Towel cakes
are very popular these days. They are fun to make and they are
practical gifts when taken apart later. An other brilliant thing
about them is you can make the gift as expensive as you like by using
more or less towels and they will always look wonderful. Plus they
make great decorations at a wedding- or baby shower.
So I felt it
was high time to try making this fun gift in mini. I made mine with a
baby theme but you can change the theme by using different colors and
different decorations.
You will need
to adapt the “ ingredients “ a bit for the smaller cakes but
they will look just as stunning as the full size ones.
One sided
terry toweling is perfect. This has the little loops on one side of
the fabric only. It is used for making baby clothes and also for doll
making. You can also recycle baby clothes etc for this.
If you cannot
find it there are other fabrics that will work very nicely : Fleece
fabrics, micro fiber or terry toweling dish cloths from the dollar
store.
Towel sizes
:
Big towel 5
cm – 11 cm
Towel 4 cm
- 9 cm
Washcloth 3
– 3 cm or 4 -4 cm .
But feel free
to experiment with other sizes if you prefer.
Other
materials you will need :
Tacky glue
Ribbon for
wrapping around cake.
Hair
elastics. I mean those really small ones that are very stretchy. I
found mine at the dollar store
Some pins .
Scissors and
ruler for cutting fabric
Your choice
of materials to decorate your cake . I used a mini bow and on the
other cake there is a matching set of cup, plate and tin plus a baby
product in a bottle.
The size of
the cake depends on the size of the towels you use and also on how
many of them there are in the cake.
Let's make
the blue towel cake
Step 1: Place
a 4-9 cm towel flat on your work surface.
Step 2: Fold
long sides to the middle .
Step 3: Fold
the whole thing in half, length wise.
Tip : A real
towel cake will be taken apart later but the mini version won't so to
make things easier you can cheat and add a little bit of tacky glue
to keep everything in place.
Step 4: Have
a hair elastic at the ready and start rolling your towel into a cake
shape. Try to keep the roll nice and tight. Place elastic around
cake. Once again you may use some glue.
Step 5: Cut a
piece of ribbon that fits nicely around your cake. Move the elastic
to where the ribbon will not completely cover it, but do not remove
it yet. Wrap the ribbon around the cake, hold tight or use a pin and
remove elastic. Glue ribbon in place. Without the elastic the cake
will have a better shape.
Step 6:
Decorate your cake. I used a washcloth folded into a bunny and a cup , plate and tin with a bunny pattern. I added a bottled baby product
as a final touch.
The big cake
For this cake
you will need to cut two towels size 4- 9 cm . The cake will look
bigger because I have used terry toweling for this cake, which is
thicker than the other fabric.
Step 1 : the
first layer is created in the same way as the blue cake.
Step 2 : For
the second layer you need a smaller towel. You can make this by
cutting 4 cm off the second towel.
The cut off
bit can be used as the washcloth for the top layer. The towel is
folded and rolled in the same way as the blue cake.
Step 3: Use
the piece you cut off in step 2. Fold in half and then fold in half
once more. Roll into cake as before.
Step 4 : Add
ribbon to cakes as for the blue cake.
Step 5 : Now
it is time to stack the cakes. You can do this in several ways. If
you want to do it like a real towel cake you can push a toothpick
upwards through the center of the bottom layer and thread the other
two on the toothpick to secure. You can also use a pin , but then you
have to start at the top so the sharp point is hidden inside your
cake.
But of course
you can also just glue the layers on top of each other, no one will
notice.
Step 6 :
Decorate the top of the cake. I added a silk bow .
You can make
endless variations on this cake . The white cake was made using two
towels for the bottom layer and one for the second layer. White
ribbon makes it look really elegant. Some little roses are all it
needs for decorations.
For a real
big cake use the big towel size or several of them for the first
layer and then 1 big one for the second layer and a smaller towel for
the top.
Have fun
making these cakes .
