Well, those cake stands have been sitting awkwardly on my kitchen table for the past few weeks. Time to dress them up a bit. Clearly, I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration on how to really accentuate the cuteness of these stands. I found loads of ideas, but here are my favorites that cover everything from fun to functional to holidays, too. For more ideas, visit our Design on a Dime board on Pinterest.

Fun

Since cake stands come in many different styles, colors and patterns, you can really have some fun using them in your household decor. For example, tiered cake stands are a great way to display some of your favorite treasures from family vacations or travels abroad. Do you have a large collection of sea shells? Display them on a tiered stand.

Cake stands are also a great way to highlight florals and greenery, too. A collection of succulents is even more eye-catching when arranged on an heirloom metallic cake stand. Are you a rare book collector? Display those books atop a while hobnail stand to accentuate their value even more. Chippy tea cups can get a new life when used as planters for African violets arranged atop a crystal cake stand.

Functional

After you’ve found a few fun ways to use those cake stands, find a few functional uses. For instance, you can use your cake stands to display your farmer’s market finds, artisan breads or specialty olive oils. Or transform that stand into a decorative storage space for your decorative coffee mugs. Use a small cake stand to contain your dish soap and lotion by the kitchen sink.

Your cake stands don’t need to remain in the kitchen, either. Take a few beloved stands into your bedroom to add some fun and functional interest to your dresser or nightstand. A small, tiered, metal cake stand would be a great way to organize your jewelry. You could even use one tier to store your keys, sunglasses and spare change. A larger, ornate stand would be a beautiful way to display your perfume collection, too.

Holidays

Naturally, cake stands are most often used for birthdays, but they can be used for nearly every holiday and in fun, unique ways, none of which involve food! Christmas is probably the easiest holiday to envision using all your cake stands. They are a great way to display antique holiday ornaments, create a beautiful candle display or even highlight a cherished creche.

Easter time is another great reason to dust off those cake stands to create an adorable spring nest rich with greenery, colorful eggs and maybe even a little ceramic bunny. Halloween would be fun to combine all your creepy decor into one spooky tablescape. Grab those potion bottles, a skull, black raven and some dripping candles to really create a haunted atmosphere.

– Jennifer Durrant