Diaper Cakes

Several years ago I was walking through an upscale boutique and noticed an adorable cake made out of diapers. I was throwing a baby shower for one of my dear friends in the near future and thought it would make an adorable centerpiece so I looked at the price...and almost choked. $100 for a two tier cake made of diapers.

Unbelievable.

I knew I could probably figure it out, and here I am six years later still making these adorable decorations. Here's a quick how-to in case you are planning a shower for someone!

Supplies: One box or 2 large packages of diapers. Personally I like Pampers Swaddlers, not only were they my favorite newborn diaper to use on my kiddos, but they also have a very important quality in a diaper cake: They are white! That makes it easy to personalize it to any gender or leave it gender neutral. One exception, on the occasion I am making one for a baby boy, I do like the Up and Up diapers from Target. They are blue and green polka dot, and paired with blue and/or green ribbon it makes for an adorable combination. You also need some sort of yarn or string and a pair of scissors, and whatever ribbon you want to tie around your layers.

I like to start with the bottom layer. Take 5 diapers and roll them into a round shape. Tie tightly with string.

Now start layering your diapers around the bundle of five. Don't worry about making it too even right now, you can adjust it when your layer is tied off.

Continue layering around in a circle, building up your bottom tier of the cake. You will feel like you need 12 extra hands. This is normal. I would probably suggest you have a partner to help you the first couple of times. I would also suggest laying it flat on a table, I tried to hold it up to show you the process better and ended up exploding the layer in my lap. Also, having a two year old helper to hand you one diaper at a time is great to speed up the process. (Ha)

Once you get all the way around, use string to tie your layer tight. At this point you can turn it on it's side and go around adjusting the diapers to make them even.

Make two more layers. I start the middle tier with three diapers in a bundle, and the top tier with one diaper rolled up. My first cake turned out looking like a marshmallow, don't be discouraged if you have to take a layer apart and add or subtract to make it the right size.

By this point in time, The Professor was home from school and 'offered' (cough *insisted* cough) to take a picture. Apologies to all for my scary lack of makeup. It was a crazy morning.

When the three tiers are done, choose a ribbon to tie around the middle which will hide your string. For boys, I like to forgo the bows and use a diaper pin to fasten the ribbon around the middles. You can also add a topper of a small stuffed animal or blocks.

And there you have it; a simple shower decoration that only costs about $20 to make, but that can be used by mom to be when baby finally arrives. Have fun making one for that special bundle of joy on his or her way!