DIY: Beachy Towel Cake

When it comes to giving gifts, there's nothing more fun than a practical gift, presented in a cool and creative way.  Towels by themselves are admitedly a little boring, but gift it in a cake form and those boring towels all of a sudden gain some personality!

This was my first attempt at a towel cake so I went pretty basic, but it was fun to make and gave me lots of ideas for the next time.  Shaylin wanted to get in on the action too and make her own cake.

Of course Shay's cake included a tiara!

My creation would be for a dear friend's beachy themed bridal shower.  So, no tiara needed here.  :)

For this three tier towel cake you will need two bath towels, two hand towels and two washcloths.

Use any embellishments fit for your theme.  Mine included a spool of burlap ribbon, a spool of turquoise ribbon, starfish, and sea shells.  All items were bought from Michaels except for the starfish, which were an Amazon purchase.

Here's the breakdown of which towels you'll need for each layer of the cake.

Bottom layer:  1 washcloth, 1 hand towel and 1 bath towel

Middle layer:  1 bath towel

Top layer:  1 washcloth and 1 hand towel

To create the bottom layer, we'll use one of each size towel and roll them into each other, starting with the smallest.  But first, they need to be folded to size.

 Fold the washcloth into thirds. 

Fold the hand towel into thirds.

Fold the bath towel in half lengthwise, then fold it into thirds.

Here are the three different sizes of towels, ready to be rolled.  Fold remaining 3 towels in the same way and place them on the side to use for the other cake layers.

I wanted to make the bottom layer slightly wider than what it would have normally been so I started rolling the washcloth over an empty toilet paper roll first.  You don't have to do this, your layer will just be smaller.  I actually think I could have actually gone a little bigger but didn't have anything on hand that was larger than a toilet paper roll.  Once it is completely rolled, place the rolled washcloth on top of the folded hand towel and roll again.  

Then place that completed roll on to the folded bath towel and start rolling again.  Place a rubber band around the roll to temporarily keep them together. 

For the middle layer, roll the second bath towel by itself and rubber band it together.  And for the top layer, roll the second washcloth (without a paper towel roll), then roll it into the second hand towel.

Here's what your three layers will look like!

Now for the ribbons.  I placed the turquoise ribbon on top of the burlap ribbon and cut them long enough to fit around each layer.  Don't worry about how the ends look, as they will be folded and tucked in when pinned.

 

I completely forgot a photo here, but before placing the ribbon, I took off the rubber bands, folded the towel ends under, and pined them down with a sewing pin.  I did the same with the ribbon.

Starfish were glued on, and other shells placed for decorative effect, and the towel cake was complete!

I made a chalkboard welcome sign and small centerpieces as well.  Check out my post on digital chalkboard art to download the chalkboard background that I use.  

And here are some pictures of the shower!

The towel cake and welcome sign displayed on a table with some of the gifts.

A look at the centerpiece, and one of the many many dinner dishes we had.  It was Greek food heaven!

Favors brought by bridesmaid Caron all the way from Hawaii.  Her starfish and burlap decorations perfectly matched the decor I went with as well.  We didn't plan this at all!  As she would say...we're design twins.  :)

I didn't get a good picture of the centerpieces, but this simple arrangement included a mason jar, hydrangeas, starfish, nautical rope, a tealight, and some blue crystal rocks.

The morning after the shower was the wedding.  

And just for fun, here's a peak of the beautiful bride getting ready.

It was a beautiful day with my favorite people!

xo,

Carly