This weekend I was honored to attend a baby shower for a dear family friend (who happens to be a genius hair stylist) who is having twins...a boy AND a girl! My mother and sister in law were hosting the shower, and asked me to create a diaper cake for the event. After an always exciting trip to Hobby Lobby for the supplies and Sam's Club for the diapers, I was set to create.
If you've never made a diaper cake, it is INCREDIBLY easy. You will need the following supplies: Newborn or early infant diapers (I bought a case of 96 just to be safe...I used about 80 in the cake above)
A package of variety-sized rubber bands A large bottle of baby lotion for the center of the cake (some people use empty paper towel rolls which work just as well, but the lotion is an extra bonus and surprise for the mother when she unwraps the cake)
Ribbons, bows and such (this will be used to decorate the outside of the cake and hide the rubber bands....as a special touch, try to match the bows to the shower invitation or theme) Toys, gifts and baby items (will be used as extra decoration for the cake and great gifts for the new baby)
Step 1 - Begin rolling individual diapers into tiny rolls and secure each with a small rubber band. Wrap them horizontally around the bottom of the bottle of baby lotion and secure the circle of diapers with a larger rubber band. Keep putting rows of the individual diapers round and round the bottle of baby lotion (and secure each larger layer with a larger rubber band). On the bottom tier of the cake, I like to use 4 circle rows of diapers to give you a solid base.
Step 2 - Repeat the process with the second tier, wrapping around the baby lotion bottle and on top of the first tier, but only use 3 circle rows of diapers.
Step 4 - Repeat the process one last time for the top tier of the cake, and use 2 circle rows of diapers. At this point, the bottle of lotion should be completely hidden, and the cake should be set firmly in place, with one giant rubber band around each tier to hold everything in place.
Step 5 - Begin decorating. This is where you can get creative. Use ribbons, bows, scrap fabric, etc. to wrap around each tier of the cake, hiding the rubber bands. You can make bows at the front, use clip-on flowers like I did above, large buttons....basically wherever your mind takes you.
Step 6 - You can be as creative as you'd like for the cake topper. Because the shower I attended had a "Two Peas in a Pod" theme, I used a ceramic peas in a pod salt and pepper shaker set for the top of the cake. I then found a wooden initial of the babies' last name and painted it to match the cake. I added the feathers at the end to finish it off. Again, you can be as creative as you'd like here. I've seen many diaper cakes with stuffed animals, bottles or basic baby supplies used as the cake topper.
Step 7 - Add your gifts and adornments to the cake. For the cake above, I added two teddy bear rattles (in pink and blue) two sets of baby socks and two bibs which I wrapped around diapers on the bottom layer of the cake. But you can add whatever you'd like.
As a word of caution when creating your cake, try to arrange your decorations, gifts and adorments so that you do not use glue, tape or stick pins in the diapers. Doing so may jeapordize the effectiveness of the diapers when they are used by the new mommy later, and we want the cake to be both pretty and useful.
