Diaper Cake Decadence

Ohh how I love hearing there's a new baby on the way!  I'll never forget when my sister found out she was pregnant with her first (the first of our generation).  Such excitement!  At the time, I had never heard of diaper cakes, though her shower was exquisite and pink perfection.  Second baby showers are not too common, as the first one supplies mommy and daddy with much of the needed gear that babies require.  However, when you are decked in pink and a baby boy is due, a Sprinkle is the sure answer for pulling some of the necessary blues into the equation.  A Sprinkle is a lighter version of a baby shower; much less elaborate and meant to supply only the essentials for a second baby.

Annie's Sprinkle did afford me my first opportunity to try my hand at diaper cakes.  The process I used then was fairly tedious, as I used an older technique that requires rolling, for every diaper.  I have to say, the result was adorable and a great addition to the nautical decor in the theme, but the process left me with three problems to solve.  1. Rolling an entire package of diapers takes forever  2. Holding said diapers in rolls takes a ton of rubber bands (and frankly, they smell awful)  3. When mommy goes to use the diapers, they have to be unbanded and unrolled individually (which any mommy with a poopy infant knows is SO not efficient).  

So, while I knew it wasn't the ideal way to go about things, I had one more go before changing the process.  When my sister Denise was having her first baby, we threw her an elephant themed shower, complete with matching treats and of course, a diaper cake.  Again, cute and matchy, but not perfect.

And so, recruited to co-host a shower for a dear friend years later, I took to Pinterest to discover a new process that was easier, wouldn't produce ruined diapers, and still looked precious.  A new method discovered, I found that I could make them with more ease, fill them with more treats and produce some lovely cakes.  This method makes a smoother edge and does not damage the diaper!  Here are a couple more examples, followed up with my supply list and method for the ideal diaper cake for a new mommy.

Polished Diaper Cake DIY

supplies:
1-2 12-14" cardboard cake board
2-3 sizes cake pans (depending on amount of layers)
twine
1/2 yard desired fabric (ironed)
assorted coordinating ribbons (multiple widths)
75-90 size 1 & 2 diapers (preferrably white, no prints)
glue gun
glue gun sticks
coordinating paper shred
assorted baby goodies to hide inside or decorate with (pacis, bibs, toiletries, etc.)
coordinating decorations/topper
roll of cellophane wrap

Let me begin with saying that making a diaper cake can be as inexpensive or expensive as you'd like.  I tend to get carried away with a theme, as you know if you've read our blog before.  But, I will say, the most expensive one I've made did not exceed $65 for all supplies.  So, that is left to your discretion and is mostly dependent on what you stuff inside and decorate with.

So, you'll start with your cake board, the base to your cake.  Take the fabric and stretch it flat onto the cake board.  Start hot gluing the fabric to the bottom of the cardboard and continue smoothing and gluing around the base.  Now, this can look icky on the bottom.  In truth, this won't show, but if you're a spaz, like I am, you can cover a second cake board and glue them together to hide the bunching and glue.

Now that you have your base, you'll start filling the cake pans with diapers.  I find the best way to do this is to grab a handful, seat part showing at the outside and fan them inside the circle until they meet on the other side.  Tuck in the end of the last one and be sure to leave some space in the center to hide goodies for mommy and baby (I usually work around a toilet paper roll and then remove once I'm ready to stuff).  Use your twine to secure the diapers and pull tightly to create a firm layer for your cake.  Depending on the amount of layers, repeat this process for each.

Once the layers are complete, you can move on to the stuffing and decorating part.  The tough part about these cakes is that you really don't want to secure the layers to the base with glue, since the intention is for the diapers to be usable.  So, again make sure that once you stuff, each layer is pulled tightly.  Take your assorted ribbons and wrap around the layers at your discretion, securing with tiny dots of hot glue around limited spots around the outside.  I usually add some embellishment to each layer, whether it be a character or something personalized.

Then you're ready to assemble your layers!  With the bottom layer placed on the cake board, sprinkle with paper shred to cover the hidden goodies and add a little "frosting."  Continue layering up from here until you have reached the top layer.  This is another opportunity for a great personalized topper and something a little bigger for impact.

Generally, I'm pleased with the results from here, but I have to put in an extra step that I usually wouldn't, purely for transportation reasons.  I'm not a big fan of how diaper cakes look wrapped in cellophane, but given that you cannot glue them completely together, the cellophane will allow for easy transport to your shower and can be quickly removed if need be.

See?  Easy!  And, as I'm getting ready to start the task of potty training my little guy, I'm anxious to be rid of the diapers.  Not sure who might need a diaper cake with size 4's in it, but I'm SURE there's someone, somewhere...right??  But, seriously, who can resist a gorgeous cake?  Especially when it smells like a teeny tiny baby?!  Happy "Baking!"

Tinkerbell Party

It's Friday! We're finishing out our week off of school with plenty of sun and warmer temperatures than we've been having lately, thankfully! The icky grey skies and chilly weather has had me constantly dreaming of warm breezes and the smell of spring flowers. I thought today would be the perfect time to flashback to a sweet birthday party we had when our littlest miss turned two. She was completely obsessed with all things Tinkerbell so I knew we would be having a Pixie Hollow party.

I chose lavender and sage green for the main color scheme and stuck with simple fairy accents rather than anything overly cartoon-y. My sister Kate let me borrow her Cricut (...again...it's on my list...) and her Tinkerbell cartridge. I used it to cut the lettering on the banner, the fairies on the tent cards for the buffet and also for the fairy details on the invitation. I set the beverages on the sideboard and hung the banner above. I also printed and framed a little quote, "Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever."

I collected some branches from our backyard and hot glued lavender silk flowers randomly on each one. I Cruicut-ed a few paper butterflies and hung those from a few branches along with some colored glass crystals. I put the branches in a green vase and added it to the buffet table.

We typically plan our parties for late in the afternoon so we can coordinate naps and avoid our kids having complete meltdowns in the middle of everything. Also, despite all of my crazy lady lists and planning, I always need every extra second of the day I can squeeze in. That all being said, for these late afternoon parties, we typically don't need to have a huge amount of food. For this one, we had Fairy Fruit Wands (grapes and strawberries on bamboo skewers with a star-shaped piece of honeydew melon at the top), Sugared Butterflies (iced butterfly sugar cookies), Twisted Twigs (pretzel sticks), Rosetta's Garden Veggies, Fawn's Acorn Treats (Mini Nutter Butter cookies with Hershey's Kisses), Pixie Hollow Hummus, Pixie Pops (large marshmallows dipped in white chocolate with purple sprinkles), and Fairy Berry Cupcakes. For beverages, we had Tinker Tonic (sprite and lime sherbet), Silvermist's Dew Drops (bottled waters) and Iridessa's Icy Lemonade.

I recruited my dad to handle this cake. My amazing dad, who happens to be the smartest man alive and can build and fix anything, has made countless cakes for myself and my sisters while we were growing up. Minnie Mouse, Jasmine, Nala, Pongo from 101 Dalmations, Anjelica from Rugrats, Shrek- the list goes on. I'm sure he figured he was off the hook once we grew up, but every once in a while we ask him to take on yet another. He cuts and pieces the cake into whatever shape of the character and then ices them, freehand. It's ridiculous. He will tell you he hates doing it and he will criticize every bit of it once he's finished, but it's always incredible. We just have to bribe him with Starbucks to do it.  

  

 

I ended up finding this template for the little Tink favor boxes. I found a lime green cardstock and cut and assembled them. Then I embellished each with vellum wings, a thin satin ribbon belt and paper flower. I added pixie stick wands with a small paper star on the end. Inside, I tucked some small candy treats, bubbles and a tiny jar of pixie dust. A couple years ago, Michaels carried a Recollections Vintage Romance line and I was lucky enough to find this six piece set of glitter in tiny corked jars, which were just perfect for pixie dust!

We have a little coat/storage closet off our front foyer so I decided to transform it into a little dress up room for the kids. I hung a tulle canopy inside along with some fairy costumes on the rack, added a few Tinkerbell accents along with a Pixie Hollow sign on the door. I placed a small table inside with a vase full of fairy wands for the guests to take home. I made the wands using wooden dowels wrapped in satin ribbon with light green and lavender tulle attached at the top. 

 

Our little miss absolutely loved her Tinkerbell party. We kept some of the decorations out until her actual birthday a few days later and I made a little coordinating Tink bunting to top her cake. She still remembers this little party and asked to have it again this year, nearly two years later! It was so much fun to put together and extra fun to look back on today!

Happy weekend, everyone! And remember, if things get tough all you need is "faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust!" (Probably coffee too.)

xoxo,