The theme was the Fisher Price Safari Baby Shower theme from Party City.
There will be more details to come, but I wanted to share my favorite detail: a diaper cake! This is the first one I've ever done. I watched a video on youtube and browsed pictures on Google and then went shopping. Jessica's shower and nursery are both a brightly-colored jungle/safari/rain forest theme, filled with monkeys, giraffes, elephants, lions, etc and lime green, blue, orange, yellow, and red. We (Jolyn, Jessica, and my mom along for guidance) decided to get animal print ribbon in bright colors as well as stuffed animals and baby products in the theme.
Once we had everything we needed, we began rolling up diapers. Jolyn rolled diapers while I did the bulk of the decorating. She's kinda lacking talent in the crafty areas, so she often becomes our "supervisor", as she calls it, making sure we're doing what we're supposed to be doing (not that we really need it!).
We used a box of 112 size-1 diapers to complete this cake. To begin, you start at the waist of the diaper and roll it downwards and then wrap it with a rubber band. We then put a large rubber band around the first roll and used it to put another row of rolled diapers around it. Some sites recommend using a bottle as your center point, but Jessica already has the bottles she will need, so we opted to use a diaper instead. We built our circle out as wide as we wanted, sometimes using 2 rubber bands tied together to fit the size of the whole tier. (I don't remember the exact number of diapers per tier anymore.) For each layer, we just made it slightly smaller than the tier below. Before you stack the tiers, it's easiest to put the base layer on a cake board. this can be made my cutting out a circle of cardboard and covering it with wax paper or even wrapping paper, or by using a pre-made cake board from your local craft or grocery store. We also used a dowel rod in the middle to secure the layers to each other and add stability for the entire cake. It can be difficult to wiggle it through the layers of diapers if done last.
There was a lot of trial and error as we discovered some elements should've been assembled before others. While slightly more time consuming, it didn't affect the final outcome of the cake. You live and learn.... :-)
We filled in any gaps with the leftover diapers and made sure all of the tiers were the size we wanted, and then started stacking and decorating. It is easier to add the crinkled raffia paper below each layer before ever putting the diapers on top. I mistakenly tried to add it after the fact. You don't have to put it all the way to the center. Just estimate how far you want the paper to stick out and put it into the center far enough for each layer to keep it secure. You can always push and pull the raffia paper to get the effect you want. Then I used 3 different ribbons to adorn each layer, each in coordinating colors and patterns. The dowel rod I used to stabilize the cake was taller than the cake itself, but rather than just cutting it down, I decided to create a palm tree around it. With my mom's help, I crumpled a piece of a paper grocery sack and taped it around the dowel rod. Then we cut out green scrapbooking paper in the shape of palm fronds and and sliced the edges, like fringe, to create a leafy look. We used a straight pin to secure the ends of the fronds and stuck the pin into the top of the dowel rod. I created a sign for the top of the cake using some monkey stickers and markers on scrapbooking paper. I used the big stuffed monkey we bought and balanced it on the side of the cake. And finally, we used a straight pin to secure some safari-themed socks (which happened to be the perfect colors as well) to each tier. And then my mom, who is amazing at making bows, tied a fancy bow around the two pacifiers we bought, and I secured them to the top and bottom tiers.
I am IN LOVE with the outcome! Check it out...
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
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