a selection of plates
• a three-tier cake-stand fitting (can be found on eBay or many online craft stores and usually cost about £6)
• a fully charged cordless drill with a tile drill-bit. This is important because a normal drill-bit will break your plates
• a screwdriver
• a pen
• a tape measure
You’ll need a dinner plate for the bottom, a side plate for the middle and either a saucer or teacup for the top.
Make sure your plate is clean and dry. With your tape measure, take the diameter of the plate, using your pen to mark the middle. This will act as your drill guide.
Time to put on those safety goggles. Always drill your plate somewhere it won’t slip, and where you aren’t going to ruin into something valuable underneath. A workbench is ideal but if, like me, you don’t have one of these, put it on the grass in your garden. Before I start, I put a little bit of water on the plate to keep the drill bit and plate cold. Slowly drill where you have marked the middle until you’ve passed all the way through. Repeat until all three plates have holes in the centre. It’s worth noting that the glaze on some vintage plates makes them impossible to drill through. In these cases, you’ll unfortunately have to find another plate.
Start with your bottom plate. Put your washers on and then poke the bottom screw into the plate.
Put a soft washer on the topside of this plate and then apply the cake stand fitting. Repeat until all three fixings have been attached. A small saucer is more normal for the top tier, but for an “Alice in Wonderland” feel try that china cup – perfect for putting pretzels or lollipops in.
