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"

Edible Arrangement How-To

Tuesday, we went to an Election party at our friends Peter and Allyn's house.  I wanted to bring some fruit to snack on through the evening, but didn't want to just bring a bowl of it, so I decided to try my hand at a homemade Edible Arrangement!  I figured if it worked, it would be a fun way for everyone to enjoy their fruit, and if it didn't work, I'd just un-skewer it all and everyone could enjoy it in a bowl.  :)

Thankfully, it turned out well!

For my arrangement, I decided to use strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, cantaloupe, and marshmallows.



I put together a few tips to pass along to you, so you can make your own!  Here's what I did.

I ended up buying WAY too much fruit (since I had no idea how much I'd need for a full arrangement).  Turns out I only used one package of strawberries, one pineapple, one cantaloupe and a few bundles of the grapes.  I did use all the blueberries and most of the large marshmallows.

I wanted the pineapple to have a pleasing shape (instead of just chunks), so I cut it into rings, cut the outside off, and then used a round cookie cutter to cut circles out.

Tip:  Cookie cutters with jagged edges don't work well with the grains of the pineapple, so pick a shape that is mostly rounded, like a flower or circle.




Prepare the rest of your fruit (cut and/or wash as appropriate) and give each item its own bowl.

Now prepare your vase!  You can either use styrofoam or some of the green floral foam.  I stopped by the flower department at our grocery store and got two bars of the floral foam for about $3.  Cut the foam so it fits snugly in the vase, and you're ready!

Tip:  Push the foam down so it's about 1" below the top of the vase, so it's not visible in your arrangement.

Now for the fun part - skewering your fruit!  Put one piece of fruit on the top of the skewer.  Then start sliding fruit from the bottom to the top to fill the stick.  Make lots of different combinations as you go so your arrangement doesn't look the same all over.

Tip:  If you're using marshmallows, slide a piece of fruit on before you try to put a marshmallow on.  This will "wet" the stick enough so the marshmallow doesn't leave stickiness all over the skewer.

The skewers toward the center will need to have more fruit on them since they'll be taller.  Make some that have less fruit as you fill the arrangement in so you can stick the skewer further into the foam and round the arrangement out.  Don't push the skewer into the foam so far that the fruit is touching the foam - the bottom piece will be tainted!  (ewww)

Tip:  It's easier to stick the skewer in the foam if you take the top piece off the skewer and push from the top.  Once the skewer is in the arrangement, return the piece to the top.

Toward the end I made several half sticks and filled in the center so the arrangement was fuller throughout

Just keep adding skewers until it's perfect!

It's also lot of fun eating the fruit off of a stick.

I'm thinking of making one for Christmas that has strawberries and marshmallows to look like a candy cane.  There are so many fun themes you can do!

Cake Decorating How-to: Buttercream Pumpkins

This weekend I volunteered to bring cupcakes for a New Music Brandeis concert reception.  Since the concert was the weekend before Halloween, the performers decided they'd all dress up in costumes for the performance.  It was one of the most eclectic concerts (musically) I've ever been to, and the costume-clad musicians made it even more fun.  I decided to decorate the cupcakes with butter cream pumpkins, and they came out very cute (and actually really easy to do)!  Here's a little "how-to" so you can impress your friends and family.

When you're making "stand-up" butter cream decorations, the thickness of your icing is important.  I usually use tweaked version of Wilton's buttercream recipe.

Wilton's Buttercream Recipe                        My Tweaks to Wilton's Buttercream
1 cup solid white vegetable shortening                      1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon Wilton Flavor                                           1/2 cup salted butter
2 Tablespoons milk or water                                     1 teaspoon Wilton Vanilla
1 pound pure cane confectioners' sugar                     2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder                     4 cups pure cane confectioners' sugar
A pinch of salt (optional)                                           1 Tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder

A few notes: When you're going to be coloring your icing, make sure you use the Wilton (colorless) Vanilla (you can buy this from Michael's or AC Moore) so that it doesn't make your oranges and greens "muddy".  Also, in the pictures below I doubled the recipe.  This recipe makes the "thick" icing version.  To thin your icing (make it more spreadable), add water slowly until it reaches the desired consistency.   If you thin too much, add more powdered sugar.

Directions

Combine and cream wet ingredients (butter, shortening, vanilla and water).
Add powdered sugar 2 cups at a time, mixing well in-between.  Add meringue powder and mix til smooth.


Ice the tops of your cupcakes with a thin layer of the white icing.  Transfer some of the icing from your mixing bowl into a smaller bowl and add a little water, mixing between every few drops, until the icing becomes an easily spreadable consistency.

Now for the fun part!  Pumpkin time...

I found it's helpful to practice designs when you're learning to decorate cakes - instead of messing up a dozen cupcakes with the trial and error approach.  Tape two paper towels down on a flat surface.  Then tape two pieces of wax paper (on top of each other) on top of the paper towel.  Set aside some of your icing as "practice icing" so you can practice the shapes you're making and re-use the same icing until you get it right.  (Then toss the practice icing...just in case!)

Transfer more of the icing from your mixing bowl and add a few drops of orange gel coloring (you can buy this at Michael's or AC Moore).  The gel coloring is important because regular (liquid) food coloring will change the consistency of the icing.  The gel doesn't!

The pumpkin body is made using a size 12 tip.  You'll also need a piping bag (you can buy disposable bags at craft stores) and a coupler (here's some information about how to use a coupler).

First make a ball of icing.  To apply, point your tip straight down just above the surface.  With consistent pressure, start piping icing and raising your tip slowly as the ball forms.  Keeping the tip lower to the surface will let the ball increase its diameter.

Next, you're going to make ridges up the sides of your ball.  Start piping at the bottom, slowly lessening pressure as you reach the top.  The top will be a little messy where all your ridges come together.  Don't worry!  It's not a big of a deal since there will be leaves/vines covering most of the top.

Next, practice your leaves.  Mix some green icing (you wont' need too much).  I used the Wilton "Leaf Green" gel.

Use a medium leaf tip to make the leaves.  You'll need to hold the tip so the "V" is perpendicular to the surface.  Use your practice area to play with the different leaf types.  Use more pressure when beginning the leaf and as you move away, lessen the pressure.






Once you feel comfortable with your pumpkin and leaf skills, put them all together on your cupcakes!

I used another tip (a tiny hole - either tip 2 or 3) to make little vines around the top.  Cute little curls are never a bad thing, and add a lot to these little pumpkins!

Now go impress your friends!