My sister and her husband have talked about becoming foster parents for a long time. So long that, when she told me there was a dire need for foster homes in their community, I wasn’t surprised to hear that they were ready to open up their own home to a baby who needed care.
It took a bit of time for their application to be finalized, then there were administrative tasks and required classes to complete. When my sister told me they were finally in the home stretch to making it official, I knew we had to celebrate!
Related: Have family fun with matching plaid family pajamas!
At the same time, I was asked to create a gift for someone special around an adorable baby bathtub from Disney Baby:
My sister and her husband are signed up to take in a foster baby between the ages of 0 to 18 months.
I’ve been enamored with the baby bath diaper cake from Building it on Pennies since I featured it in my How to Make a Diaper Cake post. Figuring out how to make a baby bathtub diaper cake in my own style was my chance to give my sister and her family a lot of items they’d need to help care for a baby!
How to Make a Baby Bathtub Diaper Cake
I love that you can add as much or as little as you want to this baby bathtub diaper cake. There are a few essential items you’ll need to make it suitable for a gift, but there are endless additions you can throw in to personalize or embellish it.
Essential materials for the baby bathtub diaper cake
- A baby bathtub (I chose the Disney Baby Finding Nemo Infant to Toddler tub)
- 30-40 diapers. I ended up using 36 size 2 diapers.
- 3-5 yards of 1.5-2″ wired ribbon
- Poly-fil batting for bubbles
The First Years Disney Finding Nemo Infant To Toddler TubBUY NOWPampers Swaddlers Diapers, Size 2BUY NOWFairfield Poly-Fil Premium Polyester Fiber, White, 12-Ounce BagBUY NOWPolka Dot Wired Edge Ribbon (2.5″ wide)BUY NOW
I also purchased a few more items for my diaper cake:
- Soothie Pacifiers for faucet handles
- An artificial flower with a wire stem for the faucet
- A 4-pack of Disney Baby Finding Nemo flannel blankets
- Baby lotion and baby washes. I used Head-to-Toe wash, bubble bath and traditional baby lotion for a nice variety of colors.
- Rubber ducks (I’m loving these amazing prices on unique rubber ducks!)
- Blue curling ribbon to look like water coming out of the faucet.
Disney Finding Nemo Flannel Blanket, 4-PackBUY NOWPhilips Avent Soothie Pacifier, Blue, 0-3 MonthsBUY NOW225M Curling Ribbon, BlueBUY NOWReal Touch Flowers, Wire StemBUY NOWJohnson’s Baby Soothing Vapor Bath, 15 ozBUY NOWJohnson’s Baby Lotion, 15 ozBUY NOWJohnson’s Baby Head-to-Toe Wash, 15 ozBUY NOWRubber Duckies, Hawaiian Hula StyleBUY NOW
Instructions for how to make the baby bathtub diaper cake:
1. Layer the diapers: Open your pack of diapers and layer them around the outside edge of the baby bathtub. This took almost a full pack of 42 diapers for my bathtub. Set 3 diapers aside for your faucet and the rest can be put in the bottom of the tub.
I tried to space the diapers evenly but it was hard! Thank goodness precision in this craft isn’t that important. The diapers take a backseat to the contents of the tub once the bubbles are added.
2. Make the bow: Wrap the wired ribbon over the diapers around the outside of the tub and tie it in a pretty bow.
3. Make the faucet: Snip the blossom off the artificial flower and fold the stem in half. Wrap a diaper tightly around the stem and secure it with a rubber band. I have about four million clear hair bands in my house, so I used a few of those on each diaper.
Repeat with the other two so the stem is covered by the diapers:
Bend the stem so it curves to resemble a faucet. Shove the narrower end of the stem in between the diapers along the side of the bathtub and the tub’s headrest.
I put a few blue curly ribbons in the wider end of the faucet to help it look like water was coming out. I’m not sure if I like it or not, but I didn’t want to mess with it all once it was in place!
4. Add faucet handles: If you’re using them, put the pacifiers next to your faucet to resemble handles. It was easy to insert one end of a pacifier between diapers to hold it in place.
5. Add bubbles: Fill the tub with poly fill and arrange it resemble bubbles. This is where you can stop if you don’t want to add anything else.
6. Embellish the baby bathtub diaper cake: Add any extras that you want to gift to the recipient or make the tub even cuter! I draped two of the Disney Baby Finding Nemo blankets on each side of the bow. I also “floated” rubber ducks on top of the bubbles and buried some baby bath products in the fill.
Here’s the finished baby bathtub diaper cake:
Making the baby bathtub diaper cake was an easy project, and I’d make one again if another occasion for a special baby gift arises!
The Disney Baby Finding Nemo bathtub is available on Amazon with free shipping!
If you don’t like the Disney Finding Nemo baby bathtub almost any traditional baby bath would work. Here’s a great selection of tubs to choose from:
The First Years Deluxe Newborn To Toddler Tub, BlueBUY NOWThe First Years Deluxe Newborn To Toddler Tub, PinkBUY NOWPRIMO EuroBath, Pearl WhiteBUY NOWFisher-Price Precious Planet Whale of a TubBUY NOWSummer Infant Newborn to Toddler Bath Center & ShowerBUY NOWFisher-Price 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat TubBUY NOW
I’ve shown you my creative way for how to make a baby bathtub diaper cake. What are your fun ideas for of gifting baby items?
Michelle says
I absolutely adore this idea. This is such a cool bathtub, and it looks so real with the cotton as bubbles, too! Definitely a gift idea I’m going to steal the next time I need one. #client
hollie says
This is awesome and more than I was looking for! I’m making it! I think maybe you would of like the blue ribbon coming out of the “faucet” more if it flowed down. maybe just pull the ribbon spirals out some next time to resemble flowing water!
Elly says
PLEASE do not give this to moms to be! It will take her just as long to disassemble this as it takes you to put together and then she’s stuck with a bunch of loose diapers and no box to put them in. Also, once diapers have been rolled like this they never fit baby right and make for poopy messes later. That cotton is just going to go straight in the trash. Do the new mom a favor and decorate the diaper box instead.
Signed, a mom who cried during the hour it took to disable my diaper cake while sitting in a growing pile of loose, curled up diapers with no box to put them in.
juanita says
there are plenty of crafty bins out there to store all those diapers, just imagine how much the person spent on those diapers, I would just be grateful will save you some time getting to the store to by diapers. Wow
Theresa says
Diapers I bought were already in a plastic bag
Theresa says
Also if it is that big of a deal , only take apart what you will need for the next day. Take a pair of scissors and take a quick snip to rubber bands.
Terri says
That’s why I stick to diaper cakes that only have 1 rubber band around each tier( not around every individual diaper) and I always give the Mommy-to-be the box they came in so she will have a place to store them that indicates what size diaper I used. It’s easy to put together super cute cakes that literally take seconds to deconstruct. It’s more important to keep the new Mommy in mind than how cute others will think your project is!
Doesn't matter says
Wow, how ungrateful. It took just as much time or MORE to assemble it to be pretty. I think it’s a thoughtful idea.
Marybeth Hamilton says
Hi Elly,
No worries about this diaper cake. You can clearly see from the instructions that the diapers are just laid and layered over the edge of the bathtub. If you can untie a bow you can take this diaper cake apart!
I can’t help you with the box, but I feel like I had nothing but empty boxes when I was about to have both my babies!
Lauren says
Elly, this very clearly does not roll diapers. It’s simple with a bow tying them, not crushing them into a roll. Please be kind to other parents and gifters as this gift is obviously not the type you received as you cried probably from hormones.
Lauren says
Also, I debated putting this in my previous reply, however, it is relevant: I have 2 kids and never got a single present. You must have a support system who feels bad now that you bashed their gift to you publicly. An attitude of gratitude is beautiful. I would have killed to have someone so thoughtful but instead you just humiliate your friends.
Disney says
Wow! I have to say that I never once kept the diapers in the box they came in when I was raising my 3 boys. I always put them either in the diaper bag or on the changing table. Rubber banding them in groups is also another option, but I would never be ungrateful for a thoughtful gift. Since this was posted at 1:30 in the morning just after Thanksgiving, we will chalk your reply up to lack of sleep, stress, and a lack of perspective. Hope all is better now.
Niki says
Wow you are mighty ungrateful!!!! If I were the person that gave u that n I came across this crap!?? Wow!!!
Elisângela Faria says
Lindos e perfeitos. Obrigada por compartilhar.
Beijocas.
Emily Stege says
Does Anyone have a good DIY tutorial for bassinet diaper cake?
Grandpa and Grandma of "soon to be 14" says
We just made this for our daughter in law and son’s baby shower.
Some of the things we changed was……. instead of putting diapers all the way around we skipped that,. We made it all about bath and bedtime with a bathrobe, wash clothes, bath towels, books, lotions, blanket, pacifier, and bath floats .
We used the arm of a mobile as the faucet and the end of it makes for a prefect place to hang blue ribbon from to look like water.
It truly was a hit!!!
Lori Glaze says
I loved this idea! I needed to make one quickly and this one was perfect! For the water, I got a curly bow and it worked well as the water. Thanks for sharing!
nan says
Wow, what an eyeopener! I guess now I know why I never got a thank you from the mommy as she was probably pissed off at me for giving her a pain in the ass gift. I was just trying to be creative and get her something she needed. I put a lot of time into it and kinda felt bad myself with no thank you or anything. I guess when you put time into something unique like this, you kinda expect a thank you, but forget these moms are tired and not wanting to deal with rubber bands etc. Lesson learned! No more trying to be unique, just give them a big ugly box of diapers!! Uggh. Obviously not a mom!
Jassica Legg says
I enjoyed my different diaper cakes! We used them for cute decorations in the nursery, then we finally got to use all the items off the cakes! Most moms are really happy to receive any type of gifts, but for my next friend I will make one with special things for mom too!
Yvonne says
I made this for a friend, and everyone loved it! I did not have to glue or damage diapers. Also did not go heavy on batting. I’ve made tons of diapers cakes and like this so much better! Thank you for this wonderful idea!
Cindy Lee says
Can you tell me how you got diapers to stay around edge of tub? It is so adorable