Dish Towel Cake ~ A Bridal Shower Gift

A couple weekends ago was my sister-in-law's bridal shower that was given by my mother-in-law.  The shower was french themed since the couple will be honeymooning in France.  I took lots of pictures of all the amazing details from the bridal shower, but I'll share those with you in another post.

For now I wanted to share a fun little gift idea that I came up with.  I really wanted to make something for my sister-in-law, but with the craziness that comes with life with a newborn and two toddlers, I just decided that this was not the right time.  However, I still wanted to do something kind of crafty.  Have you seen those diaper cakes that some people make for baby showers?  Well, I thought I would try to make something similar, but use dish towels instead of diapers.

I purchased three packs of solid color dish towels as well as one with a print.  I rolled up each dish towel and put a elastic hair-tie to hold it in place.  I got a pie dish that I decide was going to be the base for my cake.  I put a small, round craft box (the cardboard kind) in the middle and put the dish towels on their sides surrounding the box.  Once I had put the dish towels all the way around, I took a grosgrain ribbon and tied it around all the towels.

For the second tier, I laid a dish towel that was folded on the top of the craft box lid to give me a little more height.  Then I placed more rolled up dish towels all together.  This time there was nothing in the middle.  Once I had them all on top, I tied the grosgrain ribbon around them to hold in place.  I used straight pins to secure the top tier to the bottom tier.

For added decoration, I folded a printed dish towel and wrapped in around the top tier and made a bow.

Once the cake was complete, I needed to add something to the top.  I had purchased a french rolling pin and I stuck that into the middle of the top tier.  Then I placed bamboo cooking utensils into the middle of the rolled up towels on the top.  I put an oven mitt over the top of the rolling pin and put the other oven mitt in front.  I had one extra dish towel, so I folded that and place it behind the rolling pin which actually added a little more support.  I tried to pick a print on the dish towel that looked sort of french country.

Since the shower was french themed, I thought I would try to make the gift entirely themed.  I bought four Le Creuset french ramekins and a baking dish as well as on of my favorite cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Paris by Ina Garten.

I think my sister-in-law really liked the towel cake and now she and her hubby-to-be will never have to buy another dish towel again!

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