YAH: Simple Diaper Cake

I know there are some over-the-top diaper cakes out there, but I have a simple one to share with you today. I made it for my sister-in-law and needed to ship it to Texas, so I had to keep it small and travel-friendly. My mom has been making these for decades, so she was my inspiration. You'll need a package of diapers (I used newborns) and any baby items you want to put on the cake -- socks, pacifiers, nail clippers, teething rings, wash cloths, etc... Open up the first diaper the long way, but keep the elastic edges in if you can, and roll it up. Then open another diaper and put the rolled up one inside on one edge and roll it again. Keep doing this until it gets bigger and bigger. After awhile I used tape to hold it together while I got out my next diaper.

Keep rolling until it's the size you want. I used about 40 diapers.

When you get to the last diaper, just fold over the decorative edge so you can't see it and use clear packaging tape around the whole thing to keep it together. This will be covered up by ribbon later.

Now, my mom used to make 2-layer cakes, and this small one would just be the top layer. So if you want to make a bottom layer, you would do the same thing but use a lot more diapers. Like I said before, I was mailing this so I kept it small. Besides, diapers are not cheap so it also depends on how much you want to spend. To keep items on the cake, I used Q-tips. You can definitely use pink for girls and blue for boys, or just plain white ones. I knew my sister-in-law was decorating the nursery in a soft green, so I chose to use green items. I know I have seen green Q-tips before, but of course I couldn't find them. So I made my own by buying green ribbon and wrapping it around the Q-tip.

A tiny dab of glue held it in place. Then you stick the Q-tips all over the top of the cake by squishing them between the layers of diapers. Finally, add your baby items. The socks can go right over the Q-tips and the pacifier clips can be clipped onto the Q-tips. For the pacifiers themselves and the nail clippers, I decided to tie some green ribbon onto them and then tie them to a Q-tip so they hung down the side of the cake. Other items, like spoons, can just stick right into the cake. I tied ribbon around some wash cloths and put those over Q-tips, as well. If I had found a nice rattle that wasn't completely gaudy, I would have put that right in the middle of the cake, but I couldn't so I just used a spoon. I also normally add a brush and comb, but I couldn't find a green or white set, only pink and blue.

Add your ribbon around the cake. I used glue dots to hold it on. Then I used my Bowdabra to make a double-layer bow (I couldn't resist throwing in some frogs!)

and stuck it to the front of the cake.

I was told it arrived in one piece and was used as a centerpiece at her shower! Is your recipient more into cloth diapers? No problem. You can make one the exact same way. The diapers make great burp cloths! Here is one my mom made for my sister's shower last weekend:

So pretty! (You can see my baby booties next to it!)