The Diaper Trike

I love to make unique and creative gifts for holidays and other events.  Since we're on a tight budget around here it's often a lot easier on the pocketbook as well!

This is a diaper trike that I made for my cousin's baby shower a year or so ago.  Hard to believe my godson is already almost a year old!!!!  I found a lot of pictures of these trikes online but no directions so I reverse engineered this from a picture.

I picked up all the items to make this at the dollar store and a large discount store.  The only problem was that I didn't notice that the front ribbon had fallen down until AFTER I took my pictures.  I did catch and fix it before the shower! 

What you need to create the diaper trike:

• one large package of size 1 diapers (better to have too many than not enough!)
• 3 large rubber bands (I used the rubber bands that come wrapped around my newspaper...free!)
• empty paper towel or toilet paper roll (also free!)
• 2 receiving blankets
• 2 bibs (I like the velcro closure bibs)
• 1- 5oz. baby bottle
• 1 pair of newborn sized baby socks (I could only find a package of 3 pairs so the extras I put inside the wheels
• 2-3 yards thin ribbon
• 2-3 yards thick ribbon (1 inch thick looks nice and works well)
• double sided tape, glue dots, hot glue, folded over scotch tape (whatever you have that will hold the ribbon together)

First, divide your diapers into 3 equal piles, if it doesn't divide evenly put the extras in the pile for the front tire since it's fine for it to be a bit larger but the back tires need to be equal sized.

Start with your first stack of diapers and an empty paper towel or toilet paper roll.  The roll will keep the center of your tire open.  I curved each diaper around the roll one at a time until I had about half the diapers in my stack wrapped around the roll.  Have a helper hold the diapers on the roll or hold it with your knees while you put a large rubber band around the outside.  You can then add the rest of the diapers in a few at a time and adjust as needed.  You want to use a rubber band and not any adhesive so that the diapers are still able to be used.  It's tricky but stay patient and it will all work out, I promise!  Remove the roll once you have all diapers secured.  (if you have problems keeping the center open you can cut the tube so that is a little narrower than the diapers an leave it in the center of the tire.

Follow the same process with your other two stacks of diapers.  Use your wide ribbon and wrap around the diaper rolls to cover the ugly rubber bands.  Secure the ribbon to itself using your adhesive, I used double a hot glue gun.  Don't burn yourself....it's not worth it!

Take one of your receiving blankets and roll it VERY tightly.  Again, since I was by myself I used rubber bands on each end to keep it rolled tightly while I worked.  Feed the rolled blanket through the center of all 3 tires in the configuration shown in the photo.  Tie it tightly with a knot and then slide the knot so that it is hidden inside the back tires.

Create a seat by fastening one of the bibs through the hole in the front tire with the bib part covering the space where the back two tires meet.  Fasten the other bib facing the front with the velcro though the center of the tire to create a front fender.

Take your other blanket and roll it as tightly as possible, if it is nice and tight it will make the handlebars stick out without any further support.  Again, I used rubber bands to secure it, this time in the middle and at each end and left them there since they would be covered.  Feed through the hole in the front wheel, the wheel will hide your middle rubber band.  Place the bottle on top of the bib and towards the back of the front wheel to create a headlight.  I used the thin ribbon to secure this to the trike by feeding through the center and tying with a bow.  Pull the wrapped blanket up over the top of the bottle and tie tightly with your thin ribbon and tie another bow.  If your blanket is nice and tight and you tie the ribbon tightly the ends of the blanket will create the handlebars. It took me 3 tries, so again, stay patient and keep trying!

Cover the ends of the blankets (and your rubber bands) with a baby sock.  You are done!

Tips:

• This is hard to transport because it wants to shift.  I didn't have a big enough box so I used a laundry basket in the car so it wouldn't move around too much.
• Include a note on the trike or with your card letting the recipient know what size the diapers are (I had a duh moment when my cousin had to call me to find out)
• Be creative...I wanted to put a stuffed monkey on the trike as a rider since that was the nursery theme but couldn't find one in my price range, a set of teething keys would be super cute hooked to the back of the handlebars.
• Don't spend the $60+ dollars that these sell for...make your own for about $20.