Animal Themed Carousel Diaper Cake Baby Shower Gift

If you are looking for a creative way to make a baby shower gift, this carousel diaper cake is a fun way to add something unique!  Animal themed, easy to make, and perfect for any new mom, it’s a great choice. Customize this with your party theme and the colors preferred for the baby’s gender.  Whether this is a gift or used as a decoration, you’ll love how it looks on that baby shower gift table.

Animal Theme Carousel Diaper Cake

I’ve always been a huge fan of diaper cakes for giving as gifts.  They are both fun and useful.  That makes them ideal for any shower.  You can use them to decorate the gift tables or as a centerpiece on the buffet table.  It’s easy to make them ideal for gifting with not just tons of diapers but also things like toys, baby clothing, bath supplies, or any number of needed items for baby and mom.

Since you use diapers for this cake, you can gift multiple sizes or stick with just one size diaper.  I like using a few different sizes for the different levels of the cake so I know the new mom will have some on hand at each transition in growth.

How Many Diapers Do I Need to Make This Cake?

The number of diapers will depend upon how large you make the carousel but also how large the diapers themselves are.  With smaller sizes you will need more diapers.  Larger sizes will use fewer as they take up more space. 

I usually recommend including one full pack of diapers per cake, at the minimum.  Most come in package counts around 24-25 diapers in the smallest packs, so this is a good start for a cake and for a gift.  You can always add additional full packages of diapers as part of your gift.

Variations of a Carousel Theme

While I used animals in this example, you can use any them you prefer.  Some ideas would be to stick with variations of a single animal, using specific Disney characters, safari animals, or more. I love using things like a recent movie theme or even a favorite sport that the parents enjoy.

You can also ask the new mom what their nursery colors and themes will be and match to that. It’s a great way to add useful items like receiving blankets, toys, sheets, and clothing to match the theme right into the decorations of the diaper cake.

What Gifts Can I Add to the Carousel?

When you are deciding the theme of your carousel, you can add small gifts that fit that theme.  Some things I like are pacifiers, rattles, baby bottles, stuffed animals, blankets, wash cloths, and baby shampoo.  Additional baby clothing, towels, carriers, wraps, and similar can be rolled up and added around the base of the carousel.

Another fun thing you can do is to add items for the new parents.  Popular additions include single shot sized bottles of wine or alcohol, granola bars, chocolate candy, peanut butter crackers, bags of herbal tea, k-cups, or gourmet coffee.  Additional useful items are ibuprofen, Tylenol, antacids, and even things like aloe for the new mom to use on those post birth tender areas.

My favorites also include self-care options like lotions, body wash, bubble bath, nail polish, magazines, a new book, or even a favorite movie.  Plus, you can add in a few “coupons” for free babysitting, house cleaning, or meals delivered.  Gift cards are also great for adding to the gift.  Restaurant cards are always welcome but consider local stores for groceries, Walmart, Target, or even local dollar stores for diapers or formula.

Supplies Needed

How to Make a Carousel Diaper Cake

Measure and cut brown shelf liner the size of the cardboard tube.

Attach the shelf liner to the tube and smooth down.

Starting at one end of the tube, glue and wrap the polka dot ribbon to the tube winding it into a spiral with space between the ribbon.

Attach on the end.

Using a large bowl, trace a circle onto the yellow poster board.

Cut out the yellow circle and set aside.

Using a large shallow bowl, stack diapers side by side  until the entire bowl is filled.

Stick the wrapped cardboard tube into the center of the diaper stack.

Slide a piece of white ribbon inside the bowl around the outside edge of the diapers and tie to secure.

Remove the bowl leaving the diapers stacked together and wrapped together with the ribbon. 

Cut a length of blue paper and wrap around the outside of the diaper ring.

Glue a strip of yellow ribbon around the center of the blue paper.

Add a skewer through the top of the tube.

Cut a slit into the yellow circle from the side to center.

Fold it over forming a “hat” that is slightly umbrella in shape.

Place glue onto the skewer, then secure the yellow top to the skewer.

Cut the blue glitter foam paper into strips and add scalloped edges, then attach all around the bottom of the yellow top.

Using thin blue ribbon, add in a spiral around all of the skewers.

Place the skewers onto the outside edge of the diaper ring and glue in place on the edge of the yellow top of the carousel.

Attach animal stickers onto the skewer “bars”.

Place baby gifts on top of the diapers.

Add any additional decorations or gifts before gifting.

More Baby Shower Gift Ideas

Crafting Tip

I love grabbing foam animal stickers when I can to have on hand for projects like this.  It makes it so easy to just peel the backing off and add them to the carousel bars!

Finished Project Gallery