Repeating designs

Many diaper cake makers are adept at creating a design that can be repeated or they stock up on supplies and are able to make several cakes of a single design. Up until recently, that wasn't something I had ever done. Since most of my cakes are made individually and items are often purchased specifically for each cake, repeating designs is dependent on available items at a later date. In most cases, there really isn't an issue. Making custom cakes has served me well and it means that expectant moms are sure to receive a unique gift.

But what if a customer wants a design I've made before? Or what if a design is popular and a customer wants something similar, if not necessarily the same thing? I never gave it much thought until I was contacted by a woman who really liked my cupcake cake, but wanted it in different colors.

The original chocolate and
pink cupcake diaper cake

When I first received the request, I was a bit worried. The colors selected for the original cake corresponded with the colors in the cupcake blanket which was the base of my design. Chocolate and pink seemed to go with the blankets naturally, so those are the colors I selected for the cake. This new request was for pink and lavender. After a bit of brainstorming, I discovered a way to repeat a similar design while meeting the request for the alternate colors.

Lavender was incorporated
into decorations on the cake

While the colors for the cupcake blanket were fixed, I did have options where I accented the cake with decorations. The basic design of the cake was easy enough to repeat adding the cupcakes on the large tier and a cupcake for the topper, all made with usable baby items, of course. By using socks for the smaller cupcakes, I was able to incorporate lavender and pink. The large cupcake topper also had lavender from washcloths. By adding lavender and pink ribbon to decorate the tiers, I was able to unify the overall look of the cake. I also had a new method for applying the pom pom "cherries" to this cake without having to worry about glue or pins, a challenge I had with the original cake.

The end product came out great and my customer loved it. The door is certainly open for possibly repeating or adapting designs in the future. I certainly am more open to it now that I've done it once. Certainly, not all can be adapted, but some can and it's exciting to see the possibilities!

Crochet, crochet

Because I don't have enough to do (that's sarcasm by the way), I've been picking up random crochet projects. The thing I like about crochet is that you can sit and crochet while watching TV so it sort of gives you a sense of being productive while vegging. At least that's what I tell myself.

I started to crochet baby items to incorporate into my diaper cakes starting with a harvest baby cake I made in November. I was searching for a way to add decorative accents that would also double as functional baby items, but that's difficult to do when you have a harvest theme, so I came up with crochet plush squashes and gourds which then become soft play food for children. Not long after that, I had an order for a geek cake where finding baby items to go along with this theme was next to impossible, so I crocheted a stuffed critter topper for that cake as well. Then in January, I wanted to add more accents to my nursery set baby cakes so I crocheted some baby beanies and flower hair clips. Before I realized it, I had a whole set of new baby items that could be added to my product line.

While most of the first crocheted items I created were intended as accents to diaper cakes, that didn't mean that was the only option. Many items can be stand alone if a diaper cake isn't appropriate or if the expectant mama will already be receiving another one. I started thinking of all the additional things I could make and offer.

Among the new items I decided to come up with was more crocheted food. Kids and toddlers love to play kitchen and soft play food makes a great gift (especially in my house where items like that have a tendency to become airborne). I started developing my own patterns for a collection of vegetables and a matching market bag. After creating the first set, it was given as a gift for a first birthday present. The kiddo loved it!

It doesn't end there. I have since made many more hair clips, including a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick's Day and more beanie hats. I also have plans for a set of fruit to go along with the play food offerings and more baby friendly toys. I thoroughly enjoy making all of these items and I think it adds a unique twist to the diaper cakes I offer as well as creating stand-alone gifts. This of course is one more way to offer something truly unique.

Monkey Flower Cake

Not long after my "Big Challenge" cake, I was presented with a rush order from the same friend. They had a slightly unexpected shower that she needed a gift for. This cake, fortunately, had a much easier theme to work with than a geek cake. This cake needed to be a pink monkey cake.

I was really excited about this cake since I think some of the monkey cakes I had seen were simply adorable. There also seems to be a wide variety of monkey printed baby items making this cake much easier to find components for - and I knew just what I wanted to do. This cake had a modest budget, but I still wanted to get all I could out of it.

For this cake, I obtained some pink monkey blankets which would set the base palate for the cake. I built a three-tiered cake and wrapped the layers in the blankets. A monkey lovee was added to the top of the cake. For decorations, I crafted washcloth flowers. A few were roses, but as my "crowning glory," so to speak, were washcloth daisies crafted to match the flowers found on the blankets. This was the first time I had made the daisies and the finished look was phenomenal. Completed with ribbons and paper shred decorations, this cake became my new favorite creation.


I absolutely love the finished look of this cake. The design is clean and simple, but elegant. I was able to incorporate a new concept to the design which always makes me excited. Of course, my friend loved the cake and I believe the expectant parent(s) did too. I look forward to more projects like this since I love a cake with a clean cohesive concept!

Noah Shoes Wear and Use

This post has been a long time coming! As my shoes continue to gain in popularity, I want to thank everyone who has ordered them or complimented me on them. I started making the shoes because my oldest son, Noah, is on the large side and has a wide foot (he's two and a half now and wears a 9W in a traditional shoe). I felt that just because he was larger does not mean he's more developed and ready for a structured shoe. I wanted him to remain in soft soled shoes to promote proper growth and development of his feet. I had difficulty finding soft soled shoes in sizes larger than 18-24 mo which he grew out of at 20 mo of age. The few I did find available, were only available online and would cost me more than I like to spend on shoes for myself - and I don't grow out of shoes in 6 mo! I had no idea when I started making these that they'd be so popular and that so many people would be interested in purchasing them. I should have known that there would be many moms out there interested in obtaining this style of shoe for their little ones at an affordable price!

I'm writing this blog to provide a little bit more insight on how these shoes work and wear. Since Noah has been wearing these shoes for almost a year now and has gone through several pairs, I have plenty of experience. First, I will explain how Noah wears these shoes. Noah has one pair of shoes. Count that, one. That means these shoes are the only ones he wears for everything. Although we don't typically wear shoes around our house, they are worn for every expedition. Noah has trampled over rocks and pebbles without a peep or negative sound, he runs around play grounds and at parks. He is a HUGE climber. His shoes are for lack of a better term, abused. Greatly. Noah will wear through a pair about every 2-3 months and is in a new size every 4-6 months.

Some dirt and fading can be seen
as the first sign of wear.

The first and most obvious show of wear on these shoes is the color fade. I'd like to say they stay nice, bright, and new looking, but I think the proximity to the ground, especially if worn for outdoor play means that the shoes will get dirty and the color will fade slightly. This, of course, has no bearing whatsoever on the function of the shoe, but it is something to note. Also, you will see the impression of your child's foot begin to show on the bottom of the shoe where pressure starts to wear the sole. This is to be expected and again, has no negative effect on the function of the shoe.

This is the impression of Noah's foot starting to become
evident on the bottom of his shoe after about one week
of use. Some fading and dirt are apparent on the top of the
shoe as well.

These shoes demonstrate how the soles look after several
weeks of wear. They are worn and smooth.

As your child continues to wear the shoe, you will see a more obvious sign of wear on the sole of the shoe. The area where your child's foot is continuously applying pressure to the leather will become worn and smooth. In most cases, this will not cause problems, however, some slipping may occur on smooth surfaces that may be seen at playgrounds and in children's play areas. For me, it is a benefit of the shoe, since I feel it makes Noah a better climber and more surefooted, because his climbing is slightly challenged. That being said, some moms find their child slips too much and may prefer a rubber sole or one with more traction on these types of surfaces. For walking around or playing on the ground, the smoothing out of the leather offers no negative effects to function.

These are two pairs of shoes that were "retired" after use
because of the wear and tear they sustained. You can clearly
see the holes starting to wear in the toes of the shoes. These
holes are only in the outer layer of the shoe.

Because these shoes are fabric, the next sign of wear you will likely see is the fabric wearing through at the large toe on one or both shoes. I find that this is more common in children that walk forward in their shoes. You may also observe this for children that drag their feet or do not pick them up well between steps. Noah has only worn one hole completely through on the shoes that he has had. The fabric is reinforced with a heavy interfacing on both the outer and inner fabrics. I am constantly looking for ways to further reinforce the toe area of the shoe; however, as they are fabric and not leather, it is to be expected that they are likely to wear more quickly. The shoes can still be worn for quite some time even after a worn spot or "hole" starts as it will take some time for it to wear completely through. As I mentioned, Noah has only ever gotten one through-and-through hole in a single shoe.

Heel wear is apparent on this pair of shoes.

Because Noah walks a bit forward in his shoes, the front of the shoe often wears through first. I have noticed, however, some of his shoes will start to wear at the back too. This is most often the case when the shoe is getting too small. His foot pushes the back panel out so it will rub against the ground beyond the edge of the leather sole and wear the fabric near the seam line. This fabric is not reinforced like the top fabric is, yet Noah still has not worn a complete hole through this part of the shoe either. I've likely replaced it before this begins to occur.

A few other notes about these shoes:

As I've mentioned before, these shoes are fabric and although I use sturdy materials and reinforce it, they are not likely to last as long as you may expect from an all-leather shoe. It is recommended that you have two or more pairs of shoes to use interchangeably to extend the wear of the shoes.

Also, these shoes are porous and are not recommended in wet conditions. If they do become wet, so will your child's foot. They will dry quickly, however. I do not recommend washing of these shoes, but if absolutely necessary, they can be machine washed. Do not heat dry them. Let them air dry or, if needed, you may put them on the air only setting in your dryer. If/when these shoes do get wet, the leather will stiffen as it dries. It will become soft and pliable again after your child's next use.

These shoes are ideal for early walkers as it allows children to feel the ground beneath their feet. Noah doesn't seem to mind walking over pebbles, but your child will feel them and may be uncomfortable so be aware of where they are walking.

I hope this helps give insight into the wear and use of these wonderful shoes. Please contact me if you have additional questions or would like to order a pair. I am currently looking into new designs for some of the shoes, so keep checking back for updates.

The BIG Challenge: Geek Chic

Ok, so here it is! My biggest challenge ever! Well, that is until someone else decides it's fun to keep me on my toes...

So, a friend of mine sent me a message and asked how I felt about making a geek cake. Being a self-proclaimed geek myself, my initial response was, sure! Why not? Then I started really thinking about it. How on earth was I going to do that? There are a number of geeky type baby items available on the market, that's for sure. The thing is, many of them spread the whole gamut of geekdom. There may be one thing here and one thing there regarding various aspects of games, TV, etc. that is considered geeky. There really isn't one area that has several baby items. Additionally, the expectant parents were big into StarCraft, a real-time strategy computer game that luckily I had played the original version so I was familiar with it. They liked the game so much, they were naming their baby after one of the character names. So, what I really wanted to do was to make a diaper cake that incorporated that particular game. While I was researching, I found that it would be next to impossible. I found one baby item relating to the game and it would be quite cost prohibitive to order and ship it for a single item to add to the cake. I told my friend that the likelihood of me incorporating the game was slim and asked for color schemes and whatnot so I could keep brainstorming. The colors were brown, green, and purple. Although the parents were having a girl, they wanted no pink.

This is a rough drawing of a pylon.
Don't know what I was thinking...

My first thought was to make the cake in the form of a pylon - a power crystal from the game. After many attempts at figuring out stability for said cake, I decided it was not going to work. Not only that, finding baby items to add would throw off the look and as the power crystal is blue and the components yellow, it was nowhere near the colors the parents wanted.

I went back to the drawing board. I thought I'd do some printable transfers. I could make some burp cloths with binary or geeky phrases on them. After trying different sizes and fonts and figuring out exactly how this idea would work, I scrapped it. Why? Well, I realized that as cute as it would make the burp cloth, an image printed and transferred on would work much better on clothing than a piece of fabric that you intend to soak up messes and something that needs to maintain it's absorbency. I was so close to throwing in the towel and just skipping the geek theme and going with the colors the parents selected. As I mused about my options, I was reminded of the cake I had made not too long ago where I crocheted squashed and gourds. I figured I could crochet a plush topper for the cake!

My crocheted Baneling with an inset of one like you'd
see in the game.

I researched several of the characters, critters, and other items from the game trying to come up with one for the plush topper. I considered a pylon since it seemed simple enough, but the colors were all wrong to go with the cake. I found another critter, called a Baneling and decided that would be my plushie! It's an ugly critter, really, but that's ok, because it works within the realm of the game, would be easy enough to create (ok, I suppose that's relative since I had to come up with the pattern on my own), and would be recognizable for what it was. Not to mention, it could be made in colors to coordinate with the cake. Win all around! While the actual crocheting was a challenge and getting it to look like I wanted, it did come together.

Three burp cloths. Custom hand embroidery.
I may, in fact, be a little crazy.

So, one plush critter was certainly not enough to make this a StarCraft cake. I then decided I could do some embroidery. Sure, I hadn't done it since I was a kid, but I had most of the supplies and with this option I could make a really custom gift. Or gifts. The game has three races that you can play, so I decided I'd embroider (and by that I mean by hand, since I don't have a machine) three burp cloths, one for each race in the game using their race logos. Now, the color thing did cause a bit of a problem, as I couldn't make them match the colors in the game with the colors the parents wanted, but I did it as close as I could. One race is purple, so that worked out. The second, the logo was yellow, so I used green for that one. The third race's logo was red and black, so for that one, I used brown. The embroidery was certainly a challenge and it was a bit of a learning curve, or re-learning curve, if you will. In the end, they came out quite nicely although, if I continue to do some hand embroidery I'll have to look into different tips and ideas to make it a bit easier on myself.

So, after the very custom, handmade items were complete, it was finally time to build the cake! I made a large 3-tier cake using the spiral style of cake. I added large flannel blankets to each of the tiers. I then added some general baby items, washcloths and head bands, and of course, all of my custom items which also included a onsie that declared, "N00B" (a common word/insult in the gaming world) in coordinating iron-on lettering. The final cake was definitely something to be proud of!

Front of the Geek Chic cake

Back of the Geek Chic cake

I was so excited about this cake! I could not wait to hand it off to my friend that ordered it, but sadly, the baby was born early (she's fine, and home, by the way) and the shower was postponed. I did finally get it to my friend and it was of course, a hit! She was so excited that I was able to incorporate the game even though at first I thought it would be impossible. The recipient I hear, also thoroughly enjoyed the cake, so it was a huge success!

I was definitely stretched to the limit on this one. I have never had a bigger challenge, but I'm so glad that I was able to meet it! I now know that with all of the craft skills I possess, I have even fewer limitations when it comes to making diaper cakes. This is a wonderful way to make my mark in the business and I'm very excited about what the future holds!

What To Do For a Cloth Diapering Mama...

This was a recent issue for me. I had an upcoming baby shower for not one, but two cloth diapering mamas. Both mamas had a pretty decent stash of diapers, and though one did ask for a bit more supplementation for smaller sizes, I didn't have enough time to order, so I was left wondering what to do for gifts. I referred back to my previous baby cake that I made for a cloth diapering mama with a plentiful stash and tried to think of ideas. I developed a new concept for these mamas that I'm happy worked out and became a new "product" for my boutique.

Since I tend to be a bit crafty with sewing and crocheting, I decided to create for each of the moms coordinating sets of baby items. For one of the moms, she had a nursery scheme picked out so I was able to coordinate with the colors she had chosen.

The first item I created was a blanket. The blankets were essentially a simplified rag quilt (since these are spring babies that don't need a lot of weight to their blankets, especially here in Texas). I used flannel and super cuddly fabric to ensure they were soft and baby friendly. I used some of the coordinating flannel and created burp cloths, which I've done before and have had as an option in my boutique. I also created matched taggy blocks, but with a twist. Where previous blocks have been a uniform size, the new blocks I made were three different sizes. I also didn't add the "rattle" or crinkle effect to these blocks to make sure they remained machine washable. These items combined created my new product, nursery sets. Future sets may include more than one burp cloth, perhaps two or three that coordinate, or perhaps other baby items. The exciting part about this is that they can be stand alone gifts or the items can be incorporated into a diaper cake or as was the case with these moms, diaper free baby cakes.

For the baby cakes, I started with the three blocks and stacked them. Since they were different sizes, they created the different sized tiers for the cakes. The blanket and burp cloth became the clean outer shape for the cake layers. The smallest block acted as a cake topper. To further accent the cake, I added a few more personal touches. I crocheted hats that coordinated with the colors in the cakes and for the older toddler daughters that each of the moms have, I made matching rose hair clips to create a "big sister" gift. As a final touch, I added matched washcloths which were the only items included on the cakes that were not handmade (well, except for the ribbon).

The final result was two adorable baby cakes, full of baby items, but including no disposable diapers. They made fantastic gifts that not only looked amazing, but included custom items that couldn't easily be found commercially. Both moms seemed to thoroughly enjoy their gifts, which is what really matters in the end.

Snowman!

When I was contemplating several ideas for diaper cakes for Christmas, this idea came up. I've wanted to try my hand at a snowman cake for a while but didn't get around to it for Christmas. Luckily, it's just as appropriate for January as it is December, so it became my Facebook profile picture cake for January.

One of the challenges for this cake is the need for it to be white. Most diapers these days are not completely white, but there are some brands that are mostly white and the small amount of color can be concealed with ribbon. I use blankets, towels, and sheets on my cakes most of the time to conceal the diapers, so usually diaper color isn't an issue. I may have gotten away with a white sheet, but otherwise, my options are pretty limited for achieving the look I wanted. I chose to leave this one "naked" so to speak and used some white ribbon to cover the small amount of color on the diapers. A snowman's recognizable coal face was drawn onto the ribbon for the top tier of the cake for effect.

To achieve the desired look, this cake couldn't be adorned with multiple baby items, so I used what I could to add value and still be able to recognize it as a snowman. A crocheted hat sat atop the snowman's head (the top tier of the cake). A receiving blanket became the scarf. A pair of white socks were stuffed with a second pair of socks and became the arms.

Overall, I think this cake came out great. If I make it again or something similar, I may need to make adjustments. I'd have to revisit the drawing board for scarf ideas since this one seemed short and not as free flowing as I'd prefer. I could make an actual baby scarf, but I prefer to keep my diaper cake components practical. A nice touch is that the hat can be a purchased registry item or made to match a color scheme or theme adding to the versatility of this accent. I hope you enjoy my winter cake! Keep looking out for more updates to come!