Little Plate Stand

Do you collect little decorative plates? Have you ever gone looking for little plate stands at the shop?  They are virtually impossible to find.  So I thought I'd make a temporary one with the help of one that I already had and it works just fine!  Please note; I don't recommend making large ones for large plates because they'd be much too flimsy.  These little ones that I made are sturdy enough for smallish plates, no more than about 10cm - 12cm wide.

Let's begin the tutorial.

What you'll need is; 

-A small plate stand measuring approximately 11 cm tall and 9 cm wide at the bottom.  If you don't have one, you'll have to design your own on paper.

-Paper and pencil or pen.

-Paper hole punch.

-Thin string, about 5 inches or so.

-A tough and flexible sheet of plastic, anything that's sturdy and flat that can be cut with scissors or a utility knife.  

Hints: Think ice cream or yogurt container.  If you have something that's a little thinner than this type of plastic, you can always stick two pieces together with super glue.

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Grab you paper and fold it in half.  If you have a plate holder, close it (as shown below) and place the longest edge of the plate holder exactly on the folded line.  If you look at my photo below, it doesn't actually show this - I used this photo to show what the shape looks like.  

Completely trace around it, then cut it out.  If you don't have a plate holder, draw your own freehand and make sure it is roughly the same shape as mine and is approximately 11 cm tall & 9 cm wide at the bottom.  

Now that you've cut out your paper template, open it up.

Grab your plastic sheet and place your template on it, then trace all the way around it with a pencil / pen, then cut it out.  Mine is black, so I had to trace it with a light coloured chalk pencil.

Now fold it in half, making sure that you press as firmly as possible.

Place it under a heavy book for a day if you have to.  ;)

While it's standing you might find that after a short while, it will open up and can't wait to be flat again - and you really don't want it to do that.  So what you can do is fold it in half again, mark the center of the longest edge and punch a hole in it as near as possible to the edge.  Pop your thin string into it while it's still folded and tie a knot, making sure you don't tie too tightly because you want to leave a some slack so it can at least open up again to hold your plate.

There you have it!  Your little temporary plate stand to show off your gorgeous little plate.  :)

Well, crafty me!