DIY: Upcycling Old Plates into a Jewelry Stand

I was at the mall and somehow ended up on a manic shopping spree for accessories. I walked into a store and like a bear to a honey pot, I immediately zeroed in on the shiny and sparkly stuff. If this was a test of willpower, I failed horribly but – bright side! – I ended up with pretty things that inspired the following project. My existing jewelry stand is pretty overloaded, so I needed to find an inexpensive addition to display my new spoils. After some Pinterest research, I found this idea of repurposing old plates and candlesticks to make a stand. Seemed simple enough, so here’s my super-easy version of the project (I am only capable of super-easy). In total, the project cost about $10.

DIY Jewelry Stand

What you’ll need:

• Two old plates, one larger than the other. I wanted to do three, but couldn’t find the right sized plate at the thrift store – I’m keeping my eyes peeled and will most likely add a third layer once I find the right pieces.
• A stemmed glass or a candlestick. I found a small wine glass that was the perfect size for the plates I had.
• Super glue. I used Krazy Glue Craft/Artisan Skinguard. It was easy to work with since it came in small single-use tubes and my fingers weren’t sticking together all over the place. I did consider using hot glue, but after doing some research I learned that it’s not the best adhesive for glass and ceramic since it will easily peel off once cooled.

Time to complete: About 15 minutes, probably less. Took me a bit longer because I was obsessed about cleaning up the super glue residue.

1. Clean the plates and glass. Since everything I used was from the thrift store, I polished with a soft cloth to ensure that there was no dust or residue before I proceeded.
2. Apply super glue to the rim of the glass and press down onto the centre of the plate. This was a bit tricky for me because I wanted to prevent the glue from dripping down the side of the glass – I went slowly and it ended up pretty mess-free (wasn’t perfect, but nothing noticeable). I did get some glue on the plate, but nail polish remover quickly did the trick of getting rid of unwanted super glue (wet a paper towel with nail polish remover and hold on the glue to soften, then wipe clean with dry paper towel).
3. With the glass now adhered to the plate, apply super glue to the bottom of the glass (and plate, if necessary). Press down firmly and hold for a few seconds.
4. Put your bling on it! For $10 and 15 minutes, I love how this turned out. Considering that the last jewelry tree I bought was $30, this is a win for me (also now I have more money for important things, like giant earrings.)