Diaper cakes and the hunt for the right toppers

So I found a new hobby in 2009...making diaper cakes for friends and family. I enjoy gathering the toys to be used and the challenge of finding the right size stuffed animals to use as the topper, especially because of the other qualities it also has to have like being able to sit up or stand solidly and being photogenic (some stuffed animals have really little eyes). The whole inspiration for this post being that I am excited I found a cute frog today that will be perfect for a future cake and it was super cheap. I have decided to stock pile them since it took forever to find one for my cousin and I left it up to Diana to find one for her friend since I wasn't having any luck and wasn't sure of her taste.

Here are some pictures of my diaper cakes from 2009:
The first cake I made for my second nephew. It was so easy that I fell in love with it as my signature baby shower decoration and gift. It was so easy to take apart after the shower too and I love that all the diapers are still usable since you never touch them inside of them.

Then my mother-in-laws good friend asked me to make one for her friend and I went a little toy crazy but I think it still looked cute.

I figured out the best system for transporting it this round. I use a plastic platter as a base and wrap it in tulle now because then you can still see the decorations but they all stay on tight.
The third cake was for my friend Diana's friend. This was the first one I did where the ribbon was the focal point and there were no extra toys. I didn't get a picture with the stuffed animal on top but I think it turned out nicely with switching up the bold and understated ribbon.

This was the most recent one I did for my cousin on New Years Eve. I used seventh generation diapers as per her green lifestyle and stuck with her pink and gray theme for the baby. You may notice I have paired down the number of toys I add on since I first started because I have found the diaper cake is statement enough. It was nice to finally get to do a girl one too.

If you know me, you know I love parties, weddings, and babies. I have a side gig I call Deem Designs where I make wedding invitations, other paper related crafts, and where I help coordinate weddings and other events. If you know anyone who needs pretty much anything party related, to include diaper cakes, let me know. I will especially be looking for gigs to keep me busy while Ry is deployed.

PS. While writing this post I remembered that I made my first diaper cake with a friend in 2007 for our fellow seminarian who was having a baby girl. She had a different technique for wrapping and stacking the diapers. I have found my technique to be a lot easier but I could do it either way. I've sure come along way since making this one:

Fantastic Weekend...Happy Birthday Ry!

First off, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. I'll try to remember to take a birthday picture at some point today. I am so happy he could be home to celebrate his 25th birthday. We are taking today to celebrate together, church, walk with the pup, games, dinner and movie date. I tried to convince him to go see ICE at the National Harbor but I guess that was a little much given all the excitement of our weekend so far. I know we are both really excited about his birthday party this Saturday and all of the people who are going to be coming.

Since he is still asleep I have time to blog about our fun weekend. We ended up having a lot of things to do on Friday since I had so much unexpected work last week so we didn't leave until 1 for the city but it was probably too cold for us to enjoy much anyway. We got there and had some time to relax at the bar before Tom and Colleen got there for dinner. It was nice and probably a first for us. Dinner was great at Monk's Cafe in Philly and then we rushed over to the theater for Wicked. We forgot to take a picture because we were so excited. The show was incredible. It is so well written and performed and I can't wait to take the rest of the family to it (not sure when but I'll get them there).

We got to see the baby room when we headed to their home for the night and it looks so cute. Colleen has such good taste and I love the pink and grey combo. After sleeping in (the country just does that to us) we headed to the other part of PA for her shower. It was so much fun seeing the family again, playing weird games, and seeing all the creative and cute gifts. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the shower:


With my lovely cousin three weeks before she becomes a Mommy.
Shot of the cake, the invitation and all of the prizes for the fun games.
My first girl/eco friendlier diaper cake. So fun and easy to make these.
Caught two of my younger cousins being funny and they didn't even notice.
Cute Colleen. It might look cuter on baby Lucky though:)