I really wanted to feature something creative & unique as the table centerpiece for our brand new Summer Grilling Party theme (posting later today!!), so my first thought was to go REALLY literal and create some miniature charcoal grills. Luckily, the shape of charcoal grills makes them very easy to emulate using inexpensive & easily accessible materials – hooray!

First, I found 3 melamine bowls at Target that matched our party color palette perfectly, then filled them with charcoal and topped them with painted bamboo skewers for the “grill” tops. Oh ya… can’t forget orange sprinkles for the “embers”! ;)

Old shot glasses from our cabinet were flipped upside down and coated in shiny silver spray paint to create the bases for the grills. (The tallest shot glass was a joke gift that my husband had received a while back with a rival football team’s logo on it, so he was pretty happy to see that one “go”!) Finally, little hot glue to attach the stands to the grills and – voila! The modern Mini Charcoal Grill Trio was complete.

I’m pretty happy with how these little guys turned out… wouldn’t they be cute for a camping party theme or Tailgate too?! Read on for the step-by-step instructions…

MINI CHARCOAL GRILL CENTERPIECE (DIY TUTORIAL)

by Jennifer Sbranti

You’ll Need:

• 3 Melamine Bowls (mine were 5″, 6″, and 6″)
• Charcoal Briquettes (the kind without lighter fluid), partially crushed
• Orange sprinkles for “embers”
• Shot glasses or small candle holders for “stands” in 3 different heights (*see note)
• Brilliant Metallic Silver Spray Paint
• Black Spray Paint
• Bamboo Skewers (approximately 5 sticks per grill)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Strong scissors or wire cutters

*Note: For my “stands” I used a tall shot glass, a regular sized shot glass, and a Tiny Stainless Steel Bowl from IKEA that was leftover from the DIY bbq place card holders

Instructions:

1. Partially crush a few charcoal briquettes for each bowl and set aside. Paint the bamboo skewers black and let dry. Paint your bases silver and let dry.

2. Lay the painted skewers on top of each bowl to figure out size & placement, then trim them down to size using strong scissors or a wire cutter, but don’t glue them on yet. (My bowls were 5”, 6” and 6” and I used 5 skewers per “grill”.)

3. Fill bowls about half way with crushed charcoal, then hot glue the trimmed black skewers to the top of the bowls to create the “grills”. Add orange sprinkles to charcoal for “embers”.

4. Flip your painted silver “stands” upside down and use hot glue to attach them to each grill.

5. Arrange in a trio for your table centerpiece. They look cute as they are, or you can top them with signs and decorative “food” – like the mini wooden “hot dogs” pictured here! (The hot dogs are actually just wooden dowels painted red & cut down to size.)

Stay tuned for more ideas from this new theme coming soon! :)