Rustic Wood Cake Stand

It seems like wedding season has changed in recent years from summer to early fall.  My facebook feed has been filled lately with wedding pictures and updates.  To {attempt to} get in the spirit of things, I thought I would share a wedding cake stand I did a few months ago.  This is only a semi tutorial because one of the steps requires having a super awesome dad cut things for you.  Anywhoo...  This was an inspiration photo sent to me by a bride.

We both loved the cake stand and I wanted something similar.  They are really hard to find though and a little pricey, so of course I decided to make my own.  I had my dad cut the wood for me, because he is awesome like that.  He said he just used a chainsaw to cut thin wood cookies {yes that is really what they are called} and then a small tree for the pedestal. 

I was in a hurry to use them the first time so I took a not recommended short cut here.  What you should do here, is wrap them in paper bags or put them in the freezer for several weeks to dry slowly.  What I did was put them in the oven on a low temp to kill all the buggies and dry the wood a bit.  Not recommended because the cookies definitely cracked.  If you dry them slowly the wood will not crack.

 

 

So pretend like you have nice uncracked wood cookies here.  I sanded down both sides of each with a belt sander.

 

 

 

Then I stacked the pieces in the order I wanted them.

 

  I drilled a hole through the cookie and the pedestal at the same time.  Then through the bottom of the next pedestal.

 

I cut three inch sections of a dowel rod and used that to connect the middle tiers.  The bottom and top tier I connected with screws for extra stability.  The dowel rods in the middle allows me to disassemble it for transportation and rearrange the cookies to add or take away layers.

 

Then just clean it really well and you are finished!

I love the way it turned out.  The look was perfect for the feel of the wedding.  This was one of my favorite cakes and weddings to date.  I love when weddings {and interiors} completely reflect the couple's personalities.