How to make a diaper cake

After having our own baby showers for little Owen, I realized how coveted diaper gifts were for parents-to-be.  Diaper gifts were going to be especially important for our friends Barb and Dave, since they're having TWINS (any day now!).  Instead of giving them a box of diapers, I decided to make a diaper cake!

Diaper cakes are incredibly easy to make and really cute.  They look great on your food table and are an easy way to add height to the table and tie in your theme!  If you can roll diapers and use rubber bands, you can make a diaper cake.  I have confidence in you!

You'll need:

60-75 diapers (mostly white)
Rubber bands (~100)
Paper towel roll
Ribbon
Straight pins (6)
Cake Stand
A section of a plastic tablecloth (or fabric) approx 3-4 foot square (depending on how large your cake stand is
Assorted decorations

First, roll up your diapers.  Roll them so any graphics across the front stay on the inside (you want a white outside) from bottom to top.  They should be snug, but not super tight.  Wrap each with a rubber band around the middle to keep in place.  You don't want the rubber band so tight it indents the diaper, so loosen if you need.

Once you've rolled 60 or so diapers, it's time to start assembling the bottom tier of your cake.  Start by surrounding the bottom of the paper towel roll with your rolled diapers.  Once you've formed the first layer, put another rubber band around the group to secure.

Then surround that layer with another, and secure the group with another rubber band.  Continue with a third layer to finish the bottom tier.  (Tip:  As you get to the second and third layer of rolled diapers, it gets easier to put the rubber band on first and slide the rolled diapers in as you go.)

Once the bottom tier has three layers of diapers, you can start on the second tier.  Construct in the same way, only this time just do two layers of diapers.  Then move on to the top tier and do one layer of diapers.

Isn't it nice that a paper towel roll is the same height of three rolled newborn diapers stacked on top of each other?  Works out perfectly!

I stuck rolled up diapers inside the paper towel roll at the end too, so the top wouldn't be empty - you don't want to see a hollow tube at the top of your cute cake!

Next up - the ribbon!  You'll want to select a ribbon that is about 1/3 the height of the diapers you're using.  You'll be wrapping it around the middle of each tier, covering the rubber bands.

Secure the ribbon in the back with pins.  One pin in the top corner where it starts, and a pin in the top and bottom corners where it ends to hold in place.  If you have pins with tops the same color as your ribbon, awesome!  If not, just make sure they end up in the back.

Then I made a simple bow to put on top of the cake and secured it with another pin through the back.

Next I covered my cake stand.  The glass cake stand is nice for some things, but didn't fit the "feel" of my diaper cake, so I decided to cover it.  I used the end of the tablecloth I didn't need (you'll need a 3-4 foot square depending on the size of your base) so it would tie in nicely with the rest of the table.

Lay the cake stand upside down in the center of your fabric.
Gather the ends around the entire stand.
Tie a ribbon around the top of the pedestal, close to the plate.  You could also use a rubber band.
Cut away the excess fabric, but leave enough so it will hang to cover the entire pedestal.

Now put it all together!

I wanted to keep the other decorations on my diaper cake simple, so I went with a monkey, giraffe and passie.  "Monkey" and "giraffe" are the nicknames given to each of the baby girls we were celebrating that day.

Turned out pretty nicely!

All the parents-to-be have to do is unroll the diapers as they need them!  Talk about a functional decoration.

Have you made a diaper cake before?

Check out other baby shower posts:

Baby shower activity - make a wish tree!
Marshmallow Baby Rattle Shower Favors
Chocolate covered pretzel giraffes
Baby shower overview - complete with a "cravings corner"

Pinwheel Quilt Pattern

Last week I told you about my trip to Jo Ann's to buy the tools necessary to learn to quilt.  I'm happy to report that so far, it's been a success!  I saw really great YouTube video with instructions on how to make a pinwheel, so I decided to start with that design.  My first project is going to be a bag (to hold my quilting supplies), so I think I'll just need 8 pinwheels.  So far I've made 4, so I'm well on my way!

Here's how I did it.

First, cut two colors of fabric (I used white and blue) into 5" squares.
Lay one of each color on top of the other with the "pretty" sides facing in.  Pin around the edge.

Sew all the way around the square, removing the pins as you go.  You can do this with a sewing machine, but since I don't have one, I just did tiny stitches by hand all the way around.

Once you've sewn the two pieces together, cut your square into 4 triangles on each diagonal using your ruler and rotary cutter.

Once cut, open the triangles (you should now have squares) and iron them so they stay flat.  Make sure the back seam stays to the darker color's side so it can't be seen through the white.

Now that you've got your two-tone squares, rearrange them so they form a pinwheel.

Now it's time to sew the pinwheel together!

Take one square, and "fold" it on top of the one beside it so it's facing down.  Line up your seams on the side  that should touch and pin along the edge. Once you've sewn along the pinned edge, open it up and iron so it stays flat.  Do this with each half of your soon-to-be pinwheel.

Just one more piece to sew!  Now lay one side on top of the other, line up the seams, and pin along the edge again.  Once this is sewn and ironed, you'll have completed your first pinwheel!

Not bad for my first go, if I do say so myself!

Taking Up Quilting

Last week, my friend Laura told me she wanted to learn how to quilt.  I'd been feeling inspired by blogger Owen's Olivia, but I don't have a sewing machine, so I thought all hope was lost.  I talked to my mom, who said my grandma made her quilts by hand, so armed with Laura's enthusiasm and the knowledge that this MIGHT just be in my genes, I decided to give it a try.

Saturday, we headed to Jo Ann's to pick up the quilting basics.  Quilting basics...hmmmm...I realized I had no idea what you needed to quilt...so I called my mom to find out what I should buy.  I had my list of "must haves" and decided the best idea was to find an employee who might take pity on us and show us around.  

Luckily the employee I picked was an avid quilter and (probably) the manager.  *Score*  She found us a prepackaged set that included the "self-healing" Cutting Mat, a rotary cutter, and a large ruler.  This set was due to go on sale the next day, but after some pitiful looks, she told us how to get it at 50% off that day.

Then she pointed us in the direction of the fabric.  Wow - there was a lot of fabric!  I decided my first project was going to be a bag (that I could then use to hold all of my quilting supplies).  I decided to go with bright colors for the bag - a bright blue with little flowers, and yellow with a circle pattern.

Then we picked up some of the small things we'd need - pins, needles, a thimble, a pincushion (I got one shaped like a bird), super sharp scissors, and then thread.  Jo Ann's had things marked pretty well, until we got to the thread.  There was display after display of thread.  A nice lady saw us standing there looking pretty confused, had pity on us, and helped us find what we needed.  She ALSO gave us another coupon to use when we checked out. 

Between the staff and kind shoppers, it was a group effort getting us out of the store with everything we needed.  :)

Here's my loot!

I should also mention the Jo Ann's employee thought I was totally crazy for thinking I'd be able to do this by hand.  She looked at me like I'd lost my mind (maybe I have) and asked me to bring in what I make when it's done to show her.  Now I've got my game-plan, the tools necessary to make it happen, and the motivation of showing Michelle at Jo Ann's I could do it.  Check back later to see how it goes - let's just hope Michelle wasn't right...

Wine Cork Bulletin Board!

When we first moved to Boston 5 years ago, one of the first places we ate was John Harvard's Brew House in Cambridge.  It's a really neat brewery and restaurant in Harvard Square that has hilarious stained glass (recognize any of those guys?), good food, and the most amazing cork board I'd ever seen.  Once I saw their board (probably 4' x 6'), I knew I had to make my own (smaller) version!

Last spring, while packing for our move from Watertown to West Newton, I found the stash of corks we'd started several years before, and I caught the cork board bug again.  Once we moved in, Travis and I decided to go to Target and buy a picture frame so we could judge how close we were to filling up our board.  This is what we ended up with...

When we realized how far we were from full, we had friends start saving corks and I even hit up the Trader Joe's tasting guy a few times and got some of their corks!  Once we had more people chipping in, it came together much faster.  Here are some tips to make your own:

1)  Pick a frame you're going to fill in with the corks and take the glass out of it.  You'll be gluing the corks to the frame's back board.

2)  Start mapping out your corks!  Fill in the frame with whatever "pattern" you like - we chose alternating 2 corks vertically/horizontally.  Make sure you vary the colors, patterns and even the red dyed portions as you plot your board.

3)  Once you fill in the entire board, you'll need a really strong glue that will stick to cork.  We decided to go with Super Glue.  The "gel" super glue worked really well, and the corks aren't going ANYWHERE soon!  Pick each cork up and glue it back down (so tedious...but it only took me about an hour).  After gluing down a section, I laid a brick on top of the corks to make sure that they were touching the frame's back board while the glue dried. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out and now we're saving corks for our NEXT project!  What's your favorite thing you've seen make with wine corks?