Diaper Cake

So, we are throwing a friend a baby shower, and I have heard of diaper cakes, but have never seen one. I thought the idea was super cute and decided I was going to take it on. I did a little googleing and got the basics and I came across this one cake that I thought looked pretty cool and decided I was going to attempt to copy it. I have no idea where I saw it or I would include the link. Anyhow, here is how I made this one.

here is what I started with

Package of 50 size 1 diapers

Roll of pink Tulle - used very little, probably will make a baby tulle skirt with the rest

hat and booties

2 wooden dowells

package of hair bows

package of 5 onesies

set of cake tiers

3 rubber bands

two packages of diaper pins (never used, thought it was too much)

bunch of fake flowers

floral wire

duct tape

double sided puffy tape

two rolls (9ft ea) brown and pink wired ribbon

two rolls (9ft ea) brown and pink striped non-wired ribbon

one roll pink wired ribbon

package of 10" cake circles

10", 8" and 6" spring cake pans (for forming diaper ring - doesn't need to be a spring pan, a regular 10" and 8" round cake pan will work fine. You could purchase this and use it to form the layer and then return it. You are only needing this for a mold/guide.

First thing you want to do is take 25 of the diapers and form the bottom layer. Simply fan the diapers out evenly, placing the top of the diaper in the center and the bottom on the outside.

Place a rubber band around the diapers.

Repeat the following steps for the 8" second layer using 19 of the 25 remaining diapers.

useing the remaining 6 diapers, create the top layer evenly spacing the diapers and placing a rubber band around them.

Put one of the cake circles on the bottom and place the first 10" layer on top. Cut two cake circles, as shown below, I used the first white ring as a guide and cut two of these. One is for the top of the 10" and the other for the bottom of the 8" layer. The piers will sit between these. 

using clear tape, cut a piece of ribbon to size and wrap around the edges so the cut cardboard doesn't show. This gives it a much more finished look when completed.

I then taped one of the flowers down at this step. you don't have to, but it's easier to get it on now, rather than work around the pillars.

Put the pillars where you want them. I used a sharpie marker to mark where I needed to punch a hole for the dowells. The pillars are hallow so you can mark exactly where you need to punch.

Punch your holes out. I used a pencil then used the wooden dowells to make a bigger hole.

Punch holes in the exact same place on the second cake circle so they line up correctly when you stack the cake together.

cut 4 15" lengths from your wooden dowells.

put the dowells through the top of the cake circle then poke them into the bottom of the diaper cake layers. You will want to make sure that you center this correctly.

put your pillars on your dowells.

put the second cake circle on top of the pillars. Carefully place the second layer onto the wooden dowells. Making sure the layer is centered before adding the third layer. I alternated directions per each layer. I didn't alternate the top layer in these photos, but I have fixed it so they alternate directions. As you can tell the bottom layer is going to the right, the second layer to the left and the third should be going to the right as well (and is now!)

Take some ribbon and wrap it around the rubberband so that it's not seen. Cut it with room for tails and tie a square knot.

Do this for each of the layers.

Next, cut the desired amount of tulle for the center of the pillars.

then start embelishing and decorating each layer of the cakes. I used two onesies on the bottom, each with a hairbow attatched to them, a pair of booties and a rose for the bottom layer. I used the puffy double sided tape to stick everything to the onesies other than the top flower. I used one piece of the floral wire, so it was a waste of $0.77 as I could have just duck taped the flower on the top.

Continue to decorate until the desired look has been accomplished.

Here is the front of the cake.

Side view

Back view

other side view

This was super easy to make and I am not a crafty person. I have made a few fixes and changes, but the resutls are pretty much the same, I just fixed it so it doesn't lean as much as it does in the pictures and fixed the top layer and some minor fixes with the bows and flowers. I really enjoyed making this. They aren't cheap, but they turn out super cute and if you get a few people to go in on it with you, your out of pocket is small.