Hello, nice to see you again.
I enjoy making my own wooden boards and displays, and I tend to make several at a time because I don't enjoy sanding! I rather make 10 at once than 1 every time I need it; never mind the layer of dust I end up covered in!
The materials I use are very simple and if I can recycle some, the better! I love thinking of objects I might have around the house and searching for them, not only because I love recycling, but also because:
1. I feel like having too much (stuff) weighs me down spiritually and 2. It enhances my creativity! This last one is my favourite, and if you are like me, you may have experienced a wave, a flood of ideas as soon as you start coming up with one! Then the problem is that you have too many that they're hard to make them stop, but in my opinion, that's a good problem to have.
Anyway, the materials I used for the boards and cake stands are lolly sticks and coffee stirrers mainly (list of materials at the end). For the cake stands in particular, apart from lolly sticks, I also used a brush handle (yes, I sawed it!) and a wooden reel.
Wooden Boards
To make the wooden boards, I trimmed and sanded lolly sticks and glued them together. Once they were dry, I filed the edges and sanded them. I made 15 of these in different styles and sizes, so it can be extremely painful if you're doing the cutting, filing and sanding by hand like me. It took me about two days to complete just this stage, I don't think they're perfect and I could've sanded them even more, but my hands swelled up so much I couldn't hold the tools anymore. I don't have space to invest in woodcraft materials and tools, or I would; it would not hurt, it would take a fraction of the time, not to mention the precision that could be achieved.
Next I painted them in some of my favourite colours using acrylic paints and water based varnish once the were dry. To achieve natural wood colours, one could enhance the wood with brown paint or wood varnish.
I also painted one lavender and "aqua" because I thought they looked amazing together and made me feel good and positive.
Wooden Cake Stands
After making the boards,
I knew I wanted some cake stands in a similar style but I couldn't find anything wooden to make the actual stand with...I thought, I thought and thought of something that looked like a stand and then I remembered those wooden reels!
I had bought a set of 3 cotton cords that came wrapped around wooden reels and I thought, if I can saw one base off, I'm onto a winner!
I got the saw out of the cupboard and began sawing...It took me about 30 minutes to saw the pieces apart because the saw got stuck every five seconds, so then I decided to use the handle of a brush because it should take less, right? No. Just kidding, it took me less, but not that much less. 😅
Before sawing the brush, I poked it through the hole of the base of the reel to see where I should cut and measured the length.
Once the sawing was done, I sanded the paint off the brush.
To make the top of the stands, I put 4 lolly sticks together and used a round cutter slightly bigger than my cakes and a pencil to trace the shape.
Next, I dabbed glue on one end of the brush handle (the one that fits, because brushes are usually tapered) and inserted it in place.
I let it dry completely before moving on to the next step, because it moved! 😅
Once the base of the stand was dry, I glued it to the top.
Once all the glue was dry, I used acrylic paints to add colour. Apart from painting them in any colour you like, you could also glue some nice floral paper on the top for a different look.
And once all the paint was dry, I applied a coat of matte water based varnish.
To add a personal touch, I finished the cake stands and two of my wooden boards with a detail of cream vintage lace; which go perfectly with my bakery cabinets!
You might have seen the video tutorial on my channel.
I love their shabby chic, industrial feel to them and I can't wait to make more and experiment in new directions.
And that is how I made my wooden boards and cake stands. I didn't film a tutorial because I was only planning to make a few, simple wooden boards in pastel colours and I ended up making so much more than I expected. But isn't it great when you create more than you thought you would, especially using things you find around the house?
Materials I Used
Lolly Sticks: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sl/
Coffee Stirrers: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sm/
PVA Glue: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b7i2/
Reeves Acrylic Paints (24 Pack): http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9st/
Sand Paper: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sv/
Pliers: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sw/
Utility Knife: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sx/
Dura Clear Varnish (Matte): http://go.magik.ly/ml/b7hr/
Lace: http://go.magik.ly/ml/b9sz/
What I had at home:
Wooden Brush
File
Wooden Reel
Saw
⭐ I earn a small commission from the links suggested and the materials may or may not be exactly the ones I used, but similar ones. So please do read the descriptions before buying anything.