Upcycle: Light fixture into cake stand

10/11/2011 ~ Update: This post was featured over at Coastal Charm, a lovely blog about decorating and thrifting (two of my favorite things!). Be sure to check it out!

The people who built our house had some very questionable taste. This light fixture being one clue to that...

It had a glass globe that went in it at one point, to cover the bulbs. I know this because the same fixture was in almost every room throughout the house. Lovely. They were one of the first things to go when we started remodeling.

Over the summer we came across one of these black metal pieces as we were filling a roll off dumpster with construction debris. I happily threw it on top of the heap and went about my business, but the curly metal kept haunting my mind and I wondered what I could possibly do with it. I quickly spray painted it a nice cream color - because spray paint makes everything better - then sat it in a corner and stared at it for the next two months.

After looking through a zillion photos on Pinterest I finally decided that a cake stand or food stand was in its future. I'm still looking for a plate large enough to sit on top. (I try painted plywood, which did not work out at all.) Until I find the right plate though, I'm using round cake board, which is basically just white cardboard cut into a circle. It's what bakers put cakes on, or what your frozen pizza would come on when you take it out of the box. You can find them at Michaels in a package of 5 or 6 for about $5.

For Halloween, I used Tacky Glue and glued some Halloween themed ribbon around the edge of the cake board, then set it on top of the stand. I also picked up a pretty green, red and creme ribbon for Christmas already.

You can sit a cake, cupcakes, muffins or other pastries on top, or use it for other types of food as well. On a buffet table I think it would give nice elevation to some of your dishes. I'm also envisioning it with a round mirror on top, used as a display around Christmas - with candles maybe? So many ideas, so little time!

This post is linked to: House of Grace | Nifty Thrifty Tuesday | House of Hepworth | Strut Your Stuff Thursdays | Freestyle Friday