Two-Tiered Diaper Cake Tutorial

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!

Won't You Be Mine?

Still going crazy for Valentine decorations around here! I'm working on a heart-themed bowl filler, but in the meantime, I printed out one of these and trimmed it down for a red 8X10 frame.
Here's the download:Valentine Poster
Compliments of a very talented: it is what it is
Check out her clever uses for this free printable!

Valentine Project

My crafty friend Morgan mentioned that she had a craft night and made Valentine wreaths. Since I totally slacked on making a felt advent calendar, I "felt" I needed to redeem myself and use the excess red, pink and cream felt I had lying around. The red was the only wool felt I had and the other colors were synthetic. If you can find a deal on wool felt, snatch it up. I've gotten it on sale before at around $3.50/yd. If you buy the end of the bolt, they'll sometimes give it to you for 50% off. It's really high quality and holds it shape nicely.

The original source of inspiration: Ruffle Felt Wreath Tutorial

Heart Inspiration found at Eighteen25
I could only find a glitter-covered wreath, but it was half price so it ended up being cheaper than white styrofoam.
Diet Coke: an essential crafting tool.
The rotary cutter made the circle cutting easy. I initially cut 20 circles of each color. I needed a total of 120 circles to complete the project. It's not necessary to group the circles too closely. Once you fluff them up, it covers the styrofoam nicely.

I love it! It looks luxurious and extra-fluffy, just like love should be!

Spooky

I made these last night after reading a blog called Mod Podge Rocks which led me to an awesome crafting blog called Not So Idle Hands. My interpretation of the originals is a little loose, but I love them none the less. I used watered down Elmer's Glue-All instead of Mod Podge, because it's 78 cents instead of $7. The vases were from Goodwill for 99 cents each, and I got an awesome variety of tissue paper that will last me forever for $3. Not bad for a Monday night.

Ack! I am in love.

Found an amazing project on Design*Sponge. It's a glorious way to make your own terrarium with recycled glass jars. I will now walk with my nose to the ground in order to find a proper piece of moss.