Frogs with Frills

As I've mentioned before, I love classic baby themes, so I was excited to receive another order for a frog cake. This one, however, had a twist. Rather than being the typical gender neutral frog cake, this request was for a girl frog cake. In addition, I was asked to make some baby candy to go along with it for added decorations.

I was excited to find at the time of the order that there was actually some girl frog items available so I grabbed them up and they became the inspiration for the overall cake. I found some pink washcloths with frogs on them and then I found some adorable ribbon with frogs and flowers and I was off.

This cake was a "naked" cake starting with my standard boutique spiral design. Three layers of ribbons were added to the tiers finishing with the frog patterned ribbon. Washcloths, teethers, and a handmade bow added decoration to the cake and a super soft plush frog was added as a topper. To finish the cake, I added some precious frog and bow die cuts to bring it all together.

The next challenge was finding a way to make the washcloth candy and diaper cake a cohesive set. To achieve this, I opted to create candy in both styles - roll and spiral. I used green and two shades of pink and wrapped all the candy with the same frog and flower ribbon I used on the cake. These made a precious matching addition to the overall cake and created a great accent as table scatter for the shower.

This set turned out beautifully. I was so excited to see how it all came together. My customer was pleased with the final product which is all I can really ask for.

Bananas for Another Monkey Cake

Can I just say, I love monkeys as a baby theme? I don't know why, but I think they are adorable. With all the new fresh trends come new challenges and opportunities to get creative, but sometimes I just like going back to basics and sticking with more traditional baby themes - jungle, monkey, ducks, frogs, elephants, etc. While some of these old standbys come back with a flourish, not all of them do, so when I get a chance to make a good ol' traditional themed cake, I'm excited.

I especially get excited because some of my favorite blankets to use are these great neutral monkey blankets and, of course, if you'd sorted through images of my diaper cakes, you'd see those as well as this adorable Ty monkey that have become some of my favorite monkey accents.

So, I had a request for a monkey cake about 5 months after making a similar cake. I'm more than happy to repeat themes, but I do have to clarify that no two diaper cakes are going to be exactly alike. I can create two that are pretty close to the same thing when made together, but with the changes in availability of certain items, I can't always repeat a design after the fact.

For this cake, I started with my standard spiral cake. I used my favorite monkey blankets around the top and bottom tiers with a coordinating blanket for the middle layer. For this cake, I had some brown washcloths which aren't a common baby item, but I had some extra from a special order for a previous cake, so they made a great addition to this one. One of my favorite parts of this cake was the adorable monkey hat that I found. Complete with monkey face and ears! So adorable! The cake was topped with the good ol' standby Ty monkey. Just like the previous monkey cake I made (and a few other monkey themed baby gifts). I then added some super cute monkey die cuts to decorate the layers.

There are definitely differences between the two cakes I made, though the overall look is very similar. It's tough for me to decide if I like one over the other just because they are so similar. Not that it matters, the finished product was a great hit. I'd love the chance to make another monkey cake. Truth be told, I already have the monkey topper. He's so cute, I just can't help myself.

Purple Carriage

I love getting new challenges! One of the great things about diaper cakes is that they are such a great visual and decoration in addition to being practical and useful. A lot of times they are incorporated into baby shower decorations. One thing I'm really trying to break into is complete baby shower sets. Sort of a complete done for you, baby shower in a box, so to speak. Several years ago, I had a customer send me a diaper cake request to coordinate with some digital invitations she had used for the shower she was planning. I loved that idea. Coordinating a baby shower top to bottom is definitely in my wheelhouse. At the time, including invitations was not something I had developed the skills for, but these days, it's all part of what I can offer.

I love a cohesive baby shower - one where the invitations, decorations, food, and thank you cards all coordinate. It takes planning, but it makes everything so nice and shows the expectant mama how special she is to those hosting the shower. I love to create these complete sets and had the opportunity to really explore it further as time went on, but when this cake was created, I was still new to it.

The chosen design was an adorable grey and purple carriage invitation. At the time, it was actually quite difficult to find purple baby items. Since baby items, colors, and themes change over time, it occasionally can be a challenge to find exactly what I need. If you've been following my blog though, you know I love a good challenge and I try not to limit myself with nay-saying, I stick with it and so far, I've figured out a way to make it all work.

This cake was another big one. 4-tiers tall. It looks rather lavish in my opinion, but it was actually quite simple. The base was, of course, my standard spiral design. To avoid clashing patterns from the invitation, I kept it simple with a "naked" cake and reflected the invitation patterns (grey chevron and purple with white dots) in the ribbons I used. At the top of the invitation, a vintage baby carriage was featured, so I added carriage die cuts to various locations on the cake. By request, I also personalized the cake with a badge reflecting the baby's name. Multiple baby items were included which I finally was able to find in varying shades of purple. I got a bit creative using socks as a topper which turned out adorable. Finally, I added a homemade crochet beanie to finish it out.

I absolutely love the way this cake turned out. I love comparing it with the invitation and seeing how well they work together. It was well received by my customer who was so excited at how closely I was able to incorporate the details on the invitation with the diaper cake. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity. Even though now I have the skills to create invitations myself, I'm so happy to see that I can create a diaper cake to coordinate with a theme that someone may have found elsewhere and I can offer additional decorations to match if the individual that created the invitation doesn't offer diaper cakes and other shower decorations. Very exciting prospects to say the least!