DIY Mickey Mouse Cakestand

Cake stands are great at making a little afternoon tea and cake seem extra fancy. I've  been on the look out for a while now for a really cute one which would match my bright tea cups and table cloths but as of yet I haven't found anything too snazzy. I settled on the opinion that unless I made one I would never be happy and so the Mickey Mouse cake stand was born. I was originally going to paint him with red and white spots but I rather like the white finish. It looks kind of ceramicy and semi-sensible. Well done Mickey you are super cool.

You will need:
A vinyl toy about 10" tall. I bought mine from etsy but shop around markets and ebay as well.
A 12" melamine plate.
A hack saw
Masking tape
A glue gun
A small dish for you toy to stand on (optional, read below)
Air drying clay (optional)
Spray paint

1. First check that your dish is large enough to hold the base of your toy. The dish is purely optional but I felt that my figure wasn't tall enough as he was and so needed a little boost.
2. Use masking tape as a cutting guide to ensure that you cut a straight line and to ensure a smoother edge.
3. Cut your figure in half.
4. Using a glue gun, glue your figure's lower half to the very centre of the plate.
5. Now glue your figure's base to it's stand and let it dry.
6. Now glue your figure's torso to the other side of the plate. It is more important for your figure to look right visually rather than for it to be in the exact centre, so play around with placement by eye before gluing.
7. Let your figure dry completely before painting. Give it a light first coat of paint covering everything including the plate. If you are painting your figure a colour make sure this first coat is still white.
8. The edge of my figure was a little rough and so I filled in the join with a little air drying clay.
9. Simply wet your finger and smooth it until it is hard to see the join.
10. Air drying clay also comes in handy when painting the eyes. Most toys have pupils painted on and so the minute you spray paint them they look like creepy zombie cartoons with blank eyes! You can fix this with a little ball of air drying clay which you attach to act as a 3D pupil. Do this after your first coat to ensure that the surface is easy to adhere to and before your final spray coats.  Continue spraying until your whole stand has even coverage- this may take a while as your plate, figure and dish are most likely to be different plastics but be patient and it'll look great!

And you're done! Just add biscuits and cakes and revel in your totally unique tea-time accessory!