroke leaves. I place the leaves coming out from in between each petal of the Tiger Lilies. Repeat this on the flowers on the bowl.

Step 12: PLACE THE PLATE ON TOP OF THE BOWL

1.Place the plate on top of the bowl. Be careful not to place the bowl on the wet paint. You can now see how the petals and leaves slightly come over the edges of the plate.

Step 13: PAINT DOTS ON THE BORDER

1.Use the end of a smaller paint brush handle to paint green and orange dots around edges of the entire plate.

Step 14: REPEAT THE PREVIOUS STEP ON THE BOWL

1.Repeat this process around the opening of the bowl.

Step 15: ALLOW TO DRY

1.Allow the pieces to dry for an hour.

Step 16: PLACE IN THE OVEN

1.Place the pieces in your cold oven. I actually placed the front side of the plate on top of the opening of the bowl while baking. This keeps the painted places from touching anything.

Step 17: PRE-HEAT THE OVEN

1.Pre-heat your oven at 350 degrees. Add the pre-heat time to the 30 minute baking time.

Step 18: COOL COMPLETELY

Allow the pieces to cool completely once they have been baked

Step 19: GLUE PIECES TOGETHER

1.Once the pieces have cooled completely you will be ready to glue them together. I use E-6000 glue. It is very durable and waterproof too. Place your glue around the base of the bowl. Place it in the drawn circle on the back of your plate. Make sure the flower parts line up. 

Step 20: WIPE OFF EXCESS GLUE AND CHINA PENCIL

1.Once the bowl has been set, wipe off any excess glue that seeped out while the bowl was being pressed on to the plate.  A little water will remove the china pencil mark left behind. 

Step 21: ALLOW THE CAKE STAND TO DRY

1.Allow the cake/appetizer stand to dry for 24 hours. If you choose to place a clear medium over your design, you may do so at this point. It is not required, but will add durability to the piece.

Step 22: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

***It is important not to allow this piece to sit in standing water. Hand wash and dry only!

This is a versatile piece that can be used to hold a cake, cupcakes, finger foods, or even your keyes.  You can flip it over and place a condiment or dip in the bowl.