Recently I discovered that the best gift when you visit a newborn is a diaper cake with a toy on or any other baby product you can think of. The best part is that diaper cakes are extremely fun as gifts, very useful for new parents and super easy to make at home in order to keep costs low.
Why is a diaper cake a good idea for a gift? Simply because there’s really no such thing as too many things that a parent can have for a baby, especially diapers. But other things like squeaky toys, powder, baby oil, shampoo or wipes… these are also always welcome.
Check out one of my creations below (the second diaper cake ever that I did myself) and then read on to learn how to make one yourself. You’ll see that it’s a lot easier than you might think and, as you can see, it’s a super cute gift!
Items needed to make your own Diaper Cake:
- Around 25 diapers
- 20 to 25 thin and small elastic bands(you’ll roll the diapers and catch the diaper with them, and they need to be subtle)
- 3-4 thin and large elastic bands
- A cylinder – perfect to use one from a paper towel (if you don’t have one, check the final ingredient on this list!)
- 2 ribbons of your favorite colors, one small (around 50 – 60cm), and one longer (around 100cm)
- Lots of small decorations or stickers, or anything you have around which can be used to lighten up and make the diaper cake more fun.
- And a toy or something a bit bigger to put on top. Make sure that it’s age appropriate!
- If you want, you can put a round and tall baby cream or shower gel, instead of the paper towel cylinder to add even more value to your DIY diaper cake.
How to make a diaper cake
First, you need to roll every diaper and put an elastic band around it.
Then, put the rolls around your paper towel cylinder or whatever item you have chosen to build your diaper cake around. Make sure the item itself is not too wide!
Next, start placing the rolled diapers around it to create the base of your cake. You will need around 5-6 diapers to completely cover your base. Then add another layer on top of the bottom on – 5 or 6 diapers more.
At this point, you’ll see that the rolled diapers won’t really stay in one place. Use something to keep them there, like a larger rubber band or elastic band. Don’t use tape on them, as it will destroy the diapers!
Once you have the bottom and top level ready, start placing the remaining rolled diapers around the bottom ones to complete your cake. Keep these in place with the larger ribbon, then add the smaller one above to add some extra color and mask the rubber band.
So now you have a two story diaper cake,with two ribbons around every layer that both holds the cake together and looks nice.
Now it’s time to go wild with the decorations and let your imagination roam free: place stickers over the ribbons and decorate as you feel like. Just have in mind not to put anything that could break them over the diapers!
So now you have a two story diaper cake,with two ribbons around every layer that both holds the cake together and looks nice.
Instead of ornaments you can always add some useful tools for hygiene, like baby cream, shower gel, wet wipes or anything that babies use as they’re always welcome. You can even add socks or tiny crocheted boots on top, or a crocheted hat on the entire second level.
And that would be all!
As you can see, a diaper cake is easy to make, the parents will think it is very thoughtful of you to do it yourself, and it will also be very useful for the new parents.
I hope you found this article helpful and detailed enough to convince you to start your own diaper cake project. If you have any questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to let us know!