I saved that pictured from a Country Living magazine. I would use 1/2 in plywood, but you would have to lay out your cups & saucers to know what size you would need. Hopefully it wouldn't be over 4 ft. wide. To hang it I would do like they do large picture frames with eye screws an wire. I would paint it using one of those crackle designs. Light gray on bottom an cream on top. Got some samples from Lowe's an they look great. I would like to make one but it would not go with the rest of my house. (Old Farm House Style)

Use only GOOP products. They take longer to cure, but they're the only things that will hold up outside. A caution, however, glueing the copper cap to the saucer will work temporarily...if they never remove it, it'll hold up for a long time. But there is really no glue that will hold up the lever action that would occur by repeated removing the cap from the copper stake. I've been making garden stakes for MANY years, I sell them and I have been through every single incarnation of them. I hear all the time from people who tried to make them but failed. That's why I'm still in biz! haha. Your candles will be awesome. We did this one year for Mother's Day gifts, and they were a big hit. I glued spoons to the saucers, and in one, where the cup was chipped, I glued the spoon into the cup over the chip. Poured the wax in (I colored it brown and added cinnamon scent), let it set up and it was really cute.

Igloochic, I've used the clear glass teacups/saucers on a copper pipe with a tealight in each. They give a nice glow in the evening in the garden around the patio. They do fill with water when it rains so will need frequent washing. I prefer to use them this way rather than as birdfeeders as wet bird seed is not pretty and we have way too many squirrels and chipmunks to feed! I've made and sold many dozens of these 'tealights' as well as glass totems. This is the only pic I seem to have that may show better what I'm taking about. These 'tealights' are made from vintage punch cups with dessert dishes upside down under them which I've used when I run out of the cups and saucers. They have copper pipe fittings underneath so fit on a copper pipe in the garden. Love your stuff Pesky! Especially those tilted teapots! Thanks Tuesday! I'll post the link to my garden album in case anyone is interested in seeing my totems. Here is a link that might be useful: my glass garden totems

I love china teacups and you've received many good ideas for repurposing them. On Martha Stewart's site she shows using them in a drawer for small items of jewelry. Not a great space saving idea but it looked very pretty! I've made and sold many 'tea-lights' from glass punch cups or glass cups and saucers. The punch cups don't come with saucers however they are often available at yard sales or I used any clear shallow bowls instead as in the pic below. This is the best pic I have. For use in the garden these require copper fittings to be super-glued to the bottom of the saucer and a copper pipe attached to it (crush the bottom of the pipe so it inserts easily into the soil). They look great when placed in the garden with tea-lights glowing. I used them around my patio. Many people seem to use these as birdfeeders but I've never done that as all it would take is some rain to make it a moldy mess.