Diaper Cake Ideas

When a friend suggested I make the centerpiece for another friend's baby shower, I was thrilled. I love to come up with new baby shower diaper cake ideas. They're not only great centerpieces for baby shower decorations, but they make wonderful gifts for the expectant mother.

The only challenge was picking the right theme for the diaper cake. This friend of ours is, of course, very special to us and she has waited quite some time to become a mother. I've made plenty of diaper cakes in the past, but we decided this one had to be something extra special.

I thought I might walk through how I come up with the unique diaper cake ideas for a special mom.

Photo by: CC BY 2.0

First, I know the baby is a girl and my friend and I agree that a pink diaper cake is a must for a girl. Sure, we have other options, but once I find a few photos of pink diaper cakes online, my mind is made up. I'm going with pink.

This photo was the starting inpiration. I don't want to go with the whole princess/drama theme, but I like bright pink color and the idea of a layered cake covered in various shades of pink with black accents seems right in line with our friend's modern tastes. The nursery is already going to be a pink flower theme so we know some of the decorations for the cake can be used in the nursery, if we do this right.

After some consideration, I decided that I would go off a slightly paler pink color for the trim of the diaper cake and I found this picture to work with.  I like the color of the ribbon and I think it looks very sophisticated with the black edges and black polka dots.  After sneaking in some ribbon I found in a similar pattern, I was able to confirm it was a match to the nursery set my friend had already purchased.  It pays to be sneaky!

With the ribbon in hand, my next step was to find some receiving blankets, bibs, and at least one baby onesie to use for each of the layers of the diaper cake.  I have settled on doing a three tier cake instead of two tiers and I would like a soft pink flower toy for the top of the cake.

Photo by: Baby Tiara CC BY 2.0

I mapped out the diaper cake idea on a piece of paper so I'd know how many diapers I'd need for each tier, the diameter of each tier and I have already chose a wide ribbon for the base along with coordinating ribbons and bows for the other tiers. I probably should have chosen a blanket first because now I'm a bit obligated to use the ribbon and it might have been easier to match things the other way around.

I spent some time at the local baby goods store and and after about two hours, I finally settled on three receiving blankets: one solid pink blanket with a silky white edge for the bottom tier, one pink blanket a shade lighter with small, black and white polka dots for the middle tier, and finally a slightly lighter shade of pink for the top tier.

I lucked into finding two matching onesies. The first is white with a pink and black flower on the front and the other is pink with a black and white flower. The flowers are exactly the same and I think I can make some ribbon bows that will match to offset them if I place them properly on the diaper cake.

As I mentioned, I was hoping to find a soft, pink flower toy to put on the top of the diaper cake.  I'd found this picture on line and it's similar to what I have in mind, but based on the black, pink and white color scheme, I would prefer something that has those colors.

I found a line of soft toys for newborns that have lots of pink and black options and, out of an inability to settle on one, I chose two.  Once I make the diaper cake, I'm going to test each toy out on the top to see which one I like best.  The other one can be a present I can give to my friend's baby down the road.  I know the diaper cake won't be the last gift I give for this little girl headed our way.

Photo by: Baby Tiara CC BY 2.0

Their are endless ideas for more decorations you can add to a diaper cake for a baby shower. Baby socks, booties, hair clips, pacifiers, and grooming kits are excellent and useful items to attach to a diaper cake.

Additional items you can use as decorations include:

• Pacifier holders
• Diaper covers and wraps
• Baby keepsake plates, cups and utensils
• Footie pajamas
• Hooded baby towels
• Mittens

It takes me about an hour to make a diaper cake once I have all of the pieces selected.  Rolling and organizing the layers of diapers is by far the most time consuming part of the project.  To make this go faster, follow these tips:

• Roll the diapers ahead of time, perhaps while watching TV each night for a few nights
• Get helpers - kids enjoy helping with craft projects
• Buy pre-decorated diaper cake layers and just tackle decorating the diaper cake

Once your tiers are assembled, cover the tiers with your fabric goods, attach the decorations and finish with ribbons and bows.