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