I had a baby shower to go to with Red a few weeks ago, for a sweet couple that is expecting their own little boy this fall. I know how wonderful it can be to receive a GIANT box of diapers ( I made no qualms about asking for them as birthday presents for Red when someones asked what to get him!). I also know that it’s nice to actually GET the brand/foldable that you asked for and works for your family. In this case, Mama Ogilvie wanted Pampers. Regarding Red; he was in size 3 diapers by the time he was 5 months old… big guy grew too fast. We ended up gifting the size 1 and 2 leftovers to other couples expecting children! Therefore, I picked up a Costco-sized box of size 5, and set to work to make my own cake.
Pre-made and pre-decorated diaper cakes can sell from $100-$150.00, so I was saving beaucoup bucks.
I had a case of diapers, champagne, rubber bands galore, ribbon, decorative toys and all the mini toiletries the Mama listed on her registry (shampoo, wipes, hand sanitizer, tide stick, powder, sunscreen, buttpaste, . I used an repurposed thrifted and shined tray (with blue and red edging – which matched the theme!) for the base.
A bottle of champagne for the middle means a sturdy cake and a nice post-pregnancy surprise for the new Mom and Dad! Roll up each diaper the way you like it and secure with a small rubber band. Make enough to surround your bottle and secure that entire circle with a large rubber band. The tighter you roll your diapers the better the cake will look.
My box of diapers had 2 patterns: plain white with Elmo on top, and blue stripes with cookie monster. I rolled them starting with the characters, and ended up alternating white and striped diapers. My cake only used about 1/3 of the large box, so I took the extras and layered them into a new reusable shopping bag for the family.
After one layer is done, move on up to the middle layer. And finally the top layer.
At this point, you can start adding your gifts to the cake in place of diapers, or on top, whichever you think is best. I added little toy squirters for the nursery theme of oceans and underwater.
Lastly, when all layers are done, wrap ribbons around the unsightly rubber bands. I added curly ribbon for the top, and tied either little bows or secured with real diaper pins.
It really was cute when I was done!
I love the size 5 diapers! I’ve not seen a diaper cake made with a size that big before. A real advantage of using a larger size diaper (other than the fact that the parents don’t have to take the diaper cake apart for quite a while) is that with bigger diapers you’d have taller layers and thicker rolls, so more space for decorations and hiding little baby items.
It’s cute as pie, you did a great job!
Thank you! It was much easier than I had thought, and the parents wrote a sweet thank you note saying they were totally surprised by the champagne and it was a fun touch! 🙂