Copycat - It's the same, but different...

I used to be really good at remembering the story behind each diaper cake I've made. It appears that after years, I don't remember any more. Some of the details are fuzzy. Such is life.

The next diaper cake commission I had was a repeat of a design I had made before. Sorta. The request was for different colors. I don't remember the exact story or the commentary on the initial cake vs. the one I made, but the overall concept was the same. My owl cake was popular. The little washcloth owls are a big hit. How can they not be? They are simply adorable. In any case, the request was for a cake like my hot pink and lime owl cake, but with pastel colors - yellow, pink, and turquoise.


At its core, the cake was the same as before but with different colors. I built a 3-tier naked cake and added the ribbon. There were 5 owls added to this cake in addition to the crocheted plush owl on top of the cake. I also included some other baby items to fill it out as I had done with the original owl cake. To this cake, I added some additional simple die cuts with flowers and hearts. I had wanted to fill in some of the extra spaces without creating too much clutter. To this day I can't decide if I like the more simplistic appearance of the original or if I prefer the added detail. I think it depends on the person ordering the cake and what they prefer.

This cake, along with the cloth diaper owl cake I made a year earlier, based on the same hot pink and lime owl cake was a great representation on how it's possible to repeat a design but be able to tweak it to taste. The cloth diaper owl cake had some die cut as well. While all of these cakes had similar elements, none was an exact duplicate of the others.

This cake was great and I love how different it looked even if the overall design was a copy. It's also fun to make the little wash cloth owls which can be disassembled and the washcloths are completely usable after the decorative elements are removed. Overall, it turned out to be another awesome creation.

Dinos!

The Noah's Ark "diaper cake" led to another order since my friend's co-workers were so impressed by that one. This time, I had the opportunity to create a cake using some blankets that I'd been waiting to use with some adorable dinosaurs on them. I couldn't wait to put it together and add all the details and decorations!

This cake was truly fun and I love the vibrant colors. The order was for a 2-tier covered cake so I began as usual with the stacked tiers and, for this cake, the dinosaur blankets. I added wash cloths, socks, spoons, and other baby goodies to the cake to provide some usable baby items (along with the diapers and blankets).

My favorite part of this diaper cake was the dinosaur die-cut accents. I was fortunate enough to have designs that matched pretty closely to the dinosaurs on the blankets, so I made them in colors to match. It was so exciting to be able to add this kind of detail to the diaper cake. The topper for the cake was also a die-cut dinosaur, but a much larger one. For this I actually placed two of them back to back so there was a finished look from all sides of the cake. Die-cut toppers are a great option as they won't add as much to the final cost of the cake as a plush toy will. This means they are really advantageous for those with a limited budget and they still help to give the cake a finished, polished look.

My customer loved the cake which as I've said before is one of my main goals. I really love how this cake turned out!

Totally Adorable, and I Ain't Lion...

Ok, so the post title needs a little work...

After the craziness that went into projects just previous to this one, I was thankful to have a break from the big challenges and make a more "traditional" cake, so to speak. My customer for this cake wanted a lion cake, but wanted it to be simple. The colors were light blue and light orange.

Creating this cake was really fun and though it wasn't as complex as some projects I've done, it wasn't a cakewalk either. See what I did there? Yeah, I really shouldn't try to be funny. Light orange sounds easy enough, but it's not as simple as one would think. There are limitations on the availability of color options when it comes to baby items. There is a little more leeway with decorations, but I've had to get creative in the past. I was very fortunate with this cake to have exactly what I needed - and I used up the last of some items like light orange washcloths which I haven't seen since. I was also able to find some light orange ribbon which helped out greatly. Add some socks and baby utensils that were not quite light orange, but orange nonetheless and I had everything for a completed cake.

For extra accents on this cake I added an adorable plush lion, which, I'll be honest, was maybe a little big for the cake, but it was way too cute to pass up. I really think that this size plush is the biggest that can work for a diaper cake this size. I also added some little lion head accents which were quite adorable.

This cake came together really nicely and my customer loved it. One of the great things about this cake is that the theme was created by one plush animal and decorations. All the other items were basic baby items in particular colors. This makes it a really good option if people are on a budget since a lot of design specific items tend to come with higher costs. The baby items included on the cake are no less usable, and don't conflict with a nursery theme if one has been selected by the mom. Despite this cake being a more clean and less complex cake, it has quickly become one of my favorite creations. I think it's just adorable.

Two New Projects, a Cake, and a Huge Challenge

Of all the challenges I've had in the past, this one takes the cake. No pun intended. Ok, maybe it was. In any case, I thought that I had received some pretty difficult diaper cake concepts, but since the Geek Chic cake, nothing has stumped me this badly. And the difficulty with this one was not at easily overcome as the geek cake. And that wasn't easy.

When I first spoke with my customer and she described the preferences of the expectant mom, I was very excited. She wanted to stay away from the typical baby themes, booties, and cute animals. She preferred more to stick with a pattern in a particular color scheme. The pattern chosen was the inspiration she used for the baby's nursery: argyle with white, blue, and grey. We looked at several diaper cakes discussing things she liked such as, a large letter at the top for the baby's initial, argyle ribbon, plenty of baby items included on the cake, etc. I was set. All I needed to do was collect the baby items and start construction.

That's easier said than done, I discovered as soon as I began my search for argyle baby items. Argyle items were tough to come by on their own. Finding them in the correct color combination was near impossible. Even finding ribbon to coordinate was difficult. I began to stress about whether or not this was possible. Fortunately, I did have some breaks. I was able to find some ribbon, then some baby items that would work.  I still felt like I was struggling, but I began working on the diaper cake. This cake was a 3-tier "naked" cake. It came together nicely after I managed to collect enough items for the cake. Though, I have to admit, construction of this cake took a lot longer than most, simply because I didn't have all the items all at once and I was in constant brainstorm mode on how to complete the cake and what details I needed to add.

As I neared completion, I still felt the cake needed something else. I came up with an idea to make a pacifier tether. I contemplated a simple ribbon one, but I didn't want it to get lost among the ribbons already on the cake. I decided to hand knot one in an argyle pattern. This worked beautifully, though it was time consuming. I may even make more of these in the future.

After the cake was completed, I added extra details such as decorating the cake board. This was a special request of my customer. She wanted something that made the cake board look better than just the white base they typically have. I was unable to find anything decorative, fancy fabric, baby item, etc. As a way to dress up the cake board, I painted it to match the initial "T" on top of the cake and added grey and white diamonds decorated to resemble an argyle pattern. The cake was finally done.

My customer was also interested in a diaper wreath. I was hesitant to make one at first. I don't like how some styles manipulate the diapers and risks the integrity and possible future use of them (when diapers are opened, the inside is more susceptible to moisture in the air which it absorbs and becomes crunchy). That being said, I wanted to help keep uniformity among the diaper decorations for my customer's shower, so I agreed to create my first one. The wreath was far more difficult than I anticipated, but it came together eventually. I used the rolled style that is often seen as opposed to the style where the diapers wrap around the frame. I added ribbon that coordinated with the diaper cake and a "T" initial that was a smaller version of the one that topped the cake. My customer did request a different pair of shoes than the ones I originally had on the wreath, but otherwise, she was thrilled with it.

I have to say, I am very proud that I have once again met the challenge presented me. All projects turned out beautifully and my customer loved them. I am happy to have another impressive challenge under my belt, and I'm ready for the next one that presents itself.

Another Precious "Little Man" Cake

I was surprised and excited yet again when I received another request for a "Little Man" cake recently. Having completed two prior, I was especially excited to show off my work of other cakes done with the same theme. I love being able to say, "I've done something similar, do you like anything about these cakes?" especially if the customer is not quite sure what they want. In this case, my customer had an idea, but after seeing one of the cakes, she liked certain aspects so she decided she wanted that instead.

Custom made mustache bodysuit

This new "Little Man" cake was to be a three tiered cake. My customer liked the blue and green blankets that had been incorporated into the first "Little Man" cake I had done so we had a color scheme as well. I found some awesome mustache ribbon which made me really excited for this cake. I incorporated mustache pacifiers similar to those that I had found for my white, grey, and black "Little Man" cake. I added multiple coordinating baby items as I usually do. Similar to the last "Little Man" cake, I also added mustache, bow tie, and bodysuit accents to decorate the cake as well as scalloped edge badges that read "Little Man." As requested by my customer, a larger badge was added to the front of the cake that also read "Little Man." Once again, I found myself creating a custom item for the cake. This time, it was a bodysuit with a mustache on it.

I love the look of this cake. My customer liked it as well, and from what I hear, so did the expectant mama. I couldn't ask for anything else. As an added note, this cake was shipped further than any cake I'd shipped prior. I'm happy to say it arrived in tact and looked just as great displayed at the shower as it did when I took pictures of it after completion!

More Owls!

I'm noticing that owls are becoming increasingly popular these days, so it's a good thing I had two owl cakes under my belt. I was contacted by a potential customer that was interested in an owl cake. She actually liked the first one I had done and wanted a cake like it.

When I first received the e-mail, I was really excited. I started thinking about the possibilities for this cake. Looking at the cake, the color scheme was developed by the ribbon and the owls. That meant it could technically be made in a variety of color combinations depending on the wishes of my customer. I had already made the washcloth owls in a variety of colors for the two owl cakes I had done previously. The color options for the washcloths (and yarn color options for the owl on top) are slightly more limited than the ribbon, but most color requests should be do-able. I made sure to let my customer know that she had the option of selecting other colors if she needed a different color scheme.

In this particular case, however, my customer wanted the same colors as the original cake, hot pink and lime green. I won't lie, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to try the same cake in a different color, but of course, I was more than happy to create the cake again. I also have to say, I'm quite proud that I had a difficult time telling the difference between the original and "copy" cakes based on the pictures alone. I'm certainly happy that my work is consistent enough that the cake can be what was requested.

Despite not making the cake in a different color combination, I took the idea and this became my fist item that I listed in my Esty shop. To gain access to more customers, I opened an Etsy shop in January, but it wasn't until March 2013 that I opened the shop with this cake as my first item. I offered color of choice for this cake and I'm excited to see how it does. I can't wait for the opportunity to create additional versions of this cake. To view this and other products currently listed in my Etsy shop, please check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BethsBabyBoutique00

Owls All Over (Part II)

When I was planning the baby shower for my friend, I really wanted everything to coordinate. Who doesn't, right? That's what pulls a party together. A cohesive look. If you are like me, you want everything to match. Most of the showers I attend, I come as an attendee. A few of them I'm part of the planning, but not many. Most of the time for orders I make diaper cakes to match a theme of a shower. I only hope that the cake coordinates since I don't often see pictures. I've made a few gift sets with diaper cakes that coordinate with other items, bouquets or whatever to go along with a theme, but again, I'm not usually part of any of the decorating. This time was different.

As previously mentioned, my friend loves owls, so I wanted to do an owl themed shower. I made sure that accents and ribbon that were on the diaper cake were seen in other places at the shower. I made decorations that pulled in the same colors and designs that were on the cake.

The individual mobile pieces

The first item I made was what I called a mobile. It was the best descriptor I could come up with. Basically, it was made up of decorated shapes with pictures and images that were hung by string. Accents on the cake had an owl image that matched the shower invitations. The same image was on some of the pieces of the mobile. I used scalloped edges which coordinated with the accents on the diaper cake as well. I also pulled in some other images of owls and onsies with text like "Look Whooo!" and "Little Hoot" on the mobile.

Finished mobile as it hung

Next, I made a banner with the baby's name. It was a standard pennant banner. The letters coordinated with the theme colors and I added extra accents to the ends that matched the mobile.

(Sadly, not my TV.)

The final item I made for the shower was cupcake toppers. These toppers were made in the same design as the accents on the diaper cake with the owl image and scalloped edged background. They were double sided so they looked cute from every angle.

Cupcake toppers in various
color combinations

Scalloped edge owl accent
on the diaper cake

In addition to the decorations I made, we added even more accents to coordinate with the overall theme. We had orange flowers displayed in multiple vases around the shower area. We wrapped some of the owl ribbon from the diaper cake around the vases. We also had orange, brown, and turquoise balloons displayed. And because I can't help but go over the top, I made an owl out of a pineapple and some other fruits and made owl chocolate molds.

It was exciting to see how so many decorations could pull the theme together and I loved being able to create so many items that could coordinate with the diaper cake so well. I'm considering offering some of the shower decorations as options for diaper cake customers. It would certainly help to make shower prep easier and really ensure the overall theme is tied together. I'd love feedback on this idea! Please let me know either in the comment section of on my Facebook page!

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.

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.

Craft Fair 2012 Prep (Part 1)

October 2012 was a busy month for me with orders, personal gifts, and preparation for the upcoming craft fair that I do every year. Since most of my gifts are custom orders, I tend to not make a bunch ahead of time, so right before the craft fair, I'm typically rushing to get some cakes made up so I have something to offer at the sale.

The biggest project was replacing some inventory. I like to make sure to have a girl, boy, and gender neutral cake in 3-tier and 2-tier so that potential customers can see the variations and have options to choose from. I also like to have one each of baby buggies as well. In late September/early October, my main focus was on the diaper cakes. Since I had other cakes I was making at the time, I decided I'd also take advantage of photo opportunities before all the cakes were wrapped.

The updated duck cake

The original duck cake

My first project was to update a cake that I decided needed improvement. The cake was a gender neutral duck cake I had made for last year's show. I absolutely love the duck theme, but I felt that something was missing - namely a duck topper. At the time I made it, I didn't have an appropriate topper so I made-do with a hat that I had. I'd been toying with the idea of unwrapping the cake and adding a plush duck for a while and when I came across some super cute ducks at a store, I grabbed the opportunity. And the duck. I "fixed" the cake, adding the duck, moving around some of the baby items, and securing the ribbon that apparently had come loose.

Girl geometric cake

The second project was to create a 2-tier girl cake. For this cake, I chose some geometric blankets that I had and built the cake. For this cake, there wasn't an overall theme other than just being a girl cake which makes it extremely versatile. I added several baby items to decorate the tiers including a handmade pink bow hair clip. For this cake, I didn't add a topper, but decorated with paper shred. I don't necessarily think all cakes need a topper, but I think using a baby hat was a poor choice on my part for the previous cake. This one looked great "as is."

After working on those cakes, I placed them with some of the other cakes I had been working on recently that had not been wrapped. I don't often have multiple unwrapped cakes available, so this was a great opportunity for a photo session since cakes tend to photograph better without the wrapping. I took several shots and while I'm not sure where I'm going to use them (with the exception of here), but I have them for future purposes.

Another Super Cute Frog Cake!

When I found out that some high school friends were expecting a baby I was so incredibly thrilled for them. This was one shower I wasn't going to miss. I wanted to make an especially adorable diaper cake (of course, I think almost all my diaper cakes are especially adorable).

Inspired by a crib sheet that they had picked out on the registry, I got to work making a frog cake, one of my most favorite diaper cake themes. Though the crib sheet and some coordinating blankets that I added were technically gender-neutral, I made sure to add some blue elements into the green and yellow cake since my friends knew that they were going to have a boy. Washcloths, baby spoons, socks, and a super adorable plush frog completed the decorations on the cake. Of course, I also had to add a handmade crocheted baby beanie too.

I absolutely loved the final look of this cake. It made the perfect gift for my friends and earned a lot of oohs and ahhs at the baby shower. Most importantly, of course, the expectant mama really liked the cake and that's really my goal with every diaper cake and baby gift that I make.

Chocolate, Blue, and Puppies!

I was contacted by a woman that was interested in a very short order. As in the next day. Yikes! Sadly, I got her e-mail at the end of the day and was able to reply and get a response fairly quickly, but with limited information - only the colors blue and chocolate. Fortunately, I had an idea right away. I had an adorable set of blue blankets with puppies on them so I decided to use these as the foundation for the diaper cake.

I got to work on a three tier cake, building it with my spiral design that I've switched to for the majority of my projects. I added the blankets and some coordinating white and chocolate ribbon. I finished the cake with a lot of blue baby items including a handmade crocheted baby beanie. I would have liked to add a plush puppy topper, but since this was a rush order, I didn't have time to get a stuffed animal for it. I really liked the finished project even without a topper for the cake.

Unfortunately, I didn't hear back from my customer, even after I finished the cake and sent her a picture. I suppose it was too late. I'm not really sure what happened. I just ended up with an additional cake in inventory. At this point (as of November 2012), I'm still offering the cake for sale. I can always add the puppy topper if requested which I feel would really finish off the cake.

Naked Cake!

One of the things I always prided myself in when making my cakes was the number of baby items I included in the cakes. I always used blankets or towels (or something similar) and added toys, wash cloths, utensils, etc. to accent and decorate the cake. I loved providing a beautiful cake where my customer could appreciate the value included. I never considered making a cake with no blankets. I figured I could if someone asked, but my default was to always have a covering for the diapers. And then I got that request.

My customer wanted a cake that was simple and clean. She wanted baby blue accents but nothing flashy or too showy, so a "naked" cake was just the thing she needed. We had some discussions back and forth and she had a picture of a cake she liked.

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. After all, to have the diapers exposed meant that special care was needed. The diapers selected needed to be white, or at least the color on them needed to be easily concealed. When building the cake, I needed to be sure the spacing of the diapers was even - this is a lot harder than it sounds. In my opinion, a spiral style cake looks great for a "naked" cake, so that's the style I did (although, regardless of this, I'm moving more toward that style in most cases anyway). For this cake, I also wanted to go big, so I opted for a 4-tier cake. The nice thing about not having a large quantity of baby items, blankets, and accents is that price-wise, you can often trade up for a bigger cake. I found some baby blue ribbon and accents including wash cloths, baby spoons, and baby powder to complete the cake. I finished it off with a large looped bow on the top and several smaller bows applied to the ribbon around the cake. A previous cake I had done included lettering of the baby's name which my customer loved and wanted incorporated into this cake as well. Finding the letters that coordinated was no small task, but I made it work.

In the end, I actually love the final look of the cake. I have to admit, I've always been slightly prejudice against "naked" cakes, but I find that this one quickly became one of my favorites. There is a lot to be said for the simplicity and clean look of the cake. It certainly is one I'm proud to brag about and it definitely raises my confidence in my ability to create a cake that I feel is so exposed (as in, you can't hide and defects in "craftsmanship"). Of course though, and most importantly, my customer loved the cake, and that is what I feel truly makes it a successful venture.

Choo-choo - Take Two

The original train cake with
bold blues that matched the
shower colors as well as the
 bouquet and candies that
completed the set.

Not long ago I was contacted by women who was looking for a basic boy diaper cake. She sent me a picture of a simple cake with a large bow on top. She asked me if I was able to make a cake similar to this. I let her know that I could certainly make a cake for her and I suggested that she check out some of the pictures on my Facebook page to see if any of the cakes that I had made previously struck her fancy. She responded that she really liked the train cake I had made previously (as well as a currently stocked buggy); but, she requested a few modifications. We were both very fortunate that the primary baby items included in that previous cake were still available so I was able to create a similar gift.

Adapted train cake with bow topper and
softer color tones.

The biggest difference in the cake that I made and the one that she wanted was that she didn't care for the paper shred. This, of course, was easy enough to remove from the design of the cake. The biggest challenge in that case was finding something appropriate to do for the top of the cake. I borrowed from the picture she had sent me previously and opted to add a large bow rather than the shred for the top of the cake. Another change for this cake was that I used basic baby blue and white for the primary colors of the cake. The original train cake included a lot of different shades of blue which was by request of the person who ordered it. For this cake she wanted very basic baby blues, colors that are very traditional for boy showers.

Car buggy with softer color tones
that compliment the train cake.and
create a cohesive "vehicle" theme.

I love that this cake not only demonstrates my ability to re-create cakes I've done in the past; but also that I am able to tweak the cakes for my customers' individual tastes. This cake turned out adorable and fortunately coordinated quite well with the car buggy that the customer requested to purchase as well. Of course, the best part of the whole project was that my customer loved the gifts that she purchased.

4 Tiers!

I am so excited to present my first 4-tier cake! This cake was a custom order with a request for a nautical theme. I was super excited about this project since new themes are always fun for me. It turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated and I ended up going in a slightly different direction than I thought.

When I first started considering nautical ideas, I thought I might do a red and blue cake. I had seen a number of baby items in those colors and that is what I prepared for. This was apparently not to be. When I actually went in search of nautical items, it turns out that green and blue were the favored colors. Fortunately, I was able to work with that just as easily.

The "center" of the cake decorations was an adorable nautical crib sheet that I found. The rest of the cake was inspired by this. Three receiving blankets were matched with this in various blue, green, and white designs. The sheet and the blankets became the decorations for the tiers. I added a sailboat teether and some sailboat bodysuits along with color coordinated washcloths. This cake also had a few new features. The first new item was some sailboat "decals" which were added strategically around the cake. I also added the name of the expected baby "Terry" on the front of the cake and "ahoy" on the back of the cake in foam lettering. Incorporating the name was a request of my customer.

The cake came out wonderfully with clean lines and a unified theme. Best of all, of course, my customer was pleased with the cake. That's always my goal.

A Little Spacey

When a friend and neighbor showed me some of the blankets and nursery accents she was working on for her newest baby on the way, the wheels started turning. Of course, I had to make a diaper cake for her and being sneaky like I am, I made a point to take note of the theme she was going with - outer space.

I daresay, I thought the project to create an outer space diaper cake was going to be much simpler, or perhaps, it's just the way I work, but the whole project took much more time than I anticipated and sadly, it was delivered after the baby was born. At least it wasn't so late that she couldn't use the diapers.

To coordinate the theme, I decided to make a baby quilt with space printed fabric. I'm still new to quilting, but I wanted to do this right, so I planned it all ahead and went to work. No complicated shapes, just squares and strips, and I think for my second true quilt (not counting the rag quilts I'd made for previous gifts) this one came out great, especially since it was my first time designing one and not following anyone else's instructions! I even managed to have the finished project the size I was going for (40"x40"). In the end it was an adorable quilt made of cotton print with super low loft poly/cotton batting, making it a nice light quilt for a summer baby.

Of course, for a whole diaper cake, I needed a few more items to go around the tiers, so I created some coordinating burp cloths. Two were solid colored in a turquoise flannel that matched the quilt. I then made a third burp cloth with bright orange flannel that coordinated with the quilt and accented it on one end with the cotton space print material used in the quilt. The burp cloths were great, but unfortunately they weren't enough on their own and I needed one more item for the cake.

I decided to try a brand new project and make a pair of cotton pants with some of the matching cotton material. I found a pattern for newborn pants and got to work. The main part of the pants were made with the space print cotton fabric. I added extra thick cuffs at the bottom of the pants using the turquoise material from the quilt so that the ends could be rolled to adjust for length. I love how they turned out. It's hard to imagine a baby that small, but they fit the new baby great.

With all of these items together, it created my third "Nursery Set." Nursery Sets are basically a collection of coordinated baby items that can be created and then either gifted as the set itself or they can be incorporated into a cake to make a themed diaper cake. Previous nursery sets can be seen here where I created two rag quilt nursery sets for cloth diapering mamas. This complete set included one quilt, three burp cloths and a pair of newborn pants.

With all the items completed, I was able to begin work on the cake. the quilt became the decoration for the bottom tier. The middle tier held the two turquoise burp cloths and the pants and third embellished burp cloth adorned the top tier. Additional goodies were added to the cake including a pair of socks, teethers, and washcloths. As a final touch, I placed a rattle on the top of the cake and I love how it looks "spacey" and the colors match wonderfully. I don't think I could have picked a better cake topper. Of course, the best part of the whole thing was that the mom liked the diaper cake and was especially excited that it was spaced themed, just as she selected for the nursery.

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Shower Sets

One fantastic thing about baby diaper gifts is the ability to make many different items. This versatility lends itself to so many incredible options. Because of those options, it becomes possible to decorate for a shower using several different types of diaper and baby gifts that can be coordinated to match almost any theme imaginable and give a unified look to your shower as well as providing the mom to be with some baby essentials.

I was recently approached for my second shower set (the first being my Paris set that can be seen here and here). For this set, the request was for items in various shades of blue. Fortunately, the expectant mom registered for a number of items that could be coordinated and included in the set. This set contained a bouquet, baby candy, and a diaper cake.

The bouquet was a mini bouquet. It was formed of washcloths into roses of various blues to match the color scheme requested. Six "flowers" were arranged in a small dark basket, the presentation selected by my customer.

Washcloth candy was also part of the set. For this collection, my customer requested a combination of roll and disc candy. She receive one of each shape in four different colors also matching the overall scheme.

The 3-tier diaper cake was built of diapers in my newer spiral style. Hooded towels adorned with trains created the outer decoration for the bottom and middle tiers. Coordinating burp cloths were then used to cover the top tier and add additional decorations. Also included on this cake, were pacifiers, washcloths, socks and a teether toy. As mentioned previously, many of the items included on the cake were from the expectant mom's registry which make for a great gift since she selected the items. The cake was finished with ribbons and paper shred in various shades of blue and white.

The full set had a unified look with coordinating colors in shades of blue with white and green as accent colors. I truly loved the opportunity to create a group of matched gifts and I hope in the future to receive more orders such as this where my gifts are used as decorations for different areas of a shower.

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.