Diaper Cake

A diaper cake is a wonderfully creative gift for an expectant mother. It is a collection of diapers (either disposable or cloth) rolled and stacked together to resemble a traditional tiered cake. There can be 1, 2, 3 or more tiers. The tiers of diaper cakes can also be decorated with baby care items such as bibs, pacifiers, baby socks, bottles, toys, and more.

After seeing all the photos online of diaper cakes, I just had to try and make one.

Here are the directions on how I did it:

Supplies:
50 to 60 diapers
Ribbon at least 2-inches wide
50 to 60 clear, small rubber bands
A sturdy core piece – a heavy cardboard tube, a baby bottle, or lotion bottle
Decorations – silk flowers, baby items such as pacifiers, bottles, bibs, miniature stuffed animals, etc.

A cardboard or plastic cake platter for the base. The base needs to be sturdy. It can be made of cardboard or metal or even glass. It must be strong enough to carry the weight of the cake. You can buy pre-made sizes or cut cardboard to fit. If you are cutting it yourself make sure that you do not use the any box folds in the circle you cut. The fold will not support the weight. You can cut exact size of the finished layers or leave a little extra around it for decorating purposes.

Assembly:
The first thing you need to do is have a way to secure the diapers once they are rolled up. Some people use ribbon, clear rubber bands, or tape; be careful with this so the diapers are still useable. Roll the diapers and put ribbon or clear rubber bands to hold them in place. This will take the most time. The rest of the assembly will go quickly once they are all rolled up.

Roll the diapers in a manner to have any outside edge decoration facing inward. Try to place the rubber bands in the middle of each diaper. The idea is for the rubber bands not to show in the final piece. It will be easier to cover it with ribbon if they are approximately all in the same place.

Putting the cake together:
The bottom of a three tier cake will need 2 layers of diapers around a center focal point. I used a sturdy cardboard tube for the center piece. Tie a ribbon around each layer to make the next layer easier to construct. When you have the center piece and 2 surrounding layers together, tie it with ribbon to keep in one place.

Repeat this with the second and top layers. The top layer will only be 1 circle of diapers. You may need to put an additional center piece in for the top layer if your cardboard tube or bottle is not tall enough.

Decorating:Use ribbon and final materials to give the cake a finishing touch. I prefer the finished piece to look more like a real cake. So I chose silk flowers, ribbon, and tulle as my only decorations. I just tucked the stems of the flowers in between a few of the rubber bands. No glue! You want the mother-to-be to be able to disassemble your gift and actually use it. I used a purchased stuffed animal/blanket combo for the top of the cake.

If you are a visual person like me, watching a video really helps with the construction. I liked this one -- video.