Yesterday I showed you how to get started building a Diaper Cake.
The question I am asked the most about this project is “How many diapers should I use to make a diaper cake?” The answer to that is in the post I did yesterday . . . Get Started Building a Diaper Cake . . . just click HERE.
Today let’s turn that pile of diapers into tiers of a cake.
Let’s start off with 7 of our rolled up diapers. We need to stand them on end placing one in the center and the other six in a ring/circle around the center one as shown in the next image.
Then place a rubber band around all seven diapers to hold them together. I also like to turn all of my diapers so that the ends are tucked into towards the center. After the rubber band is around all seven diapers, if there are any ends sticking out you can always just turn/rotate diapers to get the messy ends hidden.
This is your top tier of your cake. See how nice it looks now that all of the ends are tucked towards the inside.
To make the next tier, just repeat the steps you just did for the first tier.
Then start to add another ring/circle of diapers around one of these so that the next tier grows one ring bigger.
Now you have your First and Second tier done! Because of the size of these tiers and the fact that the rubber bands hold things together pretty well, you can pick up the first or second tier pretty easily and move them around, but when we get to a third or fourth tier they become a little less stable, and this is why I like to place my entire cake on a tray so that you can lift it up and move it around without any of the tiers coming apart.
Add a sturdy base to your diaper cake
So, let’s get that tray out now and build another layer like we did for the second tier and place it on the tray.
Then let’s add another ring/circle of diapers around that to create a layer the size of the third tier. Since I did not have a rubber band large enough to go around this layer, I tied some white gift wrapping ribbon around it.
I think you can see that these layers are getting pretty big. I don’t want to move this one so I am going to start placing around ring/circle of diapers around this one to be my fourth and bottom layer of the cake.
Then, I will add one of the smaller layers on top of that, and built my third tier right on top of the fourth tier. I hope you can see that building the fourth tier on the tray, and then the third tier on top of that one helps to manage each layer and keep them stable. If you built them all on the table and then tried to stack them, things could shift around in the building process.
I wish I had rubber bands large enough to go around these layers, but the ribbon does the job and it will all be covered up when we decorate the cake.
Once all four layers are stacked this is how the Diaper Cake will look.
Remember, you don’t need to go this big with yours. I made a two tiered cake for a co-worker so that we could put it on her desk. I just wanted to go really big with this one since I am hosting the baby shower and it will also be a centerpiece at the party. If I was doing this to give as a gift I might just to a two or three tiered cake.
The question I am asked the most about this project is “How many diapers should I use to make a diaper cake?” The answer to that is in the post I did yesterday . . . Get Started Building a Diaper Cake . . . just click HERE.
Now we just have to decorate it! I think we will save that for tomorrow.
Diaper Cakes – Getting started
Diaper Cakes – Building the Tiers
Diaper Cakes – Adding the Decorations
See all of Shawn’s Diaper Cake creations HERE.
31 Responses
maybe large zip ties would work for the larger tiers
Zip ties work great!!
what size of diaper is that!
They are size one and two diapers
About how many diapers does it take ?
Thanks so much for this blog 🙂 im working on a diaper cake as we speak and im not sure what i was getting my self into. Thanks A Bunch. Love Ur Site 🙂 Very Helpful!!
thank you Shaun. this was very very helpful in helping me build my diaper cake. it came out really beautiful thanks to your instructions.
what is the width at the base and the heigth to the top when its done?
how tall and wide does this end up being?
Hello! I am wondering how big the tray was that you used for this size diaper cake? Thanks!
I think the tray was about 10" – 12" in diameter. I went to a party supply store and purchased a tray like you would use for a meat/cheese type platter
I found huge rubber bands on Amazon! They worked perfectly for the bigger tiers. amazon.com/gp/product/B0017YQMQ4/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Awesome! Thanks for posting!
If you have a dollar tree close by they usually sell large bags of rubber bands and this bag includes all kinds of sizes and thicknesses. Little ones for the individual diapers to whopping big ones for the base, all for $1 a bag!
Hello, I was just wondering how do the different tiers stay in place?
Morgan, they are just stacked on top of each other . . . like stacking a pile of books. I build the entire thing on a large platter/serving tray/piece of cardboard so that when the cake is done I can lift it and move it around . . . but if I did not keep it level the different tiers would slide.
You can use wooden towels between the layers to stabilize the layers.
cardboard tube from wrapping paper. right through the middle of all the tiers
how many diapers were needed for this size?
How many diapers were needed for this diaper cake?
How many diapers
I am making a diaper cake and I am going to insert a thin dowel rod down through the middle of it and that should keep the layers from sliding around.
Easy instructions on how to make this thing!! I have a shower in two weeks. About how many diapers did the four tiers need? Thanks in advance.
For the numbers of diapers to use, check out the first post at craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/diaper-cake-getting-started.html
Easy instructions on how to make this thing!! I have a shower in two weeks. About how many diapers did the four tiers need? Thanks in advance.
To go four layers how many diapers did it take?
For details on how many diapers to use, please see the first post at craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/diaper-cake-getting-started.html
For details on how many diapers to use, please see the first post at craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/diaper-cake-getting-started.html
How do you move it without messing it all up
I build my diaper cakes on a large tray base, or you could use a large piece of cardboard. Then when you move it, you lift the tray/cardboard and not the actual cake.
This is an awesome idea! What size diapers do you use for a 3 tiered cake? Is it smart to get 3 different sizes so it gets larger towards the bottom?