DIY Bleacher Cupcake Stand

Thanks for all the sweet comments about the football shower; you know they warm my party plannin' soul!  I have to be honest, in the heat of the event, I wasn't that impressed.  I felt, with the unexpected surge in guests, I lost control - not enough linen for the last-minute tables we had to pull out, not enough favors for each guest, not enough printables for one of the games.  In the moment, I was kicking myself thinking, "TABITHA, why didn't you plan for this?!" That only lasted for a few minutes because I took a moment to look around.

People were dancing, catching up, enjoying great food and THIS was 30 minutes after everything "ended."  Guests didn't want to leave and the parents-to-be had the party they wanted!  Why was I tripping?  Why was I kicking myself? It was a great event.  Plus, my star of the show, the cupcake bleachers, were a hit!

You may recall on my inspiration board that I had plans to purchase a cardboard version of the bleacher stand for the dessert table.  Can you see it in the bottom right corner?

It was cute.  It was also, however, $10 + shipping AND it didn't fit my color scheme either.  I was over it.  I decided to use my regular ol' cupcake tier instead.  Then, on my baby shower shopping trip to the Dollar Tree, I had an idea.  I could make my OWN bleacher stand with a few supplies and scrap spray paint I already had on hand.  I wanted my bleacher stand to be large enough to hold a dozen cupcakes so I made one large piece rather than two smaller ones.  Here's how I did it:

Supplies
- (2) Floral foam blocks.  They look like this:

- (4) Floral foam cubes.  They look like this:

- (1) pack of popsicle sticks (I purchased a pack and only used 32 total)

- Spray Paint (white, black or silver)

- Hot glue gun

Step-By-Steps

1.  Remove all four floral foam cubes from original packaging.

2. Glue two cubes together.  Be sure to keep them level.

3. Keeping it in its original packaging, glue one rectangular floral cube to the front of the double floral cube.  It should look like a stair step.

4.  Attach the side railings with glue.

5. For the back of the stand, add a center popsicle stick at a lower level then add your back railings.

6.  Repeat steps 1-3 with the remaining floral foam.  Attached your "step" to the right side to share the [now] center railing.

7.  Glue the side and rails onto the remaining side of the bleachers.

You will note I kept the original packaging on the rectangular floral foam.  It is designed to absorb water for live arrangements.  As a result, I didn't want to risk ruining it with spray paint.

Here's a pic of the back:

When we arrived to NJ, I spray painted the bleachers in Selena's garage in less than 5 minutes.  A few light coats later and we were ready to party!

How cute would these be at any sports-themed party?

Maybe even a little league awards ceremony?!

I'm sure my cheerleaders would love to see some cupcakes with pom-poms  or cupcake toppers that spelled a mascot's name!

I'm so glad I was able to make bleachers that were perfect for our event at a fraction of the cost to purchase one ready-made.

How can you personalize your next event?  Can you think of any ideas where an idea like this would be perfect?  Do share!