Shawn Mosch
- Shawn Mosch
- July 21, 2011
- 21 Comments
When I was hosting a baby shower I wanted to make a Diaper Cake to place on the gift table as a centerpiece. Afterwards I had SO MANY people ask me how I made the diaper cake that I decided to make a DETAILED blog with step by step instructions. Diaper cakes are also sometimes called Diaper Towers.
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Diaper Cake Supplies
To get started, you will need some disposable diapers and rubber bands. I also like to get an tray to use to put the cake on to make it easier to move around. I used a flat tray from a local party store that was about 16″ in diameter, but looking back I wish I would have gotten more of a pretty serving tray that the parents could use, like some of the ones on Amazon.
If you don’t want to use a tray, you could cut a piece of cardboard the size you will need. You could also pick up a round cake board to be the base of this structure. Really, you just need something to stabilize the tower of diapers so that you can easily pick it up and move it.
If you are making this for a baby shower you might even be able to bring that theme into the diaper tower with the diapers you use! There are so many fun cartoon characters printed right on disposable diapers including
How many diapers for a diaper cake?
How many diapers will you need? Well, that depends on how many layers you want to do on your cake. I have done a diagram of how many diapers I used on each layer. The numbers represent how many diapers you need for each layer, so if you were making a 2 tiered cake you would need a total of 26 diapers. Three tiered cake would be 64 diapers total. The four tiered cake I am making will need a total of 127 diapers. I suggest purchasing a case of diapers if you will be making a larger cake.
What Size Diapers Should I Use?
There is no hard fast rule about what size of diapers to use. As a mom, I thought about this and what my needs were for my children, and decided to go with the size 2 diapers. The size 1 diapers seems so small, and depending on the birth weight of the baby, they could outgrow them very quickly. Size 2 is for a baby from 12 – 18 pounds.
I do like that most diapers will indicate right on them what size they are. In the diaper in the picture above, you can see there is a 2 in the circle. Now, the size is really only important if you are want the parents to be able to use the diapers once the baby shower is over.
What Size Rubber Bands for Diaper Cake
You might be wondering if there is a specific size of rubber band you should use for your diaper cake. There really is no right or wrong answer here, but there are some factors about your rubber bands that you should consider.
Did you know that rubber band sizes are made up of three measurements. This includes the
- Wall
- Width
- Flat Length
These factors are important to consider. If the overall flat length is too long, you will be wrapping your rubber bands around the diaper multiple times. Additionally, if the rubber band has a really thick wall dimension it might be hard to stretch the bands around the diapers. I believe I used a #19 size rubber band for mine.
Let’s get rolling
The next part of the process is the most time consuming . . . rolling up all of those diapers! I like to take a stack of them when I sit down at night to watch television and roll them. It is something that you can do without much thought so it is good “television work”.
I started by placing the diaper down with the printed image up. The printed images are on the front of the diaper. Then starting at the bottom I roll it up like a jellyroll and place a rubber band around the center.
Now, if the image that is printed on the diaper happens to match the theme of the baby shower, and you want to roll them so the front side is showing, that is fine . . . I have seen some done this way also, but for my purpose the image would clash with the theme of the shower so I like to roll them to have a nice white diaper and then I can decorate it with any colors and images I want.
Once you have several rolled up you will have a pile like the one in the image below.
The next step is building the tiers of the cake. Because I don’t want this post to get too long, I will show you that part tomorrow. Then we will go into a variety of ways you can decorate this diaper cake to personalize it for the parents or the theme of the baby shower.
This project can be found on Pinterest by clicking HERE.
Diaper Cakes – Getting started
Diaper Cakes – Building the Tiers
Diaper Cakes – Adding the Decorations
See all of Shawn’s Diaper Cake creations HERE.
What Questions Do You Have?
If you feel like there is something I missed or that you want more detail on, please drop me a comment! When I first wrote this article, I did not have the image that shows how many diapers I used for each tier of the cake. Because so many people were asking me about that, I came back and updated this article to include that detail!
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21 Responses
Ughh… Like a "to be continued" movie!!! 🙂 Can't wait to see the rest tomorrow!! GREAT tutorial!!
hugs,
TanyaReply
YOUR THE GREATEST, YES THIS IS THE CUTEST BLOG ON THE BLOCK!!!!! I NEVER KNEW HOW MANY PAMPERS TO USE TO EVEN IT OUT AND YOU JUST CLEARED IT ALL UP!!!! THANKS!!!!
Reply
You can use a wine bottle or a cardboard tube in the center. This will help the diaper cake keep its shape. BTW, your blog background is very cute.
Reply
Very helpful. I have been looking all over trying to find out how many diapers go in 2 – 4 tier cakes. Thanks!!!!
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This is the first one I have ever made and this has helped me out soo much. I'm making it for my wife. That's right this is a guy making one. Lol. Thanx agin for the help.
Reply
That is AWESOME!!!!! GO Daddy!!! 🙂
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Thanks so much for the great instructions and the diaper estimation chart. I just made my diaper cake and your diagram was right on. Thanks again!
Reply
Thank u a ton. I just made a 6 tier pamper cake with about 150 diapers. It turned out amazing because of ur blog.
Reply
What size diapers did you use? My daughter-in-law wants a 6—tier cake.
Reply
I have used size 1 and size 2 diapers. They are smaller so the cake does not get too tall. Also, if you use a bigger size the parents are just going to have to store them until the baby is big enough to use them.
Reply
How many diapers per layer for 6 tier diaper cake
Reply
Thank you! Hope you don't mind but I linked your blog when I posted I was making mine.
juliannashelps.blogspot.com/2013/03/baby-shower.htmlReply
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions!
my family had a bit of a baby boom, and I made 4 cakes using your instructions.
After my third cake the book mark on my tablet ended up deleted and I almost cried thinking I would have to use someone else as a reference.
So glad I found you againReply
This article was great in suggesting new brands and
styles to try out.
, I thought this article was suppose
to help those of us who have never used diapers,
Thank you so much for this comprehensive list!
I have read many reviews and done a ton of research
. This has helped me make decisions
on diapers.I am completely happy with your website
. All comments and articles
are very useful and very good. Your blog is very
careful-take control.
I am loving all of the inside ,Reply
oh poop, I tried to comment and it didn't work 🙁
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for posting this tutorial. I got pegged as the crafty girl at work (not sure why) and was asked to do a diaper cake for a baby shower… they showed me this GORGEOUS diaper cake from etsy and asked me to replicate it… I was like uhhhhh *panic* but then I found you and it's all good, because this wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected it to be!!! Thanks so much!!! I am planning on posting a pic of my diaper cake to my blog and OBVIOUSLY linking to your tutorial!!!!!Reply
Thanks for this tutorial…I especially love that you put the amount of diapers needed and the pointer that size 1 would be better than newborn…awesome…making one for a shower next week,
Reply
What are the dimensions? I want to make a very tall one
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Some people put a roll of paper towels in the middle so you don't have to use so many diapers, it also helps to make it more sturdy. Just a little extra advice. 🙂
Reply
On this blog i get lot tips to make a diaper cake step by step so am very appreciate to you for this struggle .Thanks!
Reply
Complimenti .Sei stata di grande aiuto!Ma facendola a 3 piani che dimensione dovrebbe essere il fondo?
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Thank you for sharing the information, i have got the best information. 2 tier baby shower cake
Reply