DIY – Baby Onesie Cupcakes Tutorial

Back in March I mentioned how we would soon be going to baby showers instead of bridal showers because of all the weddings we’ve gone to the past few years.  Well, it’s starting already!  As soon as I received the invitation to one of our best friends’ baby showers, I knew I would finally get the chance to try out making a diaper cake.  If you remember, I posted about how I wanted to try this crafty project awhile ago.

Once I got thinking about it a little more, I figured that someone else may also bring a diaper cake since they are fairly popular now, so I decided to think of something more original.  I did a Google search for images first and discovered some good sites for making diaper cupcakes instead of a whole cake.  After a little more research, I found the idea for doing Onesie cupcakes – genius!  Since our friends know they are expecting a girl, I loved the idea of how I could still buy cute clothes and work them into a craft. 

I checked out a couple tutorials on how to construct these adorable little things - I liked Little Birdie Secrets’ post and Glitz & Grits’ ideas.  Next I went to Target to get the onesies and then to Michaels with a 20% off coupon to stock up on materials.  You will need:

• 4 onesies (I bought ones that were 3-6 months old)
• cupcake box big enough for 4 cupcakes
• jumbo white cupcake liners (I went big to make sure the onesies would fit inside)
• small bag of filler confetti (you don’t need too much)
• white ribbon (about 1 inch width)
• narrow ribbon (1/4 inch or less width) – color doesn’t matter, but I used pink and white
• small rubber bands
• sewing pins
• scissors
• scrapbook paper (optional)
• regular sized cupcake liners (optional)

To get started, first lay out your onesie and have a rubber band ready.  My onesie had a little applique on the front and I discovered it’s best to fold the onesie so the applique is on the inside.

Fold the onesie into thirds the long way.

 

Then fold that into halves the long way again so you have a narrow strip.

 

Take one end and start rolling the onesie to form a spiral roll.  This takes some practice and you probably won’t like your first couple tries (at least I know I didn’t!).  I tried to roll slightly diagonal so a little fabric would pop up at the top.

I don’t have a picture of the next step, but then you will put a rubber band to secure the onesie at the bottom.  I then cut a piece of white ribbon to fit length-wise around the bottom of the onesie to hide the rubber band.  If you are using clear bands, you might be able to skip this step, however, I think it looks a little neater when placing it into the cupcake liner.  I actually used 2 liners (one was yellow to give a little color), but that’s optional. 

Once you are done with placing the cupcake in the liner, repeat the steps with the other onesies until you have 4 little cupcakes :)

In the above picture you’ll notice I added a little pink ribbon to the top.  I did this because I thought they were missing a topper and I didn’t have any pom poms on hand in my craft supplies.  I tied little pieces of ribbon into bows and then used a sewing pin to gently attach the bow to the top of the onesie.  If you look closely, you can see the pearl head of the pin sticking out a little.  Next time I do this, I will probably invest in the little rose buds like shown in the inspiration picture I had.

To decorate the plain white cupcake box, I added some scrapbook paper to dress up the sides.  Again, this is optional, but I think it adds a nice touch. 

Once done with the box, I added the confetti filler to the inside bottom and then added the cupcakes on top.  You may have to squish the filler down a little so they all fit. 

After I was finished with the arrangement of the insides, I closed the box, tied some ribbon around it and added a little note.  Done!

This project probably took about 90 minutes or so – mostly because I was trying to perfect the rolling of the onesies.  Once you get the hang of that, they’re pretty easy to put together.  “Enjoy” your cupcakes :)

Sharing at: I Heart Naptime, Tatertots & Jello, Someday Crafts, Be Different, Act Normal