DIY Diaper Cake

My friend's baby shower was last weeked so I made my first attempt at a diaper cake. There are definitely things that I would do differently next time, but here it is:

Here's how:

1 - Materials:

A bunch of diapers. I used size 1-2. It took me about 130 diapers.

Two bottles to make the cake.

4 7" rubber bands (I didn't have any this big so I cut apart the ones I had and tied them together to make them longer.)

130 small clear rubber bands (I did not have clear ones. It would have looked a lot better)

Ribbon - I liked alternating two different types

Flower spray for the top

Candy

2 - roll all the diapers and rubber band them in a roll.

3 - Fill one bottle with candy and one halfway with candy as a nice surprise.

4 - Start with the full bottle. Surround it with a row of diapers. Rubber band them to hold them on. Do three more layers of this. Use rubber bands on each row. (The outside rolls need the larger rubber band)

5 - Start another layer of the cake around the bottle on top of the old one. This time, do only 3 circles around the bottle.

6 - Put the open bottle on top of the first and make two more layers. One will have two rolls and the top will have one. Leave the cap off the top bottle. (I actually buried it in the middle between the two bottles)

7 - Decorate the outside with ribbon. I used double sided tape to hold it on. Put the flowers in the top, open bottle.

DIY Thank You Parasol

Make your own painted parasol to use for photo opportunities. Think of all the varieties. Write "Thank You" on one and pose with it for your thank you cards. Write your initial on them and give them to all your bridesmaids or the guests. Write "Just Married" or your new last name on one and use it for a pretty picture. It is actually an easy project that can be completed in one evening.

Materials needed:
White (or another very light color) paper parasol. I got mine from www.lunabazaar.com
Acrylic paint - any color can be used, but darker colors show up better in pictures
Paint brushes - I suggest one medium and one extremely thin one
Computer and printer
Scotch tape

Directions:
1 - Type whatever you want on the computer in extremely large letters. To make it large enough to look right, it will actually print larger than a piece of paper. Don't worry about that. Just tape the pages together until they fit. I found that I also needed to bold the letters to make it look right.
2 - Tape the word to the underside of the parasol. Play with the placement until it looks even.
3 - Use the extremely thin paint brush to trace the letter outline. Then use the wider paint brush to fill the letters in.
That's it! At times, there will be a little guess work, but it really is just that simple. No one will probably see your parasol from up close. I noticed a few small details that I got off, but you cannot see them in photos. Good luck!

**Note: This article was also posted as a Project Wedding guide. **

Photobooth

Many people have mentioned a desire to have a photobooth at their wedding. It is a great way to loosen people up and preserve fun memories of the event. However, the cost is prohibitive to many people. They are often $1500 and up. However, it is possible to do it DIY for less:



1) Create the setting. Find a nice pretty fabric that can be strung up between two trees, across a corner of a room, or between two PVC poles. Make sure the fabric is not too busy - either plain or sith a slight pattern look best. You can go with the photo booth traditional colors of maroon or black. Or you can choose a fabric that matches your wedding colors. Make sure that the fabric is dark. Most photos will come out better that way.



2) Collect props if you want silly pictures. Hats, boas, sunglasses, and other props make for great pictures. This picture is from a hat party we attended, but I can imagine items like this in the photo booth. A great time to buy these items is right after Halloween.


3) Decide on who you want to man the area. Perhaps your photographer has an assistant that can be stationed here. You can also check Craigslist for a new photographer who might be willing to do it for free or for a low cost. Maybe you have a set of friends you want to have run the area during happy hour. It is possible to do a photobooth with a tripod and timer camera as well, but this might discourage people who are not comfortable with technology to use it.

4) Determine the outcome. You can save all of the there digital pics and print them later. You could upload them to a group photo account, like flickr, so that your guests can print off the pictures that they are in after the wedding. You could also have a photo printer right there. Make sure you have additional ink and photo paper. You could also provide scrapbook pages for the pics to be glued on. Set out stickers and colorful markers that people could use to decorate the pages as your guest book.