When you can’t find exactly what you want, you have to make it yourself.

I can rarely find exactly what I want, so I’m quite familiar with the DIY route. Craigslist & Ikea are two of my favorite sources but inspiration and resources can really be found anywhere. When looking at a piece of furniture, pile of materials, or even a room, it’s important to see beyond what the item currently is and visualize what it could be.

In this instance, I needed a cake stand. Not just any cake stand though. {Lord knows I’ve got plenty of cake stands; they just weren’t big enough!} I needed a cake stand that would be big enough for a wedding cake.

A wedding cake that would be showing up to a wedding THIS SATURDAY. A rustic, backyard, fall, wedding with lots of natural elements & textures like wood, twine, burlap, & pumpkins.

The largest layer of the cake is a 12″ round, so something 14″ would be perfect. Have you ever tried to find a 14″ round cake stand?? It’s not as easy as one would think. But after promising the bride a cake stand, I had to come up with something.

I also promised the bride orange candles from IKEA. That was easy.

{I probably bought too many but better too many than not enough.}

Back to the cake stand.

So I was wandering around the kitchen section & happened upon the SNUDDA {lazy susan} for a totally reasonable $7.99. It’s 15″ wide ~ {almost} the PERFECT diameter!

Across from the candle section were the plants & planters. There I found the 4 1/4″ MANDEL planter for $2.99.

You see where I’m going with this??

I also swung by the dollar store & picked up a ball of twine for $1.

Assembled all my materials.

Using my handy glue gun, I secured the top row of twine & then wound my way down.

Well, technically I started at the bottom which would mean I worked my way “up”, not “down”…  Either way.

I then hot glued all around the bottom {technically top} edge, securing the last row & creating a lip of hot glue so the twine wouldn’t slip off.

Since the lazy susan has a base {that’s how it spins}, I wanted to cover it in twine too.

All twined!

Then I hot glued the top {er… bottom} of the planter to the bottom center of the lazy susan. An extra band of twine hid the seam.

Flipped right side up.

See how the twine on the lazy susan base & the planter tie both together? It creates one unified base with the wood resting on top.

And did I mention ~ IT SPINS!!

So that’s how $13 {w/ tax} made a custom, fall-inspired cake stand fit for a wedding out of a lazy susan, ceramic planter, & some twine.

{I’ll be sure to get a picture of it at the wedding, so you can see it in action!}