Summer is slowly coming to an end and I’m finding myself wanting ice cream more and more these days. This entire pregnancy I’ve been ALL about the fruit, but recently I’ve been opening up to eating some more sugary sweets like ice cream. Since I haven’t done a DIY in what seems like years, I’m so excited to share this DIY with you all today! I thought it would be perfect for the end of summer celebrations and it also gives all of us an excuse to eat more ice cream!

This DIY ice cream stand has been on my list of things to try and make for a while now actually, and I never thought it’d be as simple to make as it turned out to be.

Here’s what you need:
• Wooden crate or shoe box (I used a wooden crate for this project, but a shoe box would work just as well!)
• Cardboard (If you went the wooden crate route, you will need a piece of cardboard, which will help hold the ice cream cones in place)
• Balsa wood (I purchased 2 rods)
• Stationary paper (colors of choice)
• All purpose glue
• White spray paint
• Ruler
• Xacto knife
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ribbon (this is optional; I used gold scalloped ribbon as trim decoration)

How to DIY your Ice Cream Tabletop Stand:

Step 1: Measure and cut the correct height you’d like the balsa wood sticks to stand past the top of the crate. This will be holding the awning at the top. 

Step 1: Spray paint the wooden crate (or box) white, inside and out. In addition to the box, spray paint the balsa wood too. Let dry.

Step 2: If you used a wooden crate: measure the size of the top of the crate. Using these measurements, cut out stationary paper and cardboard to fit—these will act as the lid to your crate. Glue the stationary paper onto the cardboard.
If you used a shoe box: measure the top of the shoe box lid and cut out a piece of stationary paper to size—in this case, this will act as the lid to your ice cream stand. Glue the piece of paper onto the lid.

Step 3: Using a ruler, measure the exact area where your balsa wood sticks will go through the lid. Once measured, trace the balsa wood marking the area with a pencil. Ultimately, you will most likely be tracing a small rectangle the size of your balsa wood pieces. Using an Xacto knife, carefully cut out these outlines from the 4 corners of your “lid”, i.e. both the cardboard and stationary paper.

Step 4: Taking the “lid” (cardboard and stationary paper) once again, measure the amount of space you would like between each ice cream cone (for when they will be placed into the lid), and mark with a pencil the correct size circle for where you would like your cone to be placed into. The circle does need to be smaller so the cone can sit in it. I used a water bottle lid for this since I wanted to place sugar cones in them. Important Note: I placed the ice cream cones upside down on the lid to help give me an idea of how many rows I could have and the amount of space between each cone. The type of cone you purchase will determine what size circle you will need to cut. 

Step 5: Once measurements have been determined for the ice cream cones, use your Xacto knife once more and cut out the correct space.

Step 6: Once spaces for both the balsa wood sticks and ice cream cone circles have been cut out of your “lid”, glue the lid down onto the top of the crate or shoe box, whichever you are using. Let dry.

Step 7: Stick the balsa wood through it’s correct holes in the lid.

Step 8: Cut out the awning from your choice of colored stationary paper. Sticking the balsa wood through it’s correct holes in the previous step will help give you an idea of how long the awning needs to be. Since mine was a little short, I glued 2 pieces of stationary paper together and worked from there.

Step 9: Once the awning is cut, fold so as to make a bit of an arch and glue the paper onto the outward sides of the balsa wood to hold in this arch-type position. Let dry.

Step 10: Measure the front of the crate/shoe box and cut out paper to fit. Once cut, glue the paper onto the front of your box. This will be your front decor panel. 

Step 11: Optional: cut out a piece of ribbon and glue onto the front trim of the box for extra decoration. Let dry.

Step 12: You made it to the end! Enjoy this custom made ice cream stand at your next party celebration!

I know these steps seemed like a lot, but it’s simpler than it looks; view the photos throughout this post as well as the ending product and you’ll get an idea of what it should look like. I just wanted to be super detailed about it because the steps are obviously crucial.

I’m so happy I finally sat down and made this cute little stand. I feel like I should go throw an ice cream party now! Have a good week guys!