How to Make a Diaper Cake

   So you have a sister, a friend, or someone who is having a baby shower. Good news, except the fact that you were appointed by someone to make a diaper cake. What in the world is a diaper cake? In this day and age, not many people, even women, know what a diaper cake is. Some people think it is a cake in the shape of a diaper, and if you are one of those people don’t be ashamed. A diaper cake is “cake” which is made of diapers and other things a mom-to-be will need during the first couple of months of her baby’s life. When showers started getting big, i.e. wedding showers and baby showers, someone decided to make a cake out of diapers. Weird? I know. But if you get passed the weirdness, you get a great gift that doubles as beautiful centerpiece at any baby shower. Making one can be a little scary if it is your first one, but if you have some good instructions, they really aren’t hard at all. If you cut out the time you need for shopping for the “ingredients”, you can probably crank one out in a little less than one day. However, you should probably allow yourself a little more time if this is your first time. So get ready to learn how to make a great baby shower gift. Get set to blow the minds of all the guest at the shower. And go make an awesome cake!

“Ingredients”:

• ·   Diapers (a box of at least 84)
• ·      2- 6oz baby bottles
• ·      1 paper towel cardboard tube
• ·      Cardboard circle (the diameter of the cake)
• ·      Large rubber bands (make sure they can stretch pretty far)
• ·      Large rubber hair bands(enough for each diaper)
• ·      Tape
• ·      Straight pins
• ·      Scissors
• ·      Measuring tape
• ·      Mother’s favorite candy
• ·      Small baby toy (something to use as a cake topper)
• ·      Random baby things (pacifiers, desitin, rattles, teething rings, ect)
• ·      Receiving blankets (up to 5)
• ·      Tissue paper (optional)
• ·      Ribbon (optional)

Instructions:

Step One: Fill Baby Bottles.

            Take the mom-to-be’s favorite candy, and fill both baby bottles. When the mom and dad dismantle the cake, she will have a little surprise waiting for her.

Step Two: Construct the Central Structure.

            First, take the cardboard tube and cut it from end to end. Stack one bottle on top of the other with pieces of tape in between to keep together. Wrap the tube around both of the bottles and secure with at least three rubber bands. You could use tape, however you want to keep it together is fine, as long as they stay together. I find that the rubber bands  allow for a stronger hold.

Step Three: Roll Diapers.

            To make it easy on the poor sap you get to roll all 80-some diapers; open all packages and lay out diapers and lay out the small rubber bands. When rolling the diapers, start at the waistband. This will make the rolled diaper look clean. When finished, hold together with a

small rubber band. Continue until most of the diapers are rolled, and set aside.

Step Four: Creating a Basic Concept for Cake.

            This would be the time to think of how you want each of the “iced” layers to look. Take this time and figure out which blanket you want to use for which tier. If you are using blankets to act as icing on the tops of your bottom two tiers, then you need to know before you get into constructing your cake. To make it easier, you can use one color for the whole cake.

Step Five: Constructing the First Tier.

            Take four unrolled diapers and wrap them around the bottom of the bottles, secure with large rubber bands. Try to make them as even as possible, but they are just to help widen the bottom tier. Take one Rubber and put around the bottles. Take the rolled diapers and place them under the rubber band. It is a lot easier to put the diapers inside of the rubber band than it is to place a rubber band around the diapers. Yay! That is your first row of the first tier! Now throw another rubber band around what you got two more times, and then you’ll have your first tier. In order to keep the tiers smoother, try turning the “seam” of the diaper in towards the bottles (or other diapers). To keep the top of the tiers flat, when rolling the diapers, roll them so there is one edge that is flat and one that has a variation in thickness. When constructing a tier, put the flat edge up to create a flat surface.

Step Six: Giving the First Tier a “Crumb Coating”.

            This step just covers up the top of the tiers. There are three options that you can choose from, so I’ll do them in order of easiest to hardest.

·      Option #1: Don’t do anything. You don’t have to cover the top of the diapers if you don’t want to. In fact, most of he diapers will be covered up with the various items you have purchased.

·      Option #2: Tissue Paper. You can use several sheets of tissue paper, fold in half a couple times, then cut a corner off and smooth out over the tier. This covers the top of the diapers, and is not hard at all.

·      Option #3: Blankets. I like using this method, but it is a little harder. I’m sorry if the directions are hard to follow, but I hope the pictures help a little bit. If they don’t, but you still want to use the blanket, improvise. As long as the top allows the second layer to lay flat, then you’ve done good.

How to do Ice with blankets

Take the blanket you wish to have as the top “icing” for your first tier and fold it  diagonally.By folding it diagonally it will fit the tier. Take one end of the blanket and tuck it under the rubber bands holding the tier together, this will help keep it in place for you while “icing” it. Drape the blanket across the tier. To make the blanket as smooth as possible for the tier, we will be folding it. From the corner that is tucked under the rubber band, pull the edge of the blanket right up to the bottles

 Considering the edge of the blanket against the bottle a straight line, grab the blanket at the ninety degree position at the edge of the blanket. Pinch that point and drag it up pass the bottles to create another edge that is flush with the bottles. 

create the rest of the folds, pinch the fabric at the edge of the tier about 1 inch under the line that is flush with the bottles and drag up to create another flush line. When the top of the tier is “iced”, tuck the remaining corners into the rubber band. This “icing” doesn’t have to be perfect, just as long as it is as smooth as possible, it will be fine.

Step Seven: Construction of Tier Two and “Crumb Coating” it.

            For the second tier, repeat step four. However, there will only be two circles of diapers making up the tier, and you won’t need to wrap unrolled diapers around the bottles first. The only difference in the “crumb coating” for this tier is that you need to fold the blanket length wise instead of diagonally. Because the second tier is smaller than the first, you won’t need as much surface area to cover.

Step Eight: Tier Three.

as you can see, this is the basic structure.

            Again, repeat step four, just leave out the unrolled diapers and there will be one circle of diapers for this tier. For this layer, you can use tissue paper for covering the top of the layer

Step Nine: Creating a Base.

            Even though the diapers are sturdy enough on themselves, it adds another level of security to have a base for the cake, especially during transport. You need to measure the first tier to get the diameter of the cake. After that you can go buy a circle cake cardboard base from a craft store, but you can also just cut one out of a recycled cardboard. After you have your base, place under the cake. It is better to do this step before you “ice” the bottom tier of your cake.

Step Ten: Step Two in “Icing” the Cake.

Here is the iced bottom layer.
 Tier one: Fold the blanket diagonally. Fold the blanket so it is the height of you tier, then wrap around the first tier. Secure with straight pins along the seam.

            Tier two and three: Fold blanket lengthwise. Fold the blanket so it is the height of the tier, then wrap around the second tier. Secure with straight pins.

Here is the cake after it has been iced completely.

CONGRATS! YOU HAVE MADE A BASIC DIAPER CAKE!!!! Now to decorate it.

Step Eleven: Ribbon or No Ribbon?

            Right now, you can decide on whether or not you want to put ribbon around your tiers. To me, I only put ribbon around the bottom tier if not at all. My thought is that if you put it around the other tiers, it will be covered by the baby items. So it is up to you.

Step twelve: Placing the Baby Things.

            Now is the time to put all the things the mom is going to use onto the cake. There is no wrong way to do this. Just mess with it. You can theme the tiers, put only bath time stuff on one tier and diaper bag stuff on another. You can reach into a bag blindly and put it in a predestinated spot no matter what it is. Just arrange it the way you want it. It may help to place the topper of the cake on first, then start placing from there. But, go crazy. Don’t stop until you like what you see. You can secure the items by tucking them in between the receiving blankets, or use some double sided tape if you are placing it on top of the tier.

VIOLA! You have finished your diaper cake! Look at it, appreciate it, and go ahead, pat yourself on the back. You did a good job.

Tips and tricks:

·      some buying tips:

o   The absolutely number one rule when shopping, make sure it is BPA free. A good rule of thumb is “if it has a chance of going into the baby’s mouth, BPA free”. Bottles and pacifiers need to be BPA free. Most products are made BPA free, but some still don’t have this specification.

o   You know about the travel size section at most stores? Well go there. If you want to put baby shampoos or lotions on the cake, go there first. There usually are little things you can fit perfectly onto any diaper cake. Some stores even have a little box of multiple travel sized baby products put together for about two or three bucks, so grab one of those.

o   When in doubt, go cheaper. A diaper cake can get pretty expensive, so shop the deals. You don’t have to buy what is on the registry. Buy the cheaper pacifier, the mom-to-be won’t shoot you for getting the dollar one instead of the seven dollar one. Especially for the bottles that are hiding in the middle of the cake, go cheap. I usually get mine at Wal-Mart for 97 cents.

o   When it comes to diapers, they are usually the same price at all the stores. However, look for coupons. Target has their own coupon printing site, or couponbug.com usually have great coupons. As for store brand diapers, I’m not an expert on those, but I’m also not really a fan, but if you choose to use those diapers, it is up to you.

·      So you have a lot of left over things. Some bottles of lotion, some diapers, ect. You can do two things with them.

o   Put all extra things into a box. If your diapers were in a cardboard box, put them in there, or just find a box. You can hide the box under a table during the shower, or in your car, but make sure mommy-to-be gets it at the end. Another thing I’ve done is wrap it in cute wrapping paper, and when you get to the shower, use it as a base for the cake and set it on top of it. That way, the cake gets some height, and if it is going onto the present table at the shower, it can try to stand out a little more from the other presents.

·       If you include anything on the cake that has special directions: toys, bottles, thermometer, make sure they make it into the box with all the extra things and make sure the mom will know what they go to.

So there you are. I hope these instructions are helpful. I personally love making these. I’ve made about three of these so far, and I keep finding new things to do, to tweak, to perfect. So, these instructions shouldn’t be followed to the T. Make it your own, and tweak what you want. And 

The Little Mermaid, Wesley Edition

Every so often, the "casting directors" of the Wesley Foundation like to cast different movies. In the past, We've casted Pocahontas, Coraline, Moulin Rouge, and many others. It isn't until now that I have decided to expose the very secret, very classified procedure we have for matching an actor with an appropriate role. We think of which part needs to be filled, and the Wesley Foundation member who makes us laugh the most gets the role. Isn't that mind blowing? Last night, Dani and I were watching Little Mermaid, and we decided to cast it. So here you are, Little Mermaid according to the Wesley Foundation.

Ariel: Played by Cara Frank. Cara's musical abilities, and general lack of appointment keeping skills is what won her the role.

Eric: Austin Seneca. Austin got this role because he is the most likely to be hit on by Cara. That, and the fact that we have made him an animal in almost every movie that has been cast.

Flounder: Ryan Frank. Ryan's ability to be led astray into unscrupulous situations by Ariel is what made this a no brainer.

Sebastian: Bryan Cruz. Both have an "accent", both are small, and both are often found by Ellis Henley's side. Which leads us to...

King Triton: Ellis Henley. Because we had to make him the father figure in this film too.

Ursula: Taylor Wilson. Taylor would love the fact that she gets one of the best bad guy song that disney has ever created. She also has to shimmy, which makes it all the more better.

Scuttle: Rachel Wicki. Because she just has the personality and is often hanging on Cara

Flotsam & Jetsam: Dani Frank & Bethany Harms. Great sabotage artists are we. Taylor also likes to boss us around.

Grimsby: Sean Thomas. Sean does love to give people gifts.

Louis: Adam Fager. Who else could you imagine signing Le Poisson. Adam is slightly off his rocker, which makes this casting decision work

Max: Jarad Cox. Eric and Max are best friends, Austin and Jarad are best friends. Max's hair is usually in  his eyes, Jarad's also has unruly hair. So who cares if max is a dog.

Silent Ariel: Emily Dunn. You know why.

Carlotta: Loran Luehr. Loran Is the mothering type. She would never turn down the chance to pretty up our little lost Ariel.

Ursula's Seaweedy people: Chris Morris. Think about it... ok. Now isn't that an amazing choice?



So there you have it. Our version of The Little Mermaid. I know we usually only have NonWesley people as cast members, but if you only knew.

Babbling with Brybo!

Shopping for duds with
Me and Kelly

So I hope my cousin Janna doesn't mind, but I'm pirating a blog idea from her. Every week, Janna posts funny things that her children say. Well, I have this friend, Bryan Cruz. He is indescribable. I have to say that after spending this past weekend with him, I am so grateful to be his friend. I am in awe every time I am around Bryan mostly because of the things that come out of his mouth. So here you are, the first installment of Babbling with Brybo. I'm not sure if this is going to be a weekly thing, a monthly thing, or else if this might just become something that gets annoying, but I need to share with the public some of my friends gems. Oh, and it is best to read them with a lisp.

The very first crazy thing I have ever heard come out of Bryan's mouth: "What's a supreme pizza?"

"You can eat blueberries raw?"

"We should get tattoos together Bessy."--Bryan
"Oh yeah? Of what Bryan?"-- Me
"B's. B for Bessy, and B for Bryan"--Bryan

*While playing taboo*
"Small people that no one wants"-- Bryan
"Orphans"-- Jarad
"yes *flips to next card*"--Bryan

"My skin reflects the weather."--Bryan
*blank stares from me and Kelly*
"Yeah, When it's warmer, my skin gets darker. When it gets cold, My skin is lighter."-- Bryan



That is all for now. I'm saving some masterpieces for a later date. Don't think I am being mean. I love Bryan so much that I have seriously asked my parents to adopt this little Puerto Rican. I do this with the same seriousness as when I call him short, puerto rican, or a douche bag.

You're Not Dead!

I'm alive! yes yes, I know that the very few people who actually read this blog have probably stopped checking in months ago due to my lack of new posts. But I am here now to explain why I haven't posted in such a long time, and what I have been up to.

First of all, I am very sorry for not being a dedicate blogger. I know in order to keep readers, I have to post "relevant" posts in a timely manner. But here's the thing, outside of the due dates that professors set, college kids are rarely timely. My laziness, coupled with my busy schedule towards the end of the school year, has kept me oblivious to my blog. Those two things and the fact that I am in a dead college town with interactions with only six different people on a weekly basis have made my blog pretty boring. I hope to correct this starting now.

Now, I will try to sum up what has been going on in my life for the past... three... four months in as little amount of space as possible.

February/March: I came down with a horrible case of influenza B, Insomnia, and wedding fever (My dearest friend Dani was proposed to). I went to Chicago for spring break with Taylor and Emily, and we got to stay in a swanky hotel. I also got to fly many a kite, and even made fun of Rebecca Black.

April: This month, I created a lovely game with Chris and Loran called Epic Yahtzee, survived some storms, made a harem in mine and Dani's bedroom, watched Moulin Rouge too many times, and was the murderer in the annual Wesley Murder Mystery Dinner. This is the month that can also be marked by my  obsession with JibJab.com, horribly strange dreams,  and another case of insomnia with a dash of sleepwalking.

May: This Month just seemed like a big jumble. School was ending, so I had a bunch of papers and test, but I was able to make this month really count by hanging out with my friends. More Epic Yahtzee was played, I had some "fun" near Pulliam, and I turned the big two-two. Although it probably wasn't as epic as I think it was, I was able to round the spring semester off with a little prank on my dear friend Austin. May he never touch me with his feet again.

This pretty much brings us up to present time. Recently, I started a new job at SIUC's Chancellor's office. I get to sit in an air conditioned building all day while I log in mail, file, run papers around, and make coffee. I do other things, but that is pretty much it. It is a really great job. Tomorrow, I start two classes, Management 304 and Managerial Accounting. I know you are totally jealous. Other than that, I am really boring because I go to bed early because I have to wake up early. 

So there you have it. Everything I have been doing while I haven't been posting on my blog. But don't you worry, I will keep it up. I just might even do a new post tonight. So remember, don't be lazy and start wearing purple.

Crab Rangoon

As everyone knows, Super Bowl Sunday was this last weekend. This year, Sherry hosted an appetizer cook off for our Super Bowl party. My entry for the contest was crab rangoon if you couldn't tell by my post's title. After hearing people tell me that the Rangoon were good at the party, gasps of jealousy in my classes, and questions on how I could make such a difficult dish, I just am getting frustrated. Let me tell everyone right now; crab Rangoon are not hard to make. Its so easy I never have to look at the recipe before I go to the store to get the ingredients. So here you go, the easiest thing I know how to cook:

1 package of wonton wrappers
1 six oz can of crab meat
1 eight oz package of cream cheese
1/3 cup of the green ends of green onions

Mix the cream cheese, onions, and crab together and put in a sandwich bag with a corner cut off. Grab one wonton wrapper, squeeze some filling in the middle, wet 2 corners with some water and seal. If you want to fold them all cutesy like, you can experiment with that, but most packages have wrapping directions on them. After you fold all of the filling into the wontons, fry in a fry daddy or pan fry them.

Now isn't that easy? Now go on! Get messy and share some crab Rangoon with your friends.

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Don't Make Me Call Security on You.

Gender Bias Day! Our monthly day where the boys and girls of Wesley separate and have mucho fun was here. The festivities started with a mall scanvenger hunt. Loran, Dani, Taylor, Emily and I split up to take pictures of things like high-fiving a "Gloria jeans employee and groping a mannequin. The biggest problem that most of us faces was lingerie for Dani's wedding night. When you think of a place that sells skankie nighties, what store do you think of? Well Victoria's Secret didn't really take kindly to the fact that we were "screwing around in their store", which almost got me kicked out of the entire mall by security. Long story, email me if you want to hear it. After our amazing scavenger hunt, we had dinner at chilli's where the song of the night became Blame It by Jaime Foxx.

I was screaming the lyrics when Loran and I walked in to Wesley when I was interrupted by cries of pain. We looked down the stairwell to see Ellis, Chris, and Austin kneeling over a screaming Sean. The ambulance came and took him away, and the girls had to Chang our plans from making Valentine's cards for people to making get better cards and Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies for Sean. After Sean's triumphant return, the girls ended the night with John Hughes' sixteen candles.

To sum up: mall security, ambulance ride, Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies, and John Hughes. Hopefully next Gender Bias Day is a little more subdue.

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Garlic. Enough Said.

This weekend was pretty good. I love living in a building where people just come to hangout. I hate to say this, but living at the Wesley Foundation makes my friendships effortless.

Friday started out like any other Friday. I finished my classes early, exercised a bit, then got ready for the day. Then, out of the blue, I had a huge urge to cook something that I could share with people. So, I had to do the only logical first step I could think of... call Loran Luehr. For those of you who don't know my dear friend Loran, she is a Nutrition major. She loves every aspect of food; cooking it, eating it, sharing it. Just the thought of making food that is meant for more than one person to eat makes her giddy. I called Loran and told her the plan to make a communal dinner for the people at Wesley, and She was on board at the word go. "What did you cook?" you may ask. Well, I decided to make Bugna Cauda. This is the best dish my Grandma Emling makes for my family. The fact that it is so simple and everyone just shares one central pan in the middle of the table just makes it a single dish that defines the word family.
So we had the food and we had the people. The only problem was one of the four ingredients in Bunga Cauda. My fear of creating this dish for the first time was realized when I put the cans of anchovies in the cart at walmart and Taylor Wilson just about fainted. I was cooking for college kids. Not only do most of the people I was cooking for not eat anchovies, but half of them would gag at the first sight of a fillet. After seeing Taylor's reaction to the unmentionable fishies, I decided to swear Taylor and Loran to secracy and not tell anyone about the anchovies. That lasted two seconds... Loran of course let it slip to her boyfriend. But surprisingly, not too many people found out. While preparing the meal, I was surrounded by memories at my Grandma's house when she makes it for me. Just the smell of garlic wafting throughout the Wesley Foundation made me feel at home. It was probably the 13 cloves of garlic that I put into both pans of Bugna Cauda that helped me accomplish this, but I felt like I was among family.
This semester I'm not going to be traveling home up in northern Illinois too often, which is a huge change from last semester. It feels weird to be separated from my family for such a long time. As I stay down here at school and grow closer to all of my friends, I realize that they are a second family. I hate to get all sentimental, but it is a family that is there for me when my parents and sister can't physically be here. The weekend was great because I was able to just relax, play board and wii games, hang out, and just be with friends. I am greatful for the fact that I can share a home cooked meal with all of them, even if we all reek of garlic when we are done.

       go crazy and share something with someone,
                Bethany