Favorite Things

I am not someone who collects things and I really don't like clutter but lately I am realizing I have an obsession. It's an obsession with cake stands and I can't seem to stop. I love them! I love to bake too and since I am a detail person, I think a pretty dessert should be sitting on a pretty plate. I can't help it. It's who I am. So naturally, every time (well, almost every time) I see a beautiful cake stand, I imagine the dessert I would serve on it, and I buy it.  I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites with you. Happy Friday!

This little green cake stand is one of my (very) favorites. The color is fun and the size is perfect for petite desserts.

I love the detail on this little glass cake stand and the dome on top just makes it extra cute.

This pink cake stand was a gift from my children. I love the color. It makes serving cake more fun!

This square cake stand is great for serving things like brownies and bar cookies.

This stand is from a Dessert Stand DIY  post I did last year. I've made some fun stands but this blue one is my favorite.

I took this photo during the Martha Stewart Living Behind The Scenes Tour last fall. I have never seen so many beautiful cake stands!

This photo is from The Baker's Table in Lancaster, PA. If you're local check it out! They have the most amazing selection of cake stands! Each time I go in I have to look at what's new before I do anything else. It's getting dangerous!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Leslie xo

The Baker's Table cake stand photo: property of The Baker's Table

Simple Painted Bar Glasses - DIY

This past week I was browsing Pinterest and I came across some interesting painted bar glasses. They were similar to glasses you would find at Anthropologie and I loved them. As usual, I had the urge to "make something" so I thought I would give them a try. They looked easy to make and since I have more on my to-do list than I have hours in a day, I figured it would be a perfect project to satisfy my creative mood, without throwing me too far off track. I grabbed some stemless wine glasses from the bar, picked up some paint and got busy. It was a simple project and I love how they turned out! I'll show you what I did.

I used glasses that I already had at home. You can buy inexpensive glasses in places like Target or Walmart. The glasses from Anthropologie were speckled in bright colors. I decided to jazz my wine glasses up with metallic paint instead. I picked up some Martha Stewart Acrylic Craft Paint (multi-surface) at Michael's in 3 different colors, Pale Bronze, Brushed Bronze and Sterling.

I worked on a large sheet of parchment paper. I know it's made for baking but I have tons of it and it works well for small projects. I squeezed quarter sized amounts of paint onto the paper. I added more when I needed it. That way it didn't dry out too quickly.

Using a Q-tip, I just started randomly painting little dots and smudges all over the bottom half of the glass.

I worked with one color at a time and painted all four glasses, then started over with the next color. That way the paint had time to dry between each color and kept the dots from blending together.

I created the look I wanted by layering the paint colors. When I finished painting the glasses, I let them sit for a day to dry. The Martha Stewart paint that I used needs to cure for 21 days and then the glasses will be top-rack dishwasher safe. I wanted to use my glasses the next day so I carefully hand washed them. They were fine. I probably won't ever put them in the dishwasher. Make sure you check the directions on your bottle of paint so you know how to care for your glasses.

What's fun about this project is there really isn't a right or wrong way to do it. It's a quick and easy way to turn something ordinary, like an inexpensive glass, into something that makes pouring a drink a little more fun!

Cheers!

Leslie xo