A towel cake can be a beautiful centrepiece for a bridal shower with the added advantages of being zero calories, environmentally friendly and a practical gift. For a baby shower, a diaper cake is decorative for the occasion but has a practical end use.
Both cakes are easy to make and can include little gifts tucked inside or decorating the outside.
The towel cake could also be created with themes of baby bath, house warming, anniversary or birthday. Add some bath salt, shower gel, candles or a bottle of wine.
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Towel Cake
I prefer to use bath sheets and bath, hand and washcloth towels to make the cake as couples usually request bath sheets on their wedding gift lists. The cakes are often made with white towels but you could select the colour that the bride and groom have chosen for their wedding or bathroom.
2 bath sheet towels
2 regular bath towels
2 hand towels
2 washcloths
1 pizza pan, round wicker tray or a circle of cardboard
1 long handled wooden spoon or 1 12 to 15 inch (30 – 38 centimetres) wooden dowel
6 large safety pins
1 empty glass spice bottle (optional)
decorative ribbons, flowers, bath items, ribbons and bows
When folding the towels, keep in mind that the width and the height of the cake should be roughly the same. If the first layer measures 12 inches (30 cm) across, then the height should be 12 to 15 inches (30 – 38 cm). Adjust the towel folds so the height of each layer is approximately the same, four to six inches (10 – 15 cm).
Bottom layer
Start with the bath sheets. Fold in half lengthwise, matching the edges and ends. Smooth out flat. Fold in half again and then in half again. Do the same for the second towel. Smooth the towels out flat and check that both are the same width, about four to six inches (10 – 15 cm).
Line the towels up so the folded edges are on the same side. Working on a hard surface, start at one end of one towel, roll it up tight, overlap the end of the second towel and continue rolling. Use two safety pins to secure the end of the roll. Tuck the pins out of sight.
Middle layer
For the second layer, use the two regular bath towels and two washcloths, folding the towels in half and then in thirds to create the same width as the first layer. Fold the washcloths in half or thirds to match the width. Smooth them all out and then begin rolling with the washcloths, then add the towels and roll them the same way as the bottom layer. Secure with two pins.
Top layer
Fold the hand towels to create the same width as the other layers. If you want to add real flowers to the top of the cake, roll this layer of towels around an empty glass spice bottle, then continue in the same fashion as the other rolls and secure the ends with pins.
Assemble and decorate
With the edges down and the fold of the towels up, place the large roll on the pizza pan. The side facing up should be fairly flat. Put the spoon end of the wooden spoon into the centre of the roll with the handle sticking up. Thread the centre of the middle layer over the wooden spoon and put the layer into place. Repeat with the top layer. Adjust the layers as needed to centre them.
Tie ribbon around the middle of each layer, then add other decorative items. Once the cake is placed where it will be displayed, add a small amount of water to the spice jar and arrange the flowers. Decorative tulle, lace or flowers can be placed around the base of the cake.
Diaper cake
This diaper cake is made with disposable diapers but a cloth diaper and baby wear cake could also be made. Generally about 20 cloth diapers are used. Add receiving blankets, baby washcloths, burp cloths and sleepers to create an environmentally friendly cake.
Disposable diaper cake
1 pkg. disposable diapers,for 12 to 18 pounds (about 60 – 72 diapers)
70 small rubber bands or hair elastics
6 – 12 large rubber bands
1 litre bottled of water
1 circular pizza pan, cake pan or a cardboard circle
1 flannelette receiving blanket
ribbon and small items such as a rubber duck, bath sponge, bath toy, shampoo, rattles, spoons, soother, teething toys, socks, bibs and clippers
It can be fun to focus on a specific theme such as bathing or eating and select the complementary cake toppers. The top layer of the cake will be small so a large stuffed animal or toy might not fit there.
Assemble the cake
To create an attractive base for the cake, place the pizza pan in the centre of the receiving blanket, fold the ends up onto the pan and secure with tape. Place the water bottle in the centre of the pizza pan and use as the centre of the cake.
I find the water bottle gives a good secure base to work around and all new moms need to drink lots of water.
Put a large elastic band around the bottle. Begin tightly rolling the diapers from the folded end and secure with the small elastics.
As diapers are rolled up, put them into the elastic that is around the water bottle to hold the diapers against the bottle. Add more elastics around the bottle as needed and continue adding rolled diapers until the pizza pan is full.
For the second layer, put another elastic around the bottle and add rolled diapers to it, standing them on top of the first layer of diapers. Continue until this layer is two to three inches (5-7 cm) smaller in diameter than the first layer.
Repeat the process for the third layer. Secure by tying a ribbon around the centre of each layer.
Add the other decorations to complete the cake.
Cloth diaper cake
For the cloth diaper cake, open the diapers, roll them up and secure with the elastics. You might want to make the first layer diapers, the second layer receiving blankets and the third layer baby washcloths.
Roll and secure the same as with the disposable diapers.
Clothing items could be rolled up and wrapped around the water bottle at the beginning of the assembly process before adding the diapers.
There are a number of websites that have pictures and information on towel and diaper cakes.
Visit www.babyboomdiapercakes.blogspot.com.
Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and a member of Team Resources. Contact: team@producer.com.
