Duck & Elephant Diaper Cake

Before my niece was born, we had a family shower for her.  Her mother likes ducks & elephants, so I decided I would attempt a diaper cake using those as ideas.  This was my first diaper cake guys, so be gentle.  : )  Diaper cakes take a good bit of time, but for some reason, putting them together really relaxes me.  I could be nuts, I acknowledge that, but it's fun to shop for all the different components & then put them together into this cake looking masterpiece (or attempt at a masterpiece). 

First up, the fun part.  Shopping for all things duck or elephant.  Luckily, these are pretty popular baby items so it wasn't that difficult to find a whole bunch.  I also grabbed about 150 of the diapers that Ashley had told me she would be using.  Here is the loot.

This was my first diaper cake so I didn't really know where to start with decorating it, but I got a pattern down & even through the other diaper cakes I have made since this one, I still pretty much stick to it.  For the bottom layer, I used hooded towels wrapped around.  In the seams or spaces where the blankets or towels meet each other, I put bibs & washcloths.  I attached everything using stick pins.  

For the second layer, I usually do bibs all the way around or either burb clothes, depending on how much stuff I found in the patterns/themes I was looking for.  I had found tons of bibs with ducks & elephants, so that is what I mostly used.  For the top layer, I use either baby hats, washcloths or a burb cloth.  For this diaper cake, I had found a few cute hats, so I used those.  I pretty much always top the diaper cake with some sort of stuffed animal, in this case it was a cute little purple elephant (which was perfect for my niece's purple nursery).  After the diaper cake was assembled, I went back & added on the letter & a little rubber ducky that would tell you if your bath water was too hot.   Anyway, here is the finished product. 

You can order diaper cakes online, but they can get pretty pricey & there is just something special about picking out the different baby blankets & bibs & everything that matches your theme & putting it together yourself.  You can play around with it so much, putting different elements in different places until it is just right.  And who doesn't love rolling up 150 diapers, right?  ; )