Owls All Over (Part I)

If you've read my recent posts, you saw that I made an adorable owl cake for a friend and customer with some super cute owls made of completely usable washcloths. You probably also noted that I mentioned I was using that cake as practice for a shower I was throwing for a close friend of mine who loves owls. This diaper cake was epic. I have to say that it's one of my favorites (but I also have to be honest that most of my cakes become favorites) and I think I really achieved something I've never seen before in the diaper cake world: a cloth diaper diaper cake that rivals traditional diaper cakes. This cake left nothing to be desired when it comes to diaper cakes. I'm certainly proud to have it in my gallery of works.

My friend had registered for prefold diapers (these are the ones most people think of when they hear about cloth diapering and they are more often than not used as burp cloths these days) so that is what I used to form the cake. With careful folding, the diapers were formed into spiraled tiers that have become my standard style for diaper cakes. After the cake was built, I commenced with decorating. I had chosen turquoise, orange, and brown for the shower colors. Using those colors and some owl print and striped ribbons, I decorated the cake. The cake was also adorned with the washcloth owls in coordinating colors. A few pairs of socks and a handmade crocheted plush owl were added as accents. One more detail added to the cake was several owl "badges" that coordinated with the shower invitation and other decorations for the shower. A few more decorative additions and the cake was finished.

This cake thrilled me to no end. It looked so far gone from the other cloth diaper diaper cakes I had made for practice, and in my opinion, blew them out of the water. At first glance, it's almost difficult to tell that this cake was made with cloth diapers instead of disposable. It certainly proves that just because a mom chooses to cloth diaper, she doesn't have to miss out on a diaper cake at her shower. My friend adored the cake, but I'll be honest, I didn't really have any doubts.


 Please check back for the follow-up post that will show you all the shower decorations and accents that coordinated with this cake! I'm hoping to make various decorations available on future orders so customers can have a truly cohesive shower.

Monkey Trike!

You would not believe how excited I was to get my first order for a trike. I had made a few prior to this request and I was armed and ready with new ideas and techniques. What can I say, after making a few, there was definite room for improvement and that's exactly what I intended to do, improve.

The request for this trike was for a monkey theme which worked out wonderfully since monkeys are very popular on baby items and once we decided on the color green, I knew just which blankets to order for this trike. I built this one up slightly different than the ones I had done in the past. This one had the back wheels positioned outside of the front wheel rather than just behind. This gave the trike more stability and made it look more like a trike in pictures. I used several baby items to build it up including blankets, washcloths, a burp cloth, and bottle; and of course, the monkey driver. Finished off with ribbons, this gift was done.

I am so proud of how this one turned out and I learned some new tricks along the way. These trikes are so fun to make and I can't wait for another opportunity. My customer loved it, of course, and I now have one more awesome gift to brag about.

Little Man

It seems that "Little Man" is becoming quite the popular theme. I've made two cakes within the past 4 months with that theme and I'm in talks for a possible third. My first Little Man request came in December. The colors selected were green and blue and my customer wanted to incorporate mustaches, bodysuits, and bow ties.

I had difficulty finding appropriate baby items for the cake that would match the theme that were also at a reasonable price, so I relied heavily on decorations to set the stage, so to speak. I made the 2-tier cake as requested and covered the tiers in blankets to match the colors selected. I added baby items to match the colors as well. For the topper, I wanted to do a mustache on a stick. For that, I created a plush crocheted mustache and attached it to the top of the cake on a tall dowel. Mustache, bow tie, and bodysuit printed accents were added, also in coordinating colors.

The cake was adorable and achieved the look I was going for. It went over great with my customer. This cake is a great example about how any theme is possible. I like to pull from the blankets I use, the baby items, and/or the decorations to create the theme I'm going for. Sometimes, baby items are available, sometimes, they are not, but that doesn't mean that you are restricted from getting what you want.

Owl Tell You All About It

This cake was a hoot! Ok, maybe not a hoot, but I had to get in the owl jokes somehow. This cake was extremely fun though. If you haven't guessed, my next requested cake was an owl cake. I was thrilled beyond belief for two reasons. First, I loved the challenge. Owls are crazy popular these days and it's fun to jump right in there and see what I can do. Second, a close friend of mine was expecting a baby and I was hoping to do an owl theme for her shower, so this let me try things out a bit as a sort of practice cake to see what I could come up with that might be incorporated in my friends diaper cake as well.

Final owl concept with ear tufts and belly patch

Early owl concept, no ear tufts

I was determined to find something that would work for this cake, but I had one big snag. The color scheme was hot pink and lime. While owls aren't terribly difficult to find in baby items, finding them in those colors proved to be a bit tricky. I had to pull out all the stops and see how I could get this done. Fortunately, because I had  obtained hot pink wash cloths for my "About to Pop" cake, I knew I could incorporate those. What I wanted to do was make some washcloth owls, but had no idea how. Fortunately, after playing around a bit and trying to find instructions (which didn't exist, except for a paid pattern) I came up with my own design for creating some adorable little owls. It seemed the more the I worked on them, the cuter they got. The best part of all is that they are completely usable after they are disassembled. I was so excited to find another washcloth creation that could be added to a diaper cake, facilitate a theme, and provide a new mom with a usable baby item. Multi-tasking decorations. As if all of that wasn't enough, these owls can be made out of washcloths of any color meaning that there is more variety in color schemes for the same basic decoration. The creation of these little owls inspired me to create a new album on Facebook that highlighted the different things I can make with washcloths. These little "washcloth creations" can be used as extra accents and decorations on diaper cakes or other gifts and some can even be stand-alone gifts. Its wonderful!

With the owls made, my cake was pretty much done. This cake was a "naked" cake, so with the diapers stacked, ribbon secured, and the owls applied, only a few more accents were needed. I added some socks and no-scratch mittens to the middle tier as the owls were placed on the top and bottom tiers. To finish off the cake, I made a crocheted plush owl in the chosen colors and used it to adorn the top of the cake. This owl could be an adorable keepsake from the shower or be given to the baby as a play toy. Some paper shred finished off this cake.

I was beyond thrilled with the outcome of this cake. It definitely added to my repertoire, adding variety and more customization that could be done to future cakes. It also gave me a launch point for ideas for my friend's cake. Of course, my customer loved the outcome which is better than me being happy about it. I look forward to more owl cakes and more opportunities to test my creativity.

Two Peas in a Pod - My First Twin Cake!

It just so happened that right in the middle of all my preparations for the craft fair I attend every year, I had an order for a diaper cake. And not just any diaper cake, a twin cake. I was thrilled with the opportunity, but a little stressed since I needed to make it along with all the cakes I was working on for the craft fair. That'll teach me to procrastinate on craft fair prep. Regardless, I was overjoyed with the concept of this cake - Two Peas in a Pod.

My first thought was to create tiny pea pods out of washcloths. I had no clue how to go about doing it, but I figured it out and they came out adorable. My customer loved them! And, not only could I add them to this cake, but I also have that accent in my back pocket should another pea pod cake be requested!

I continued on with the rest of the cake, a green and yellow cake, with blankets wrapping each tier. Because the budget for the cake was a little tight, I wasn't able to get a large plush topper (or two) that are commonly seen on top of cakes so I was struggling to come up with a cake topper and just about had decided to add just the paper shred. Fortunately, inspiration hit and I came up with an idea to create a giant two pea pod for the top of the cake. As one additional decoration for this cake, I added some "Two Peas in a Pod" decals to accent the cake. I also added lettering along the bottom tier that read, "Peas in a Pod."


I loved this cake. My customer was thrilled that I was able to add a topper for the cake and keep within the budget. I finished the cake just in time to deliver it on my way to Dallas for the craft fair, so it worked out great, even with my minor time crunch. This truly was an exciting project for me.

Craft Fair 2012

2012 marked the third year I'd attended this annual craft fair with my mom and brought along my diaper cakes and baby gifts. In the years before, I brought the jewelry and accessories I made. I still bring them, but I try to focus more on my diaper cake items since they seem more popular an I enjoy making them more as well. I was ready with more inventory than I'd had in the past and was ready to go.

As it turned out, I didn't quite have the space for everything I brought with me. I tried to make do with what I had. Larger items were placed on display and smaller items filled in the small amounts left on the table. A few items just couldn't get placed out and I figured they would just come out and full empty space as items sold.

I was optimistic. Too optimistic, it seemed. I actually sold more of my other items than I did my baby gifts. My sister did purchase a buggy, but aside from that I returned with most of the inventory I arrived with. I was disappointed, but this is par for the course, so to speak. Diaper cakes do not sell well at craft fairs and it's not just mine. I had intended to make more small items in hopes of them selling better than the larger items, but I did not have room for everything and maybe I should have held back on the diaper cakes on the table. Live and learn. Perhaps next year I will try to bring some mini cakes and leave the larger ones at home. We will see.


I still enjoyed the time with my mom and sister and that's the real reason I go to this show anyway. Not that I wouldn't welcome more sales, of course.

Craft Fair 2012 Prep (Part 2)

As November and the annual craft fair drew closer, I still had a lot of work to do. I had most of the larger cakes I wanted to have available for the show, but I still needed a 2-tier boy cake and some buggies to replace ones I had sold. I also wanted to try some single tier cakes.

The two tier boy cake was one I was really excited about. I had some adorable sporty blankets in stock and I was thrilled to be able to use them. I used the colors red and blue as accents and created a super cute 2-tier cake complete with little baseball shoes on top. I also found some bath squirters that were shaped like sports balls and couldn't pass them up. Add some sporty accents and ribbons and I had a truly adorable cake for anyone's "Little Sport."

My next project was buggies. I had a gender neutral buggy on hand, but was in need of a blue one and a pink one. These are great little gifts and very popular because they contain a lot of baby items in a small package. I used some single blankets I had for these and used solid wash cloths to pair with patterned blankets. I have slightly changed the way that I make the structure of the buggies so they are easier for the expectant mama to use, but the changes are only internal and the exterior of the gift looks just as adorable as always.

After the buggies were done, I was happy to find that I still had some time to create some 1-tier cakes for the craft fair. For these, I was able to use some extra diapers that I had trouble putting in other cakes (because I don't typically mix brands - but will if requested). I made three 1-tier cakes, boy, girl, and gender neutral. These cakes were single layer with 10-15 diapers, a blanket, and several baby items added to them. They were each topped with paper shred for a complete simple gift. They really rounded out my offerings for the craft fair.

With the cakes finished (and finishing a rush order I had in the middle of this - keep an eye out for that blog), I had just enough time to put together a cake for donation. The craft fair always sponsored a raffle where they asked vendors to donate an item to the raffle. For this cake, I made up a 2-tier gender neutral mini cake that was green and yellow and contained many baby items. It was a great gift on it's own and a mini version of what you'd expect on larger cakes that I make.

I was finally done with all my items for the craft fair. It took a lot of time and creative scheduling to make it all in the time I had allotted. I hope for the 2013 show, I'm better prepared and don't quite have the time crunch. I'm happy with how these cakes came out and I'm happy for the opportunity to create more cakes to show what I can do.