Diaper Cake How-to

I've had several people email and comment with questions on how to make a diaper cake. So I thought I'd do a little tutorial. Now, I'm just giving directions based on my totally non-expert experience so there are probably a million better tutorials, but I thought I'd do one just the same.

It's a fun gift and one you can actually adapt for other occasions. I've made a lingerie cake (see bottom pic) for a bachelorette party and I think it could easily be done with t-shirts for a birthday, too. Once you get the basic concept down you can do all kinds of cool things with it!

Supplies:
2 packs (or more) of diapers (I usually get generic since they tend to be white with little printing on them and make for prettier cakes)
1 package of light colored assorted sized rubber bands
decorative tray or cardboard for base
Wooden dowel rod or paper towel roll
Decorative ribbons, cake toppers, baby charms, silk flowers
optional, gifts (pacifiers, baby wash, etc.) to hide within the cake or use to decorate the outside of the cake.

Step One: Roll diapers starting at the top of the front side of the diaper. The back of the diaper should be facing out when the roll is completed. Secure with rubber band.

Step Two: To make the layers of the cake, take one very large rubber band and wrap it around several diapers. Continue adding diapers shaping the layer into a circle. I've found it works best to add diapers to the center of the layer. Once you have the circle shape you can add diapers until you reach the size you prefer.

Step Three: Follow step two for the subsequent layers making each layer smaller than the one before it. I usually make the second and third layer smaller by one diaper row.

Step Four: Make room in base for paper towel roll or dowel by removing a center diaper in each layer. Stack diaper layers around for center support.

Step Five: Now that you have the cake structure complete, wrap ribbon around each layer to hide the rubber bands and get ready for the fun part! Add cake toppers and other decorative items or gifts to the cake to give it more of a cake-like look.

Step Six: Put decorated cake onto platter or cardboard base and serve!

The pic below is one of my favorite (and most difficult) creations. It was a lingerie cake for my sister's bachelorette party. The polka-dot part was made from inverted bra cups. The rest of the cake was made with panties, camisoles, and a towel wrap.