By WhatToExpect.com
Celebrate baby’s impending arrival with your family and friends by indulging in delicious food, participating in amusing games, and unwrapping thoughtful gifts that your baby will soon enjoy. Of course, no baby shower would be complete without a decorative diaper cake, and no diaper cake would be complete without Huggies® Little Snugglers Diapers that help to keep your newborn’s perfect skin clean and healthy.
Classic Confection
The traditional three tiered diaper cake can serve as a great base for numerous creative designs. Here’s how to build it:
Gather at least 6 dozen (depending on the size of your cake) diapers, both small and large rubber bands, a flat circular cardboard base, a large bottle of baby powder, and a small toilet paper roll (stuffed with paper towel to ensure stability).
From front to back, roll 10 diapers individually and secure them with a small rubber band. Place the baby powder in the center of the circular cardboard base and vertically stack all of the diapers around the bottle; secure with a large rubber band. Roll enough diapers (approximately 35) to create two more ring layers that will be stacked and secured around the previous layer(s), but be sure that the outermost layer is big enough to cover the edges of the circular base.
Using a hot glue gun, secure the toilet paper roll to the top of the baby powder bottle to create the next tier. Roll 8 diapers individually and vertically stack them around the bottle to create the first layer of the second tier; secure with a larger rubber band. Roll 14 diapers to create the second layer and secure with a large rubber band.
Roll the remaining diapers to create the top layer of the cake, using one rolled diaper as the center, and secure with a large rubber band. Place this tier in the center of the second tier. Hide the rubber bands around each tier with ribbon, and then get creative with the decorations. Here are 4 ways to transform the classic diaper cake into a beautiful baby shower display:
Bella Ballerina
Secure pink tulle around each layer with double sided tape to resemble a ballerina’s tutu. Place a decorative ballerina figurine, similar to the one that you’d see in a jewelry box, in the center top layer for added elegance. Find a small music box that plays Tchaikovsky’s “ Swan Lake” theme song (a standard music box tune) and hide it within the bottom layer of diapers, making sure to twist it occasionally throughout the celebration to entertain guests.
Tasty Treat
Trick your baby shower guests into thinking that they’ll soon enjoy a slice of gourmet cake by decorating the classic diaper cake with an array of plastic flowers and ribbons to hide the materials. They’ll be amazed when you
reveal that the three-tiered artwork is actually made of Huggies® Little Snugglers Diapers, which are mom-preferred over Pampers Swaddlers†.
Chilly Snowman
Ideal for a winter baby shower celebration, create a snowman diaper cake by first building the classic diaper cake structure, but stop at two layers. Craft the head out of a Styrofoam ball and decorate with cut out paper eyes, nose, and mouth; or secure edible sugar cake decorating facial features to the Styrofoam ball for a more realistic touch. Place small, fallen branches or brown pipe cleaners on each side of the second diaper layer to resemble arms, top the head with a baby hat in your color of choice, and pin jingle bells in the center of the diaper layers to serve as buttons.
Wacky Water Fountain
Assemble a classic three-tiered diaper cake and then secure a sheet of paper that is the same height as the largest layer to it with double sided tape. Tape or hot glue small rocks all over that sheet of paper to resemble the base of a water fountain structure. Cover the rubber bands securing the middle and top two layers with a small white ribbon and double sided tape. Grab two dozen (if not more) blue pipe cleaners and twirl them beginning in the middle of the pipe cleaner. Stick the twirled decorations all over the middle and top layers to resemble water spray from a fountain. Add a decorative drawer handle or brooch to the top layer to serve as a water fountain finial.
Made to Move
Tricycle
Perhaps one of the harder diaper cake to build, you’ll need approximately 100 size 1 diapers, 2 receiving blankets in your choice of color, one pair of baby socks, 2 bibs in your choice of color, one plastic baby bottle and decorative ribbon. Create three circular stacks of the same size using the typical layered diaper technique and then secure with rubber bands; hide rubber bands with decorative ribbon secured with double sided tape. Make a hole in the center of each stack using your fist, and then insert one tightly folded receiving blanket into two of the circular stacks, before pulling them forward to insert and secure with safety pins into the remaining stack (tire) that should be centered in front of the two rear stacks (tires). Fold the other receiving blanket tightly and feed it through the front tire. Lay the bib on the front stack with the neck of the bib facing the rear of the tricycle. Place the plastic baby bottle on top of the bib to resemble a headlight and tuck the nipple end into the blanket. Bring both ends of the second blanket up and over the bottle, and be sure to secure with a large rubber band. Create handle bars by putting one baby sock on each end of the blanket, and then add another bib to resemble the seat with the neck of the bib facing the handle bars. Finish the trike with a decorative bow in front to hide the rubber band.
Tractor
Create three stacks—one smaller circular stack and two larger oval stacks—using the typical layered diaper technique and then secure with rubber bands. Hide the rubber bands by covering them with yellow or green decorative ribbon. Hold the two larger stacks upright and connect them with a wooden dowel to allow for a sturdy base for a Huggies Natural Care® Wipes box, which will serve as the cab of the tractor, to securely rest atop of it. Tape or tie the smaller circular stack to the dowel to resemble the front tire. Hang a stuffed animal off the back of the wipes tractor cab to man the wheel and secure with double sided tape.
Special Delivery
Diaper Wreath
Purchase a cardboard wreath form (to ensure stability, a heavier weight form is preferable) and use it as your base. Roll up at least 22 diapers (depending on the size of your wreath form) individually, secure with a rubber band, and then cover the rubber band with a thick decorative ribbon using double sided tape. Place a drop of hot glue in the center of the decorative ribbon wrapped around the diaper and gently secure it to the form; continue until all diapers are secure. To amplify the look, add additional ribbons and embellishments, or secure a small stuffed animal in the lower center of the wreath form. Hang the wreath on your front door—to serve as decoration and a house marker for your baby shower guests—by strongly securing a ribbon ontothe back of the form.
Stork
To create this whimsical diaper cake, fold a large receiving blanket horizontally into fourths and lay it flat on a table. Build a triangle of diapers within the walls of the blanket by rolling at least 8 diapers (wrap each individually with a rubber band to ensure shape) and securing them flat to the blanket with double sided tape. Add another layer of 6 diapers (making sure to secure them with double sided tape) on top of the first layer and then continue by adding a layer of 4 diapers, and then a layer of 2, and finish by securing 1 diaper to the top of the triangle. Gather the ends of the blanket and tie them together in the center with a decorative ribbon. Purchase a stork that can be stuck into the top, or create your own using different colored paper stock.
It’s a Zoo
Owl
You’ll need approximately three dozen diapers, two large plastic flowers with embellished centers, a bib (color of choice, depending on gender of baby), a baby blanket, ribbon, pipe cleaners, and a washcloth. Use a circular cake pan or hat box cover to layer diapers to create a circular pattern, and then secure them together with a large rubber band. Create eyes with two small circular stacks of diapers made using the same technique and a smaller circular mold. Lay the larger circular diaper stack flat and then place a bib half-way over it to hide the center of the stack. Place the smaller circular diaper stacks (the two eyes) above the larger stack, and secure the entire owl (body and eyes) with a large
decorative ribbon. Fold a receiving blanket into a thin strip and drape it over the entire structure, securing it with a thin ribbon underneath the bib to keep the blanket in place. Fold the baby washcloth into a triangle and tuck it in between the two smaller circular stacks to create a hawk-like beak. Finally, tape the flowers onto the centers of the smaller circular stacks to give the illusion of eyes.
Baby Bear
Stack diapers horizontally inside a onesie (from one side to another) to create the body of the bear, and then snap the onesie closed at the bottom. Roll up two diapers and place one in each arm hole. Additionally, roll up two diapers and place one next to each leg hole on your designated display surface (as you won’t want to move the bear following this step). To create the head, start with one diaper rolled tight and then create a swirl around that diaper using other diapers laid over it. Secure the diapers to the onesie or diaper body using safety pins. To finish the bear, roll up two diapers to serve as the ears, decorate the face, as desired, and place a pacifier in the bear’s mouth to increase the cuteness factor.
Whether you’re looking for ideas on how to create the perfect diaper cake to add whimsy to your baby shower decorations or to gift to your favorite mom-to-be, make sure to always start with Huggies® Little Snugglers Diapers.
Image : Huggies Baby Shower Planner Pinterest