Your gift will certainly be the hit of any baby shower when you walk in with a diaper cake! Or, consider a diaper cake as the party centerpiece if you are the host. For those unfamiliar with this unique present, a cake is fashioned out of baby diapers. What new mom wouldn’t be pleased to receive those! Think tiered wedding cake. The “cake” can then be decorated as little or as much as your budget will allow with baby accessories. The presentation is delightful and practical. Here are directions for “baking” a diaper cake.
Begin by deciding how many tiers you would like the cake to be. Three is the norm and you should plan on using approximately 50 disposable diapers for a cake of this size. Of course you can expand to one like this monster that was constructed using over 350 diapers!
For transporting, use a piece of cardboard for the base. Dress it up by wrapping it in paper. Use the baby shower invitation as a nameplate. Roll each diaper individually and secure it with a rubber band or piece of yarn. Use a paper towel tube for the center and stand the rolled diapers up around it. Hold everything in place with a piece of ribbon or yarn tied securely to hold all the diapers together. Add another ring of rolled diapers around this one and again hold them in place with ribbon or yarn. Repeat until you have the bottom layer the diameter you need.
Next, add a separate tier, repeating this same process as outlined above until this diameter is right. Then, for a 3-layer cake, make your top tier.
To hide your securing yard or ribbon, wrap a wide piece of ribbon around each tier. Lovely just like this, you can now add decorations to your heart’s content or leave it simple. You can add a matching huge ribbon bow on the very top or even use artificial flowers as decorations.
The most fun though is decorating with baby accessories. Baby bibs, pacifiers, stuffed animals, teething rings, rattles, you name it! Attach whatever you want with ribbon or rubber band them on. The fun is that these not only add interest and color, but will be useful as well.
Maybe you would like to make this a joint gift and invite friends to help you put it together. This is one shower gift sure to delight!
Baby showers call for creativity, in the party games, refreshments, baby shower invitations and gifts presented. When time to wrap, think outside the box… or bag! Here is some fun wrapping ideas for that new bundle of joy!
Try wrapping your present in a pretty receiving blanket. Use diaper pins to hold it all together.
More than just a bow, add something fun along with it. Tie in a baby rattle, teething ring or pacifier.
Use quack wrap. Wrapping paper decorated with ducks is easy to find. Add a stuffed or plastic duck on top for decoration tied on with a yellow tulle bow.
Bear hug your gift with teddy bear wrap. A small plush bear accessory adds a delightful finishing touch.
Use diapers for cushioning. What new mom doesn’t need diapers!
Check back next week when I’ll share directions for making a diaper cake!
A baby shower is great fun for the mom and for the guests. It is a great opportunity to meet new people and reconnect with mutual friends, not to mention, celebrate the birth of a new addition to the world!
A new trend is to have the baby shower after the baby is born. There are a number of reasons why this alternative baby shower plan makes sense.
Although many already know the gender of the baby before it is born these days, many want to keep it a surprise. By having the baby shower after the birth, there is no guessing on what color clothing or gender oriented gifts to bring.
A shower allows the mom to introduce the newborn to all friends and family at once. Instead of a constant stream of visitors right after the birth when the mom really needs time to rest, this opportunity for everyone to meet the new baby at one time is a great alternative.
Of course, you should always ask the mom to be what she prefers. And when it comes to sending out the baby shower invitations, ask the mom for the guest list.
Which do you prefer- a shower before or after?
I have been looking at baby birth announcements and baby shower invitations see the tradition of pink for girls and blue for boys is still quite popular. Of course, you can still get both in more neutral colors like yellow and green, but pink and blue seem to rule the majority or available designs. Which left me to wonder, how did this designation originate?
It is widely reported that pink for girls and blue for boys has not always been the case. In fact, quite the opposite was used prior to World War II. Back then, pink, a derivative of the strong color red, was associated with boys as early as 1918.
“There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]
Christian belief also held that girls were more associated with blue as that was the color worn by the Virgin Mary.
The color reversal began in Europe in the 1930’s and traveled to the US where World War II contributed to the reversal in thinking. Military uniforms were primarily blue so blue became more associated with males. At the same time, German’s used a system of symbols and colors to code those in their concentration camps. The yellow Star of David is best known but pink triangles were also used to identify men with more feminine traits. Also in the 1940’s, a “Think pink” marketing slogan widely encouraged women to embrace their femininity, with helpful pointers on how to become the perfect housewife.
So, for your new baby’s birth announcements or baby shower invitations, use pink or blue or pick a gender neutral color in between. After all, in this day and age you probably know the gender before the baby is even born, but that would be a subject for a future blog.
My husband and I had very different views when it came to selecting the perfect baby names for our children. I wanted something different, he wanted something classic. Our first child was two days old before we decided on her name. The name we finally picked was ranked #2 on the list of baby girl names for her birth year. I wouldn’t consider it a classic, but it certainly wasn’t different! It does suit her though, these many years later.
For our second child, we had the perfect baby boy name all ready to go. However, SHE surprised us! We resorted to a quick name change selected from a baby naming book my husband purchased in the hospital gift shop!
If you need help picking out the perfect name for your new baby and to share on your baby birth announcements, consider these interesting suggestions:
Naming Party. Have the attendees at your baby shower make the selection! Now that would be quite a party game with lasting results! Send professionally printed baby shower invitations to a baby naming party for one baby shower no one will want to miss!
Soap Inspired. Surf daytime soap operas for inspiration. You’re certain to find some unusual choices along with some classics.
Historical. Consult family trees. You may discover a long lost relative with an interesting name that might be fun to reintroduce.
Auto-naming. Try a baby naming website. Go to www.babynamegenie.com for example and see what the genie comes up with. I tried it and with absolutely no input from me, other than indicating the baby’s gender, the genie came up with the name of my last born! Not spelled exactly the same way, but scary!
Sure wish he had been around years ago to settle my husband’s and my differing views! Have fun picking out just the right name for your future bundle of joy!
