DIY hanging decoration

 

When I designed my daughter's nursery, I wanted something to hang above her changing table that would look beautiful in the room and give her something to enjoy for the many diaper changes I knew were in her future. The cherry blossom branch with butterflies ended up being one of her favorite things!
 
I wanted my friend's new baby to have the same enjoyment on the changing table, so with a stick, some tissue paper, string and cardstock, I made a cute cloud dripping with stars.

Find a branch you love at the craft store - or in your back yard - and get creative. These are for decorative use only though, so please don't place this above a crib or anywhere a baby is unattended. But since you will always have a hand on baby while changing her, above a changing table is the perfect spot!

Hanging decorations are so fun to make! And don't just think of them for in a nursery or bedroom. They make perfect party decor! How cute would a group of these be with raindrops dripping from the clouds at a baby or bridal shower?! Use your imagination. The sky - or ceiling's - the limit!




Here's how I crafted the cloud mobile:

  

After painting a fallen branch with light gray craft paint, I attached some white ribbon so that I could hang the finished product on a hook from the ceiling. If you don't want to use a stick, you could also use a dowel from the craft store.
 

Now to turn tissue paper into a cloud. Remember folding paper into a fan when you were a kid? Time to brush up on those skills! Simply stack 8 to 10 pieces of tissue paper together, fold the paper like an accordion and then tie some wire around the middle to secure it. (White bread bag twisty ties work perfectly for this!)

 

You can vary the look of the finished pom pom 

by how you cut the ends, but since I was going for a cloud look, 

I rounded them. Then just start pulling the layers apart 

and fluffing them. Pretty, right?!

Now, for a little stardust! Since the uniformity was important for this, I invested in a star punch, but I have used it so many times since then, so I have more than gotten my money's worth! Remember that New Year's Eve party my daughter and I threw? Check it out HERE if you missed it! I used it a LOT for that!

When the stars are ready, arrange them in the order
you want them and tape one piece
of string down through a row of stars, securing each star to it.
To make things easier, tape the top of each piece of string
to the table you are working at so you can pull
on the other end for some resistance when taping the stars.

 Next, dot each star with white glue
and place a second star on top to sandwich in the string.

 After the rows have dried completely, 

knot the string to the branch before securing 

the pom poms.

 That's it! Screw a hook into the ceiling, hang and enjoy!! 

Check back in a few months to see the decoration 

I am making for above my son's changing table!

 I am so excited and can't wait to see how it turns out!

Diaper cake tutorial - what I've learned through trial and error

Find the Two Peas in a Pod twin pregnancy poster in my Etsy shop

I have made a few diaper cakes over the years. This is the method that works best for me. I have always been so happy with the finished results - and it just happens to be super easy! Bonus!!

Find a different size basket or container for each layer of your cake. This is just so you have a solid shape to work with, the diapers won't be staying in the basket. My cake was three layers so I used a large wire casserole basket, a pie plate and a lid from a small decorative bucket.
Starting with the largest container, simply fold the diaper in half and start placing them in the basket with the fold facing out. This is so much easier than rolling and putting rubber bands around all those diapers. I find it looks cleaner, too. The basket helps hold everything in place until you tie a string around it at the end. When the circle of diapers is done, stuff something in the middle to help hold the shape. I used more diapers, but you could use a baby bottle or a rolled up onesie. Depending on the size of your cake, you will probably only have to do this for the bottom layer.

Tie some string around the outside of the diapers to hold it all together. This will be covered before the cake is finished, so don't worry about it looking nice. I just used some twine I found in my kitchen junk drawer. 

Removing the diapers can be the tricky part. Put a plate the same circumference (or slightly smaller) as the layer you are working with on top of the diapers and flip it over so the bottom becomes the top.  For the smaller layers you probably won't need anything if they are compact enough.

Now the fun part - decorating the cake!!

For the larger layers, fold a swaddle blanket to match the height of the diapers. Simply wrap it around the cake and safety pin it in the back. For the smaller layers, receiving blankets or oversized burp cloths work well. After the blankets are secure, stack the layers and situate the pins at the back of the cake. Next wrap ribbon around the center of as many layers as you would like. You may decide to just do the top and bottom, or maybe just one beautiful bow perched on top to cascade down the layers.
NOTE: If you decide to leave the diapers on your cake visible, simply skip the blanket step and cover each layer of twine with wide ribbon.

Find invitations for your Two Peas in a Pod baby shower in my Etsy shop

For this "Two Peas in a Pod" themed cake, I took it one step further and made tiny pea pods out of washcloths.
Here's how I did it: 

First I rolled two washcloths and taped them down to form the peas. Next, I folded a burp cloth in half lengthwise and then wrapped it around the peas to form the pod. I just used ribbon to tie off the one end and then played a bit to get it just right and tied off the other end. 

There are so many things you can put on a diaper cake. Just come up with a fun theme and go from there. This cake was for a "Ready to Pop" baby shower. I took a few onesies that matched the colors of our theme, used the same rolling technique, backed each one with a lollipop stick and then wrapped it in cellophane to create little lollipops t decorate the cake with! 

This diaper cake made the perfect centerpiece for a "Ready to Pop" shower!

Having a cupcake, little sweetie or sprinkle themed shower? How about creating a box of cupcakes instead of a whole cake? Or top off the cake with one beautiful cupcake on top! These were all made with receiving blankets wrapped around onesies and tucked into large cupcake wrappers. The results were almost sweet enough to eat.