The Ultimate Baby Shower Gift
Blackberry, check. Ipod, check. Facebook, check. Twitter, check. My own blog, a work in progress...so bear with me!
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to give gifts. Not just any, forgettable, gift sitting on the gift table looking like every other gift wrapped in pink Barbie paper. I liked mine to stand out amongst all the rest. At Christmas, I would color coordinate the wrappings to match the theme or colors of the tree. (I still do
this to this day and I give my boyfriend several rolls of paper and embellishments at Christmas so he can wrap my presents accordingly as well;-)
Showers are the same story, Wedding or Baby; tons of gifts usually wrapped in the same Bed, Bath & Beyond or Babies "R" Us wrapping piled on top of each other on the gift table. Well that's not fun, and that's why my signature gift at
showers are Towel Cakes and Diaper Cakes. These are definitely not forgettable gifts. I take a lot of time and thought to "bake" these cakes. I'm always over the top with everything I do so they usually end up costing more than I
had planned to spend, but you could do an equally cute cake on a budget!
Blackberry, check. Ipod, check. Facebook, check. Twitter, check. My own blog, a work in progress...so bear with me!
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to give gifts. Not just any, forgettable, gift sitting on the gift table looking like every other gift wrapped in pink Barbie paper. I liked mine to stand out amongst all the rest. At Christmas, I would color coordinate the wrappings to match the theme or colors of the tree. (I still do
this to this day and I give my boyfriend several rolls of paper and embellishments at Christmas so he can wrap my presents accordingly as well;-)
Showers are the same story, Wedding or Baby; tons of gifts usually wrapped in the same Bed, Bath & Beyond or Babies "R" Us wrapping piled on top of each other on the gift table. Well that's not fun, and that's why my signature gift at
showers are Towel Cakes and Diaper Cakes. These are definitely not forgettable gifts. I take a lot of time and thought to "bake" these cakes. I'm always over the top with everything I do so they usually end up costing more than I
had planned to spend, but you could do an equally cute cake on a budget!
My friends Angela and Kevin were awaiting their first baby boy, the theme of the nursery was "T" is for Train since his grandpa owned a family business called Trainyard Tech. This was my first "cake" so I followed the instructions from a YouTube video to see how it was done. There are two ways to build a diaper cake: rolling the diapers or fanning the diapers. In this particular cake
you can see that I individually rolled over 150 size 2 diapers. I used rubber bands to keep each diaper rolled up.
FYI-Target sells a bag of assorted sizes of rubber bands that work perfectly for projects like these.
In this project I used scrapbook paper, ribbons, wooden painted embellishments and rattles, teethers and pacifiers that the parents had registered for. There were baby products such as Desitin and Johnson and Johnson products hidden inside the cake.
You will notice that I always use the same base for the cake in all my projects. What is it you ask? Well, remember back in the day when you would buy those particle board tables with 3 screw in legs and table covers to make it a nightstand. That's my secret. I try to stock up on them at garage sales and sometimes the bride or mom to be often times gives me the base bake to reuse.
I then wrap it in fabric to coordinate with the theme of the cake.
you can see that I individually rolled over 150 size 2 diapers. I used rubber bands to keep each diaper rolled up.
FYI-Target sells a bag of assorted sizes of rubber bands that work perfectly for projects like these.
In this project I used scrapbook paper, ribbons, wooden painted embellishments and rattles, teethers and pacifiers that the parents had registered for. There were baby products such as Desitin and Johnson and Johnson products hidden inside the cake.
You will notice that I always use the same base for the cake in all my projects. What is it you ask? Well, remember back in the day when you would buy those particle board tables with 3 screw in legs and table covers to make it a nightstand. That's my secret. I try to stock up on them at garage sales and sometimes the bride or mom to be often times gives me the base bake to reuse.
I then wrap it in fabric to coordinate with the theme of the cake.
I wanted to try something a little bit different for friend Janelle and Jimmy's baby shower. They were also expecting their first baby boy. For this "Baby Cake" I bought baby receiving blankets, body suits, burp cloths, wash cloths, bibs, fleece blankets, a hooded towel and a swaddling blanket. Using the same technique that I used in the diaper cake, ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING, I rolled the
items on top of one another rather than individually. The bear head on the top of the cake is the hood from the hooded towel. I just wrapped everything around the hooded towel and stacked that layer of the cake on top of the bottom layer.
Most baby showers are requesting that you bring a storybook instead of a card. I have found a book called "Baby Cakes" that is my signature book to go with my signature gift at every baby shower. For cakes such as this one where the recipient cannot see everything that is wrapped up into the cake, I like to include a "Recipe Card" listing all of the ingredients used to "bake" the cake.
One last note on this, and every "cake" I give, EMBELLISH, EMBELLISH, EMBELLISH! Ribbons, bows, flowers, baby pins, etc. put the icing on the cake!
'
My most current creation was for the Baby Shower of one of my oldest, dearest friends. Cristi and her husband Eric are awaiting the birth of their first baby after many, many years of trying. I am truly so happy for them. They are going to make awesome parents and the new addition is going to have an amazing life.
They decided to not know the sex of the baby so this cake needed to be unisex. Luckily they had registered for safari themed items inducing the 4 fleece blankets, bassinet and crib sheets and sheet saver that I used in this "cake". I picked out a stuffed Monkey and some rattles to coordinate with the theme. I have to admit, I really had fun making this cake. I love the color I was able to work with. It's not everyday you can work giraffe print into a baby shower gift!
They decided to not know the sex of the baby so this cake needed to be unisex. Luckily they had registered for safari themed items inducing the 4 fleece blankets, bassinet and crib sheets and sheet saver that I used in this "cake". I picked out a stuffed Monkey and some rattles to coordinate with the theme. I have to admit, I really had fun making this cake. I love the color I was able to work with. It's not everyday you can work giraffe print into a baby shower gift!
The Ultimate Wedding Shower Gift
As I mentioned in a previous post, there's nothing worse than looking at a monochromatic gift table piled high with Bed, Bath & Beyond wrapping. So with the help of a handy, dandy glue gun and a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for supplies, your gift can be the show stopper of the party.
I usually start off sneaky in the process of "baking" my towel cake. As soon as I get wind that someone close to me is getting married, I check macys.com, bed, bath & beyond.com, target.com and a couple other popular wedding registry sites often so that as soon as the couple registers, I can buy up all their towels that they registered for since they're the most important ingredient in the "baking" of my towel cake. Don't forget your 20% off coupons at Bed, Bath& Beyond and check for sales at Macy's. They have recently (04/15/2010) been offering $20 off $100 wedding registry purchases. (Perhaps to compete with BB&B's coupons) The towels alone can be expensive so if you have others that would like to go in on the gift with you that is always a good option. For the average cake, 4 bath towels, 4 hand towels and 4 washcloths are usually sufficient. Some of the cakes pictured below have up to 8 bath, 8 hand and 8 washcloths. It just depends how much money you want to invest.
Here is a quick peek at some of my favorite cakes that I have done.
Chocolate cake made with espresso colored towels, hot pink and hot green flowers and ribbon.
Pretty sand colored towels with sage and light pink flowers and ribbons.
I usually start off sneaky in the process of "baking" my towel cake. As soon as I get wind that someone close to me is getting married, I check macys.com, bed, bath & beyond.com, target.com and a couple other popular wedding registry sites often so that as soon as the couple registers, I can buy up all their towels that they registered for since they're the most important ingredient in the "baking" of my towel cake. Don't forget your 20% off coupons at Bed, Bath& Beyond and check for sales at Macy's. They have recently (04/15/2010) been offering $20 off $100 wedding registry purchases. (Perhaps to compete with BB&B's coupons) The towels alone can be expensive so if you have others that would like to go in on the gift with you that is always a good option. For the average cake, 4 bath towels, 4 hand towels and 4 washcloths are usually sufficient. Some of the cakes pictured below have up to 8 bath, 8 hand and 8 washcloths. It just depends how much money you want to invest.
Here is a quick peek at some of my favorite cakes that I have done.
Chocolate cake made with espresso colored towels, hot pink and hot green flowers and ribbon.
Pretty sand colored towels with sage and light pink flowers and ribbons.
My Best Friends Wedding...Beautiful chocolate cake made with espresso colored towels. Her wedding theme was the ever-so-popular pink and brown so light pink, white and brown ribbons and flowers were used to "ice" the cake.
My co-worker Justin and his fiancee Vanessa's Engagement Party gift. She loves teal and brown so the chocolate cake was decorated with teal and the lime green blended great with it.
