Owl Diaper Cake: Two Big Eyes and a Belly Made of Nappies

Materials needed for the owl diaper cake:

• 50 size 3 nappies
• A baby bodysuit
• A flannel cloth
• A potty
• A pair of baby socks
• Coloured clay paper
• Coloured ribbon
• Wide ribbon
• Rubbers, scissors, wide tape and glue stick
• And other gift and baby accessories

Step 1: Making the inner belly

For the belly of the owl diaper cake, you need to roll a wide cylinder out of diapers.

With one or two nappies, you can usually roll them without additonal help. If you want to roll more than three nappies in a row, your cyclinder may lose stability. To make this step easier, you can use a wide ribbon or some strong string as we show in the teddy bear diaper cake or the motorcycle diaper cake. Lay the ribbon or the string carefully on a table and position the first diaper at the beginning of the ribbon/string. Now line up some more nappies in the same direction. The nappies should overlap by about a third. For the first part of the belly, you will need 15 nappies. When rolling the nappies, make sure that the ribbon or the string stays in the middle.

When you have rolled up the first 15 nappies tightly, you can secure the roll with a piece of tape. If you wrap an elastic band or string around the rolled-up nappies, you can also remove the wide ribbon and use it again for the other steps.

Step 2: Decorating the belly with a bodysuit

Once the roll of nappies is finished, add a baby bodysuit over the inner belly to add some colour and dress your owl. Make sure that the bodysuit is large enough to overlap by at least 5 cm on each side. Place the bodysuit on the nappy roll with the pattern facing upwards and put an elastic band over it. Pin down any parts that are loose on the body. For example, if the bodysuit has sleeves, pin them to the back of the nappy roll. You can give the owl a personal touch if you use a body with a self-designed motif.

Important: Always let the parents know that there are pins in the DIY nappy cake. Then they can safely remove them and prevent any injuries. Make sure you use pins with plastic heads to help prevent them from disappearing into the fabrics.

After the bodysuit has been properly attached to the nappy roll, roll another 21 nappies around the inner belly. Follow the same procedure as in step 1.

Step 4: Making the wings

Now that you have the eyes and the belly, there is still one major part missing - the wings. To make them, place a folded flannel cloth over the owl. When folding the cloth, start by placing two corners diagonally on top of each other to make a triangle shape. Then fold the cloth to the width of a nappy. Start with the narrow end of the triangle and work your way out.

To find the centre of the folded flannel, fold the cloth so that the two ends are on top of each other. Mark the crease with a pin. Now it should be easy for you to place the exact centre of the cloth between the two owl eyes.

Pin the flannel cloth in the centre between the eyes, at the bottom of the eyes and on the belly with matching pins.

Step 5: Making the eyes, beak, and ears

For the eyes, beak, and ears use some coloured clay paper, a small piece of cardboard, a pair of baby socks, scissors, glue stick, tape, and pins.

For the eyes, cut out different sized circles from the different coloured paper. Make the largest circle out 8 to 10 cm in diameter and out of black paper. The next circle should be about 1.5 cm smaller than the black circle and you can choose a colour that matches your theme. If you want to use neutral colours, then green eyes will look great. You could also go for a grey, which will match any colour scheme. If you’re making an owl for a boy, then choose a shade of blue, and pink for a girl. The smallest circle, for the pupil, can be white. Make it about 2 cm in diameter.

When you have cut out all the circles, glue them all together with the black at the bottom, then the coloured one and finally the white one on top. Don’t align them all in the middle but let them point inwards a little to give the bird a bit of personality.

For the beak, orange clay paper works well. You could, of course, match a blue or pink if you like. Cut out an 11x11 centimetre square, roll it into a cone and fix it with a small piece of tape. The beak is simply stuck into the space between the eyes and the belly. Alternatively, you can use a small plastic tub or baby shampoo in the same colour as the beak.

For the ears, you can simply use a pair of baby socks. Cut a small piece of cardboard to fit inside the socks. Pin the socks between the eyes and the flannel cloth and bend the socks up a little. Now the owl diaper cake just needs decorating.