How to Make a Marine Life Diaper Cake

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Do you need some instructions for a marine life diaper cake? Have you just wandered over from the post on my sister’s baby shower? Either way, I had a fun time making this diaper cake so I’m glad you dropped by. There are plenty of other diaper cake tutorials out there, and obviously I used those ideas. I did run into a little trouble though, in the form of a two-year old, so I had to add a couple layers of protection. Before you roll your eyes and call me an idiot, no, I cannot do things like this while he’s sleeping. I have to do my actual job then. Isn’t working from home grand?

Instructions for a Marine Life Diaper Cake

What you Need

70-80 diapers, size is up to you
70-80 small rubber bands
3 large rubber bands
twine or string
Bottle of Champagne (use baby bottles if your recipient doesn’t drink)
ribbons
seashells
baby items

If you plan to move your diaper cake, you also need something to set it up on. I used heavy posterboard.

Steps

1. Prepare the Diapers

Roll up the diapers and put rubber bands around them. You want them to be relatively even, so make sure you start with the opening and roll towards the crease.

2. Build the Cake

If you are like me, you didn’t waste time making your diapers perfectly even, so they’re probably not going to stand up perfectly. If you have a toddler wandering around, they will probably also be trying to sabotage you. So, this is where the big rubber bands come in. Set up your first layer on the bottom. They should stay up since this is the sturdiest layer. Secure a big rubber band around it.

Then do another layer around your newly secured first layer. You won’t have a rubber band big enough for this one, so tie some yarn around it. Then do a third layer, add yarn. For the middle tier of the cake, you can put a band over the champagne bottle first and then put diapers into it. This level only needs one yarn layer.

The top tier only needs one rubber band layer and then you have your whole cake built. Beware of roaming toddlers. They may discover it’s the perfect time to learn about rubber bands and strew them all over your living room.

3. Decorate

Okay, so here is where things are going to differ. If possible, you should be using items on the guest of honor’s registry. If they have receiving blankets or burp cloths (my sister wanted these), wrap those around the cake. I just taped it on there. Who cares if there’s a gap at the back? You’re giving them a whole diaper cake, it’s fine. Then I put dollar store ribbons over that. Since my sister is having a girl, I used headbands as bows, but you can do actual bows or no bows for boys. I threw a couple pacifiers on there, and then dollar store seashells and fishbowl beads to keep it fun. I also added fishing bath toys. Finally, my topper was this cute dolphin toy. Here’s a blue boyish version if you need one.

That’s really it. Just have fun with it! Throw things on there that your baby mama needs, or things you think are cute. I know my sister really wanted diapers, so I felt pretty good about that. But, once she started going through it and realizing almost all the decor was also gifts, it got even better. The real kicker, of course, was pink Prosecco on the inside. Now that’s a marine life diaper cake a mom can enjoy!