How to Make a Diaper Cake

A diaper cake, made up of several individually rolled diapers arranged in the shape of a cake, is an ideal baby shower gift. Aside from being cute and delightful, it is also a useful gift since everything used to make a diaper cake is of practical use to the new parents. Instead of gifting separate gifts of little use, friends or relatives can pool in to gift a diaper cake hiding several useful goodies in it. Similar to a conventional cake, a diaper cake can be single layered or tiered, though usually it consists of at least two-tiers. Ensure that you have a couple of hours of free time on hand as it will take you about 2-3 hours to assemble the diaper cake. All it needs is several baby items and a bit of imagination. Here's how you can make a three-tiered diaper cake.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wooden dowels
• 50 diapers of varying sizes
• A circular cardboard/cake board on which the cake will be assembled
• Re-positionable double-sided tape
• 70 to 80 feet of narrow ribbon of your choice
• About 9 feet of 1 inch wide ribbon in a matching color
• Assorted baby items such as bottles, pacifiers, rattles, bibs, socks and wash cloths, candies

1. Roll each diaper individually and tie it with a piece of narrow ribbon. For neatness and uniformity, pre-cut the narrow ribbon in 50 pieces of 1 foot each. Retain the remaining ribbon for final assembly.

2. Alternatively, use rubber bands in place of narrow ribbon to hold the rolled diaper in place.

3. Create three tiers of the cake by tying 6, 15 and 28 rolled diapers.

4. Replace the central diaper from the top tier with a baby bottle, which can be filled with candies. Some more diapers from the remaining tiers can be replaced with other baby related articles such as safety pins, pacifiers, booties and bibs. Take care not to replace too many diapers.

5. Select small baby necessities that are easier to hide among rolled diapers.

6. Strengthen a tier more by tying the 1 inch ribbon all around it. Wide ribbon also makes the arrangement pretty.

7. Use re-positionable tape to arrange first tier on the cake board.

8. Tape the second and third tiers, too.

9. Stabilize the arrangement by inserting wooden dowels or straws through the tiers. Be careful about preventing any damage to the diapers.

10. Embellish with additional baby necessities such as soft toys and bath items. Ribbons, flowers, coupons, creams and cards are some examples of decorative items that can be used for this purpose.

Tips & Warnings

• When rolling diapers, pay attention to the design printed on it. Some diapers are plain and simple, while others have interesting patterns on them. In the beginning, try rolling the diapers differently before deciding on one style.
• When assembling individual layers of the cake, you might need to use a couple fewer or additional diapers than the indicated number. Pay more attention to creating a neat presentation instead of the number of diapers to be used.
• Wrap the diaper cake in a sheet of cellophane, netting or other transparent gift wrapping before presenting it to the expecting mother.
• Replace regular diapers with reusable cloth diapers if the parents-to-be are environmentally conscious.
• Avoid using only newborn size diapers. Because newborns grow at a fast rate and also some babies are bigger than others, it is advisable to use diapers of varying sizes.
• Select the re-positionable tape carefully so diapers are not torn when disbanding the cake.
• Use smooth wooden dowels with rounded ends so diapers do not get stuck in them.

[showpup]

on 8/18/2008 I've got all my supplies and ready to start building my first diaper cake for my daughter in law's baby shower. Thanks for the instructions.

[Starfish231]

on 4/9/2008 Good article!

[CCrock]

on 3/14/2008 What a fun, cute and practical idea! Better than just wrapping up a bag of diapers!

[grouch]

on 3/14/2008 This is so cute and I have the perfect person to gift it to. Thanks a bunch.

[RhiannonAidan]

on 3/13/2008 This sounds so adorable! I for one would have loved the idea of this gift when I had my son. I will definitely keep this in mind for any friends expecting in the future.