I knew I wanted to do something special and unique for my sister’s baby shower for her baby boy! I decided to go big and construct an ATV (4 wheeler) Diaper Cake.
I knew that I would construct the wheels out of diapers, but how would I make the rest of it come together? I decided that I could research what others were using online and buy those things, or I could attempt to do this by shopping from her baby registry. I decided that I would start with her baby registry items and go from there, so I hopped on to her amazon baby registry and used my imagination to order a bunch of items that I could picture myself including in the project. I will include some links if you want to shop for similar baby staples like those that I am including below, or perhaps you can make this project your own buy making selections from a registry.
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Tires, Wheels and Axles
I have made some straightforward diaper cakes in the past. There are any techniques you can use for rolling diapers into cakes, but the layering technique seems to work best for me. I used this layering technique to construct each of the 4 tires.
To make the tires more “beefy” and sturdy, I rolled diapers in layers and then secured my work with some string before continuing with additional layers.
Next, I used some ribbon to wrap the tires for additional stability and to also get a “wheel” look.
Then I took the spools from that ribbon and squeezed them into the center of each tire to create a way for me to connect each set of tires. I would make this connection with a wooden campfire skewer that I happened to have hanging around that I cut in half with a lopper tool to use as the 2 wheel axles. Any stick would probably work.
Next I wrapped the wheel axles with some swaddle blankets that my sister had on her registry. After all, this cake is not just about looks, ideally it will be full of surprises that momma needs for baby!
I placed some baby washcloths (linking different cloths that will still work well) on top of the tires to create a fender look like you would find on a real ATV!
I got so into this that admittedly, I forgot to take some pictures for a bit, so allow me to try to explain what came next.
The Body
To construct the body and seat area of the ATV, I placed a dishwasher basket like this on top of the wheel axles and connected it to them which finally made the ATV one big connected piece. I then had some baby towels to use up so I wrapped the body in baby towels too, adding some bulk and a place for the Monkey to sit. You can get creative here and find an item on her registry that is a similar size to construct the body, but I liked all the holes in the basket as it gave me a place to tie and connect the pieces.
I then laid out 2 flannel receiving blankets the long way, and rolled them up tightly together to make one thick and long piece. I tied each end and the center with some string to keep it rolled up tight. I folded this long piece in half and secured it to the body/ front axle area of the vehicle with some string to construct what would become the handlebars. To make them appear to have the look and shape of real handlebars, I wrapped them in the leftover ribbon that I had from the wheels.
I added 2 bottles as headlights and secured them to the body with a piece of ribbon,
Special Touches
I had fun shopping for the perfect stuffed animal to ride the ATV too. I chose the monkey that you see here and dressed the monkey in a cute onesie for the baby that read “Wild About Auntie”. Also, before I decided to construct this diaper cake I had ordered a custom bib for my nephew, and so I decided to incorporate that as well. Initially, I used this as a bandana on the Monkey’s head, but later, ended up draping that over the front below the headlights to further customize this ATV with his name as it was displayed on the gift table.
Trust your creativity
I can’t stress enough that there is no right or wrong way to create something like this. In areas where my explanations are lacking the details that you need, I urge you to step outside your comfort zone and use your own creativity. If you choose to create something like this yours will likely look different, and that is OK! I think most importantly your goal should be trying to use items that the soon-to-be mom and dad really need for their baby, such as what they have registered for.
By no means was this thing perfect… but it was a cute conversation piece at my sister’s shower and hopefully made her feel special.
