The Creation of Memorably Sweet Arrangements

When I gave birth to my son in 2012, I received a gift that infertility had made me doubt I would ever receive…a diaper cake. It was three tiers high with tiny rolled diapers, toiletries, booties and a stuffed bear at the top. It sat on display in my living room for several weeks until his transition from newborn size diapers meant that it was time to unroll the diapers and put the gift to use. 

 I took several pictures which are now in his baby book and my mother and I spent some time carefully deconstructing the cake so that we could use each and every element of it.

Fast forward to a year later. My son was now toddling around the house and exploring every bit of life that he could. The memory of the diaper cake and the thought that had gone into celebrating our sweet boy had stayed with me.  Knowing that we would have a large expense coming our way if we wanted to grow our family again, an idea sparked for me.

What if I could make my own diaper cakes so that others could share a sweet memory like mine by receiving such a thoughtful gift? It would also allow me to put aside a little bit of money to help grow our family again and give my little boy a brother or sister some day.

I set about making a Pinterest board of ideas and inspirations that others had made. I was in awe at the creativity and time that went in to the examples that I was seeing. I saw tiny washcloths made into sweets, animals and flowers. I saw alternatives to diaper cakes using clothes, blankets and various baby needs. I was enamored to say the least.

I didn’t want to stop at just babies though. My own struggles with infertility had left me knowing that there are so many other events in life worth celebrating. You tend to learn to celebrate the small things when you are faced with a struggle that can be so self-consuming. So, I looked at “towel cakes” which would allow me to also expand into bridal celebrations, housewarming gifts and even day to day things worth celebrating… a university student embarking on their new journey; a simple beach day; or even a gift meant to pamper you and let you know that you are thought of.

I told a lifelong friend of my idea, and to my surprise she placed an order for a wedding towel cake for the very next weekend. In my excitement, I was sharing with friends at work the opportunity and a co-worker asked for a diaper cake for the exact same day as the wedding towel cake.

I had four days to complete them. I had never actually tried to make a diaper cake or a towel cake, but I decided that I WOULD give them a gift that would provide a sweet memory to the recipient and that I could be proud to say was my creation. I brought the diaper cake to work that Friday and she was thrilled with the end result. The towel cake was delivered that night, and my friend was elated. My first projects were complete, they were a success. 

And so Memorably Sweet Arrangements was born.