What to give a mother who is having her 5th girl??? Something practical, useful and a bit special! When my mom asked me to think of a baby gift, I was instantly reminded of the booth next to mine at the farmer's market. They sell two-tiered diaper cakes, diaper motorcycles, washcloth cupcakes, all with cute coordinating ribbon and plush toys. Problem is, they run about $60! I figured if I made one myself buying diapers and using crafty things I had on hand, I could walk away spending $30. Not bad.
My mom had a decorative 12" plate she picked up at a thrift store for a dollar, white tulle ribbon leftover from a previous project, dozens of rubber bands and safety pins. I picked up a package of size 1 Pampers Swaddlers with wetness indicators 40-count (a must for newborns-simply the best,) a 12 pack of Gerber baby washcloths, a giraffe rattle, three yards each of three coordinating ribbons, a 16oz bottle of Baby Magic baby wash, and Chips Ahoy cookies for mom to eat while I got started.
Step 1:
Using your stash of rubber bands, roll 36 diapers starting from the top. Try to hide as much of the color and the characters as you can.
Step 2:
Using a rubber band, secure two of the extra diapers around the base of the baby wash. You want your base form to be as circular as possible. Take your wrapped diapers and surround the bottle to make an inner ring. Secure with a rubber band.
While I opted for baby wash for my inner base, other good ideas include champagne or sparkling cider, baby powder or lotion, a piece of pvc pipe or a paper towel cardboard tube.
Step 3:
Form a second ring around your inner ring. Our rubber bands weren't big enough to secure this layer, so we used a small ribbon and two pairs of hands to get this nice and secure.
Step 4:
Repeat the step 2 on your second tier. We again used 2 of the extra unrolled diapers on the inside and used about 10 rolled diapers for the ring. A rubber band around the whole thing was perfectly snug.
Step 5:
Using tulle ribbon, we wrapped each tier individually. I cut it to size and tucked the top in over the top of the diapers to give it a more polished appearance.
Step 6:
Hide the rubber bands with the largest of the ribbon, securing it in the back with the super- nifty "as seen on TV" U-Glue. Secured coordinating ribbon just below.
Step 7:
Top you cake with whatever you like, silk flowers, ribbons and bows, stuffed animals. I chose to make 8 rosettes using the washcloths attaching them to the tulle with small safety pins. I shimmied the base of the rattle in between and called it good.
Place your cake on a plate and voila!
Attach a homemade card with a clothes pin and deliver to a very deserving mother!
Wrap in cellophane if you are traveling a long distance or if you want to present it as a wrapped gift. These cakes also make perfect centerpieces for baby showers!
After all was said and done we only spent a total of $21! Not bad!
