***EDITOR'S NOTE: Be sure to check out our baby diaper giveaway sets for a diapers gift set for that next shower. Otherwise, please enjoy this post!
What is a diaper cake?
Is a diaper cake made of just diapers, or are there other items included too?
Is it hard to learn how to do a diaper cake?
How do you know how many diapers for a diaper cake you should even start with?
A diaper cake is a gift for baby showers and other baby milestones that is built out of diapers. These cakes are often given as centerpiece gifts for baby showers and can make it easy to give the mom-to-be in your life a creative, memorable, and useful present.
It isn’t too difficult to learn how to make these cakes, but figuring out how many diapers and other materials you might need can be a challenge.
In this article, we’ll show you how to make diaper cake gifts for any baby shower needs. Read through these guidelines and you’ll be well on your way to learning how to make a diaper cake you can customize to the specifications of any expectant mom.
Read on to find out more about how to make a diaper cake below!
Diaper Cake Tutorial
Items and Equipment Needed
- Empty paper towel roll
- 12-inch cake board
- Ribbon in the color of your choice
- Craft items for decorations (stickers, decals, craft flowers, etc.)
- Confetti paper
- Tissue paper
- Small rubber bands
- Stuffed toy for newborns
- Disposable diapers
- If you’re wondering how many diapers for diaper cake use you need to buy, consider the age of the baby.
- For a newborn, plan to buy 66 diapers (or more, in case of mistakes) for the project outlined below.
- Older baby diapers are bigger, so you may not need to purchase as many if the recipient is an older baby or toddler.
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Scissors
- Any other baby items you may want to give as part of the gift
Steps
1. Start by folding the disposable diapers in half. They most likely already came folded this way in the package, so if you didn’t unfold them, you won’t need to fold them again.
2. Make sure the diapers are positioned with the printed side up, so that when you start rolling, you can hide the printed pattern and only have the white diaper displaying.
3. Roll the diaper away from you, curling it up onto itself until you have a log-like cylinder shape.
4. Practice a few times before securing any diapers so you can make sure you don’t roll too tightly or too loosely.
5. Now that you know how to roll diapers for diaper cake use, you can handle any diaper cake project!
6. Next, figure out how many diapers you will need to complete your project. Again, if you are following our guide below for a newborn baby, 66 total diapers will be enough, unless you want to add more as extra gifts or have additional diapers on hand in case of mistakes.
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7. When you determine how many diapers to make a diaper cake, you can set those diapers aside before continuing the process.
8. Use your hot glue gun to run a thick line of glue around the bottom of the paper towel roll.
9. Glue the paper towel roll to the center of the cake board.
10. Roll each of the diapers into a cylinder and secure with a small rubber band for each one. This is the most time-consuming step of the project, but if done correctly, it will help make the rest of the cake construction go smoothly!
11. Position six diapers around the base of the paper towel roll on top of the cake board.
12. Tie these diapers into place using the thinnest ribbon you have.
13. Repeat this process on the second outer layer of the cake, using twelve diapers instead of six. Tie these in place with thin ribbon as well.
14. Finally, do the same on the third outer layer of the bottom of the cake, this time with 24 diapers. Tie in place with ribbon.
15. Now you are ready to build the second tier of the diaper cake.
16. Start by placing six diapers around the paper towel roll on top of the first tier, and tie in place with ribbon.
17. Create the second layer around the first with twelve diapers. Tie in place with a ribbon once more.
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18. The final top tier of the cake is next. Position six diapers around the top of the paper towel roll on top of the second tier. Tie these in place with the thin ribbon too.
19. Wrap a thicker ribbon around the base tier to cover the center ribbon. Secure with a hot glue dot on both ends of the ribbon, but not on the diapers.
20. Repeat this process to cover the thin ribbon with thicker ribbon on both of the remaining tiers, securing with hot glue dots.
21. Decorate with an additional layer of different ribbon if you choose. If you do this, secure the same way with a hot glue dot on each ribbon.
22. Tie bows using your ribbon and hot glue them to the previously attached ribbons to hide the seams.
23. Cut strips of tissue paper and crinkle them into decorative puffy shapes. Tuck these between the layers of diapers on the first and second tier to add some additional flair.
24. Place the stuffed toy on top of the cake.
25. Decorate the cake as you choose with the remaining craft items and embellishments you have purchased for the cake.
26. If you choose, you can also decorate the cake with extra baby items such as bibs, blankets, pacifiers, bottles, bath items, and much more.
Conclusion
Did you learn how to create the perfect diaper cake for your next baby shower? These cakes make excellent gifts for moms-to-be, and they can also be great items to give for a baby’s first birthday or any other baby-related milestone for a child who is still in diapers.
This guide should help you get started, and you can easily make it your own by customizing the steps as you see fit. Don’t forget to check some of the how to make a diaper cake YouTube videos out there to help you get started, too!
Here are a few tips to help you transport your diaper cake successful and ensure quick repairs if part of the cake falls off or becomes damaged on the way to the baby shower:
- Construct the diaper cake in sections, then put them together on-site. This way, you won’t have to be traveling with a whole cake and can instead bring the tiers in one by one.
- If you have time, consider rolling the diapers beforehand and then putting together the whole cake on-site at the baby shower instead. This way, you won’t have to worry about transportation at all.
- Remember to never use hot glue or other fixtures on the diapers themselves—although you can use any fixtures you like on the ribbons. Any items that will be given to or use for the baby should not have glue, tape, or anything else attached to them, for safety and functionality purposes.
Remember these tips and you’ll be sure to bring the most memorable gift to your next baby shower!