Add Beads To A Vintage Cake Plate

Hi, guys!  Today I want to show you how I embellished a wonderful old milk glass pedestal plate.

Here's the before:

This beautiful plate belonged to my husband's grandmother.  I thought I would decorate it using some big carved semiprecious beads.  I didn't want to permanently alter the plate - no way!  With this method, you can add some pizzazz without harm to the original piece.

Want to DIY?  Here's how.

Cut a piece of craft wire, about five inches long.  I used 22 gauge.  (20 or 24 would be fine, too.)

Bend the wire around something to form a small circle.

Then straighten the ends of the wire, keeping a curve at the top.  Like so:

Slip the bent wire onto a hole in the basketweave edge, then add a big bead.

Bend the two wire tails apart.  If your tails are too long or uneven (mine usually were), trim them up with wire snippers to approximately 1/2 inch.

Grab the end of a tail with round nose pliers and spin it in a circle, forming a loop.  As always when making a wire loop, you'll find you need to reposition your grip as you complete the full circle.

Repeat with the second tail.

Dangle done!

Add dangles all the way around the plate, and that's yer pizzazzed-up cake plate.

Use this method to embellish any porcelain object with a similar basketweave edge - a vase, fruit bowl, etc.  Or try it on other styles of cake plate, like the kind that has holes in a scalloped metal edge.


Now I want some suggestions.  Avoiding sugary things, I am not going to eat any cake this year.  So if you were me...

I thought about using it as a base for a planter.  Maybe.  I don't know!  All I can picture is cake!  I really need your help.  Write me some good ideas, you guys.  Gotta keep my mind off the C-word.