I needed to purchase a baby gift for my best friend, Barb’s, daughter-in-law. I asked Barb what her daughter-in-law might need since I know she is blessed with a very giving family. And I know that she is going to receive quilts from at least two family members if not more. The answer I got was “diapers…they can always use diapers”. I knew the mother-to-be likes daisies and the color orange. I thought, OK, but wrapping diapers in colored gift wrap seemed kind of boring. I have given toilet paper for gifts over the years and formed the rolls of toilet paper into a cake. I have done this for people who turned 50 and when my grandfather turned 90. Really. What do you get someone who is 90? You want to give them something they can use and who does not use toilet paper? You can easily take the rolls of toilet paper and form them into a cake. Wrap some ribbon or lace around the “cake layers” and even use some silk flowers here and there. It always makes people laugh but trust me they use it. I gave a friend from the gym a sock cake one year. I purchased 20 pairs of socks since it was her 40th birthday. I rolled each one and placed them in a cake pan. I put a candle in the middle of each roll. For someone who works out in the gym everyday this calorie free cake worked well. And of course a gym rat can always use more socks.
So, back to the diaper dilemma. My friend, Wanda, told me she had a picture that she kept for just this very problem. It was a photo of diapers formed into a cake. Well, why didn’t I think of this. What a great idea. But of course I had to dress it up a little bit.
For the base my husband cut me a piece of thin plywood which I covered with a heavy paper. (I did not want anyone to get splinters.) I then covered the base with a baby blanket by tying it in place with ribbon. I found the world’s softest bear and purchased a bib to put around it’s neck. To form the diapers into a circle I placed them in one of my kitchen pots, pulled them slightly upward, wrapped the orange ribbon around them and removed them from the pot. The top layer is formed in a smaller pot. Since the mother-to-be loves daisies I used the stem from the daisies to hold the two layers together. And then for color splash I added more flowers. The new baby will have diapers, the softest stuffed bear in the world, a really soft baby blanket and one awesome bib. The art of gift giving can be as much fun, if not more, for the giver as the receiver.
Miss Hilary at her shower shaking hands with the softest bear in the world.