Vintage Vinyl Cake Plate

As mentioned many moons ago, here's one of the little D.I.Y. projects I've been writing for Pretty Chic Blog.

After wanting a cake plate for so long (not that I really do any baking or actually have a need for one) I decided I should probably make my own and save myself some money.

I came across several different design ideas online, but wanted to do things a little differently. I thought what better material to use than old vinyl records! They can be picked up second hand for next to nothing, they already have a hole in the middle, so no need to get the drill out, plus, seeing as I write for a wedding blog, they'd fit really well with a rockabilly or vintage themed wedding.

My biggest hurdle with this cake stand, was finding the centre thread to hold my layers together. I searched high and low and couldn't find what I was after. I read somewhere that an allthread (see below left) was the best way to go, but then I couldn't find any suitable metal tubing that would look nice over it and I didn't want the exposed thread as I thought that the bolts between levels would just look clunky and untidy (below right).

So after more than a month of searching online and in every craft shop, DIY shop and any other places I could think of, I gave up on the idea of making the centre thread myself. I did several searches on ebay for cake plate hardware before I finally stumbled upon what I'd been looking for all along and at a reasonable price too. So I snapped it up quick!

This is what I ended up needing for this project:

• Phillips-head Screwdriver
• 3 different sizes of records (2 is also fine if you only want a 2 tiered stand instead)
• Central threads (Search ”cake stand handle” on ebay, there's several different designs to choose from)
• A pack of those little felt or rubber floor saving pads (the ones that go on the bottom of chair legs)

Here's how it all fits together:

First attach about 8 floor savers at evenly spaced intervals to the underneath of the largest record, so that you will have a stable base.

Then assemble your cake plate layer by layer (which very straightforward, when the materials infront of you).

I loaded up my stand with cupcakes to make sure it was sturdy enough, but just for extra safety, you could always purchase a pack of washers like the ones below from your local D.I.Y. store, to secure under each record.

… Or alternatively, stack double records for each layer.

And there you have it, a simple, cheap and easy to assemble, themed cake plate to showcase those cupcakes.