Adorable Gender Neutral Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake

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Lift your baby shower to the next level with this fun Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake! It will be the perfect centerpiece to take your party up up and away!

hot air balloon diaper cake on a wicker table outdoors with a giraffe stuffed toy in the center.

When you get invited to a baby shower, are you ever stuck with wondering “What do I gift?”

Well, I have a great idea for you! Try something special like an adorable gender-neutral Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake!

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Not only will your gift be unique, it will make a great addition to the baby shower decor, will be a fun conversation starter, and will be something the new mom can definitely use!

Before you begin, talk with the person throwing the baby shower to let them know your plans. If they are also planning a diaper cake, maybe you can coordinate colors and sizes.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

If there will be multiple diaper cakes (which no new mom will ever turn away, trust me) maybe one can be made in size 1 diapers and the 2nd diaper cake can be created in size 2 diapers. The new mom would love your thinking ahead. Since babies tend to grow quickly those first few months.

Plus, then you will have multiple beautiful centerpieces – one could be placed on the gift table and one on the food table.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

And the expectant mom will be blown away in gratitude for how loved she is. She will be singing your praises weeks after the baby is born at 2 a.m., while half-awake during the umpteenth diaper change of the day when she is still stocked up on diapers and doesn’t have to make that midnight dash to the store for more! Trust me!

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

You can use any size of diapers you want. It works with size 1 or 2, which would be great for a baby shower.

I don’t happen to have any baby showers coming up, so I catered my hot air balloon diaper cake towards Miss Rose as her 2nd birthday is coming up in a few short weeks. So I used her size 4 diapers. Which still works, I just had to fold them down a little bit on the outside.

So let’s get crafty!

DIY Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake

Besides picking up diapers, you will want a few items from your local craft store. Once you have all your supplies gathered, you can easily pull this together in a single day.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Or you can space it out and prep your box one day and finish the embellishments the next day.

Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake Supplies:

  • 1 package of diapers (size of your choice I used size 4 in the photos because that is the size my daughter wears)
  • 1 square box
  • Spray paint (optional – if you have a wooden box that needs painting)
  • 15-16″ round paper lantern
  • 2 spools lace ribbon (varied patterns and sizes)
  • 1 string flat back small pearl beads
  • Spool Burlap Ribbon (enough to wrap around Box and a little to spare)
  • Large Burlap Flower embellishment
  • 8 Small Burlap Flowers in cream and brown
  • Spool of jute string
  • Four 36″ wooden dowel rods
  • Straight pins
  • Elastic
  • Hot glue
  • Tape
  • Stuffed animal for a passenger
  • Any other baby-related items you want to add inside the hot air balloon basket

You can change your hot air balloon diaper cake look simply by changing the basket. You can pick one that is wicker, or one that is already lined, a round one or a square. There are many options. Don’t feel you must get the exact box I found.

I first found this wooden box in the unfinished wood section of my craft store. So I grabbed some of my Favorite spray paint in a Caramel Latte satin finish.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Apply a light coat and allow to dry. I love this spray paint because it dries quickly, usually in about 10 minutes, and then I can apply the next layer.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower
Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

After painting, allow at least an hour to fully dry before moving onto filling the basket. If you want, you can skip ahead to work on decorating the paper lantern while you wait for the box to dry to save time.

Once the box is completely dry you can then begin to stuff it with diapers.

Now I know most diaper cakes have you rolling the diapers and securing with elastic bands. Which is all fine and good. But I have 2 issues with that.

First, have you ever tried to use a diaper after it’s been rolled up like that? It’s such a pain to flatten out and put onto the baby. Or to store in the closet! I don’t want to give a new mom that headache.

Second, it takes so much time to roll each individual diaper and secure it. Who has time for that?

So I went with a much easier route. Just stuff them in the box! Haha.

Ok, so they are just stuffed in there. There is a little order. I formed a little circular pattern in the center and just kept building onto it expanding out.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Keep going until you can’t fit any more diapers into the box.

Now we will have a few rolled diapers, but it’ll only be a few, which I can handle versus all of them. You will roll two diapers together and secure with an elastic band. Do this four times, and stuff each one into each of the four corners of the box.

On the outside of the box, you can leave it showing, or you can add even more diapers. Seeing as it’s a Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake, I went all out and decided to really let the diaper shine and added more diapers.

Layer flat diapers across all four sides of the outside of the box and secure into place with the jute string. I had my kids help to hold the diapers in place while I tied the string.

If you don’t have helpers, you can always add a bit of tape to the back of each diaper to keep it in place until you tie it with the string.

Wrap the burlap ribbon tightly around the diapers on the outside of the basket of the Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake. Secure it into place in the back with a straight pin. We want to be able to remove this part so the new mom can easily access her diapers.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Wrap the larger lace ribbon around the center of the burlap ribbon and secure in the back with a straight pin.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Add the large burlap flower on the front. I found my flower in the Christmas ornaments section and just removed the tree hook.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

If you don’t mind the flower being permanently attached to the lace ribbon you can hot glue it into place onto the ribbon. Or you can secure it also with a straight pin.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Now you can move onto decorating the paper lantern.

Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake Paper Lantern

For the paper lantern, you will be using the hot glue, as you will want this to be more permanent and not fall off over time.

Wrap the smaller lace ribbon around the center of the paper lantern and secure with hot glue where the ribbon meets and also at the center point across from where the ribbon meets, so it doesn’t slide around as you work.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Cut 8 strips of the jute string that are long enough to travel from the top to the bottom of the lantern and a little extra to fold inside both openings.

Use tape to attach the jute string to the lantern at each of the 8 main seam points.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Wrap them into the inside of the lantern and hide the ends with the tape. No one will see inside the lantern, so it won’t matter if it is a little bit messy.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower
Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

If you find your tape doesn’t stick well, go back over and add a little hot glue to secure it in place.

Attach the pearl beads with hot glue to one section where the jute string and the lace intersect. Drape the pearls around, attaching them to each intersection with hot glue.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Embellish with the burlap flowers over top of the pearls where they are attached to the jute string and lace ribbon. Alternate the flower colors as you work your way around.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Now the paper lantern is complete! The last step is simply assembling it all together!

Assembling the Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake

Insert the wooden dowels into each inside corner of the diaper-filled box. Gently bend the dowels inward together and slide the paper lantern on top.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

When you let go of the dowels, they will hold the lantern in place. If you want it more secure you can use 3D glue dots or hot glue on the wooden dowels on the inside right where they meet the lantern.

I also attached a few slip knot jute strings from the metal hook inside the paper lantern and threaded each one through a corner on the box and tightened them to help secure the lantern even more.

Lastly, add the stuffed animal as the passenger to the Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake!

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower
Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Now be prepared to fend off little hands, as they will want to touch, grab and love this Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake!

Miss Rose was rather happy with the end results.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Or maybe she just wanted to grab that Giraffe! Haha.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

Either way, it’s a gift both she and I can be very happy with – diapers to last us at least another month.

You can personalize this Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake with pink or blue ribbons if you want a gender-specific baby gift. Or stay gender neutral which is easy to match most any baby shower decor.

Easy Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for a fabulous Baby shower

If you are throwing the baby shower, you can use the hot air balloon theme by making the Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake for the table centerpiece, and also our smaller Hot Air Balloon party Favor baskets for each of the guests.

You can also add any other baby gift items inside the basket as well if you choose.

Now your baby shower is ready to lift off and blow your guests Up, Up, and Away!

What would add in your Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake?

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7 Comments

  1. i am not able to get the Dowels to hold up the lantern can you show a picture of the inside once you jhave the dowels in

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