Let's Make a Cake :: Diaper Cake Tutorial

One of my favorite gifts to make for baby showers/diaper parties is the Diaper Cake.  I experimented on one for one of my best friends last year and now I’m hooked!  There are several tutorials out there with good information, but I decided I would create my own tutorial to throw in the mix.  Sometimes the photos I find online of diaper cakes are WAY too busy for my taste and some of them just drown you in steps.  I wanted to create a tutorial that is super simple, so anyone can do it!  Today, my focus example is actually two diaper cakes, for a TWIN Diaper Party.  (O:

My good friend is pregnant with twin boys and her diaper party is this weekend.  I knew she and her husband were decorating the boys’ room in a Cards vs Cubs theme (starting that ol’ rivalry early!) ;-)  A few weeks ago I came across some soft baby baseball mitt and ball sets in the perfect colors of royal blue and cardinal red!  I didn’t know at the time how I would use them, but I knew I needed them.  ;-)  Once I decided to whip together a couple diaper cakes for the diaper party, I knew these would make the perfect toppers!

Let’s start with a supply list:

Diapers:  This will vary depending on the size of your cake.  For this example, I used 23 per cake.  (I should have used one more for each..I will explain later)

Mini Rubber Bands:  I use the kind that you can find in the baby section at Walmart, used for little girl’s hair.

Big Rubber Bands:  One for each layer of your cake (just a regular sized rubber band, but for the sake of descriptions later, we will call them Big rubber bands)

Cake Topper

Coordinating ribbon:  Thick enough to cover the middle and hide all the rubber bands.

Extras:  Socks, spoons, travel size lotion/shampoo/etc, pacifiers, brush/comb, whatever you want!

**Disclaimer:  Please excuse the spray paint left over on my fingers in these photos…I had been working on another craft idea before this one and wasn’t very smart about watching the paint!  Also, please excuse the poor photo quality.  By the time I decided to turn this into a tutorial, I was too lazy to run and get the good camera. ;-)

The first step is, of course, to roll your diapers.  I like to start at the “top” end and roll as to cover up the design on the Velcro section.  Try to make your rolls as tight and straight as you can.

Once your diaper is completely rolled, secure it in the middle with one of the mini rubber bands.  I use Pampers Swaddlers brand diapers and they have this handy little yellow line running down the center, so they are very easy to rubber band in the middle!  If your diapers don’t have this line, just eye it up and make sure all your rubber bands are at about the same spot.  (This makes hiding them with the ribbon much easier!)

Once all your diapers are rolled, it’s time to start putting each layer together.  I used a plastic toddler plate as my base, so she can use them when the boys get bigger.  Another easy base is a cut out piece of cardboard wrapped in coordinating paper, or even white paper would be fine.

My cake only had 2 layers and I knew I needed 8 diapers for the top layer.  So I used all the remaining rolls for the bottom layer.  As I mentioned, I really should have had one more for the bottom layer, but that would have meant opening another package of diapers, so I decided against it. 

There is no magic trick to gathering all the rolls to create a layer, you just have to be quick and group them all together- try to get the group to stand on its own to free your hands for the next step.  It doesn’t matter at this point if your layer is perfectly round; you can adjust them once you secure them with the big rubber band. 

Once you have all the rolls standing together, take your big rubber band and stretch it around the entire layer.  This is what will keep your rolls from shifting when you add the ribbon.  Now, let’s take a look at what Not to do…this is an example of my cake right after I put the rubber band around the layer. 

Do you notice how you can see the ends of some of the rolls?  It doesn’t make for a very clean looking cake.  I always make sure all the ends are rotated to the middle, so the outside perimeter of the cake is nothing but smooth little rolls.

Much better. (O:

Once you have your other layers completed, like so:

It’s time to stack your cake!  

Once you have your layers stacked, and you’ve rotated the layers to have your best sides forward, it’s time to start decorating!  For this cake, I used double sided tape to secure my ribbon.  I will Definitely do this again- it worked perfectly!  Start your ribbon in the back and make sure to keep it centered all the way around your cake.  Add another piece of double sided tape at the end of the ribbon, and voila!  (*Note:  If you have more decorations, maybe some buttons even, the ribbon placed in the back isn’t as important because you can cover the end with a sock, button, etc.)

Finish adding ribbon to each layer of your cake.  At this time, you would also add any extras you have.  (I will post an example of the other diaper cake I’ve made at the end of this tutorial- it has lots of cute extras).  Now add your topper.  I wanted the baseball mitts to stand up a little bit, so I took a small piece of cardboard and stuck it in the middle of the top layer, then leaned the mitt on the cardboard.  I also added some more tape to help it stay still.  Once you’ve added your topper and possible extras, step back and take a look at your handiwork!

Here is a look at the other diaper cake I put together last year.  It had some handmade burp cloths and receiving blankets adding in, as well as lots of fun extras!  (O:

A year ago, I never would have guessed a diaper cake could be This Easy…but now you and I both know that something can be easy AND cute!  Good luck in your diaper cake adventures!! (O: