You Should Know

The evening before my big shopping extravaganza to buy food, favours and supplies for a baby shower I was throwing, I was on the phone with my best friend, who asked: “Are you making a diaper cake?”

“A diaper cake? That would be cute, but I’m making a teddy bear cake,” I replied.

“No, a diaper cake. It’s a centerpiece made out of diapers. You can Google it to see pictures, but it may be too late to make now.”

Intrigued, I booted up my laptop, typed ‘diaper cake’ into the search box and voilà – tiered cakes that were in fact made out of diapers. I scrapped my plans for flowers – how boring! – and added diapers to my grocery list.

When I returned from my morning of shopping, I opened the package of diapers to begin and realized they had a print. ARGH! What I thought was an obstacle turned into a pleasant surprise – most of the party guests, it seems, didn’t know about diaper cakes either and thought the coloured print was icing!

Here’s how to make your own diaper cake:

Step 2: On a large table, overlap the bottom set of diapers horizontally standing on one long edge. You’ll likely need to prop the line up against something, like a stack of books or a vase.

Step 3: You’ll need a second set of hands here. While one person shapes the line into a tight circle, the other person ties a piece of ribbon around it.  

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the next two tiers, although you won’t need any help as the circles will be smaller and easier to manage.

Step 6: If using, add embellishments with tape or ribbon, and top with the stuffed animal. (Note: The animal topper on my cake seemed to keep changing every time I turned around! Be on the lookout for little hands and grinning faces.)

Step 7: Enjoy the oohs and aahs, and then send the soon-to-be-mom home with cake.