DIY Cupcake Stand - A Step by Step Tutorial

A super easy tutorial for DIY cupcake stand! This tiered cupcake stand can be used for a combination of cake and cupcakes. It can be customized to any color or theme one likes.

Here is a DIY cupcake stand cum cake holder I made for a customer. She ordered a 6 inches round cake and some cupcakes to go with it. So she was looking for a stand that could fit both the cake and cupcakes.

She was initially looking for any cake or cupcake stands she could rent, but since I did not have any, I proposed to make one for her instead.

Frozen themed cake and cupcakes on a DIY cupcake holder

This was quite an easy cupcake stand, made using wrapping papers, cake boards and Styrofoam dummies.

This tutorial is a remake of my original stand. And that is simply because I did not manage to capture any step by step images while I was making it for my customer. It will be easier for you to follow the tutorial if I include detailed images on how I put the stand together. Hence the remake with detailed images. There will be slight variations in my tutorial below as compared to the completed cupcake stand you see in the image above, especially with regards to the wrapping papers I used as I was unable to find the ones I used for my original project.

How to Make DIY Cupcake Stand

These were the main supplies I used to make this DIY cupcake stand:

Styrofoam dummies – I used 2 styrofoam dummies, one measuring 6 inches in diameter and the other measuring 10 inches in diameter. Both were 4 inches high and I purchased these dummies at a local cake decorating supply shop.
Wrapping papers – I chose silver and royal blue colors for this project because the stand was made for a Frozen themed party.
Cake boards – I used 3 cake boards in total. The first 2 were in the exact same size as the styrofoam dummies, i.e., 6 inches and 10 inches. The third one measured 15 inches.
Glue & Hot Glue – I used 2 types of glue, one is a paper glue which I used to stick my wrapping papers around the cake boards and styrofoam and the other is the hot glue which I used to assemble the cupcake stand.
Scissors and Ruler – These were basically to measure and cut the wrapping papers.

And this was how I assembled the DIY cupcake stand:

I used 2 Styrofoam dummies as the main base for the holder. In deciding on the sizes of the Styrofoam dummies, main consideration was the size of the cake that was going on the top tier of the holder and the size of the cupcakes that are to be put on the subsequent tiers.

Choosing the dummy and cake board sizes

For this project, my cake size was 5 inches round in diameter, and so I used a 6 inch round cake dummy for the top tier of the holder so that my cake could fit well on it. In deciding on the diameter of the next tier, I measured the diameter of my cupcakes. I had to make sure that the second tier was large enough to hold the 6 inches dummy that made the first tier of the cake stand as well as to fit a row of my cupcakes all around it.
My cupcakes measured approximately 2 inches in diameter. That means there had to be at least 2 inches space all around the 6-inch dummy that was resting on the second tier of my stand. This in turn meant that the diameter of the second tier had to be 4 inches larger (2 times 2 inches) than the first tier.
So my second Styrofoam dummy measured 10 inches in diameter (6 inches + 4 inches). And finally, for the third tier (which was just a layer of cake board), I added another 4 inches to the second tier dummy which means I needed a cake board measuring 15 inches (11 inches + 4 inches).

As for the 3 cake boards I used for the project (as I have listed above), the sizes I used were 6, 10, and 15 inches round. The 15 inches board made the base of the cupcake holder. The 6-inch one was used on top of the 6-inch dummy. The 10-inch board was used on top of the 10-inch dummy.

Preparing the cake boards

The first step was wrapping the cake boards with my wrapping paper. I used blue colored wrapping paper for this purpose and started with the smallest cake board. Placed it on the reverse side of the blue wrapping paper. Draw a circle following the size of your cake board. And then draw another circle around the first one, giving an extra allowance of 1 inch all around the cake board. Cut it out.

2 cake boards, one wrapped in blue paper and another one in white

The extra 1-inch allowance is for wrapping the paper around your cake board. Since its a circle, for ease of wrapping, snip the paper in about one-inch intervals all around. Make sure the snipping does not go beyond the inside circle.
And then place your cake board in the center. Apply paper glue on the wrapping paper that shows around the cake board.

Applying glue to the a piece of round paper

And then, wrap the paper all around your cake board. Here is how I started mine:

And this was how it looked when completed. You would need to adjust and make smaller folds on the wrapping paper as you go around your cake board. The idea is to make sure its snugly wrapped.

The back of a cake board wrapped in blue paper

Turn the board around and your cake board should look something like this:

Go ahead and wrap the remaining 2 cake boards in the same way.

3 pieces of cake boards wrapped in shiny blue wrapper.

Preparing the cake dummies

Next, prepare the styrofoam dummies. I wrapped mine in silver wrapping paper. The first step you need to do is to measure the height of the dummies. Mine were 4 inches high.

Using a ruler to measure the height of a styrofoam block

And then, mark it on the reverse side of your wrapping paper, giving one-inch allowance at the top and bottom. The idea is to basically cut a strip of paper that is long enough to wrap the sides of the styrofoam dummy. The extra 1 inch allowances are to secure the edges neatly once it’s wrapped around the dummies.
Here is my paper strip looked like after cutting. Notice how I made small snips on both ends of the strip. This is to ease the wrapping process.

A long piece of paper with the sides snipped being held down with a pair of scissors and ruler

After that, apply paper glue all over the strip. Place the dummy right in the center, and wrap the paper securely around it.

A round styrofoam block being wrapped in silver paper

Once you have the paper all around the sides, cut off the excess. Secure the ends, similar to the cake boards earlier. This was how I started:

And this was how it looked like after completion:

A round styrofoam block wrapped in silver paper

Go ahead and wrap the remaining dummy in the same way.

2 pieces of styrofoam blocks wrapped in silver paper.

Assembling the cake stand

Next is the assembly process. Start with the largest cake board. Placed the larger of the 2 wrapped cake dummies right in the center. Glue these together with hot glue. And then attach your second-largest cake board on top. This should be the same size as the styrofoam dummy it is placed on.