TRADE & MADE: REVEAL

Today I'm happy to reveal the final project for the Trade & Made project with Erin of House of Earnest! If you're just joining in, look back to post one and two to get caught up on this project. In short, Erin and I have sent each other a box full of mystery craft supplies and have challenged each other to come up with some sort of project to share using only the contents found inside the box.

I had several ideas I could have made from the amazing supplies Erin sent my way, but I decided upon this really fun and useful stand.

MATERIALS: patterned contact paper, 12" square styrofoam board, four craft finials, colored bias tape, upholstery nails, seedling cup (optional) and paper baking cups (optional).

STEP 1: Using the grid printed on the reverse of the contact paper, cut a sheet a little larger than your piece of styrofoam. In my case, I used a piece that was roughly 13" by 13" so I had about a 1/2" overhang on all sides.

STEP 2: Peel the contact paper to reveal the adhesive side and place on your work surface, facing the sticky side up. Then gently center the styrofoam sheet over the contact paper and press down. With the portion that overhangs the sides, just crease and fold over and press firmly to adhere. If extra reinforcement is needed, feel free to use clear tape to secure the paper to the styrofoam. 

STEP 3: Taking the bias tape, start to lay out where you would like it to be on the edge. Use an upholstery nail to measure where you'd like it to be. Mark the bias tape and then poke the nail through the bias tape. This will take some force, so be careful when poking. 

STEP 4: Once you have the nail poked through the bias tape, push the nail into the styrofoam, securing it to the side. Continue this method on all four sides, securing each corner. I used a total of 8 upholstery nails, using 2 on each side. 

STEP 5: Once all sides are finished, mark where the finial should go. Mine are about 1" in from the sides, at each corner. I utilized the screw that was attached to each of them, and screwed each one into the styrofoam. 

And there you have it! A stand to elevate anything you wish. 

I used mine to hold toothpicks and small spoons at a party and even utilized a seedling cup and a couple of paper baking cups to hold some cocktail party essentials. It's the perfect height to add depth to a table display and can be customized by changing on the pattern of contact paper and the color of the bias tape. Really the possibilities are endless!

Thanks again to Erin for sending such wonderful supplies! I am now the happy and proud owner of this adorable stand! I want to know, given the supplies she sent me, shown here what would you have thought to make? I had a couple other ideas up my sleeve, but made the quick decision to construct this stand!