By employing a little creativity, you can host a baby shower worthy of being featured in a glossy magazine spread. Be sure to use the mother-to-be and the theme of the shower as inspiration. Here are some ideas for creating beautiful baby shower centerpieces.

1. Display Flowers in a Non-traditional Vase
If you have a theme for your shower, finding an unusual vase can be quite simple. Using old-fashioned tea tins as the flower vases makes a unique touch at a tea party shower. Another option involves placing flowers in ceramic baby shoes or baby blocks.

2. Baby Sock/Bib/Hat Rose Bouquet
You can use a variety of baby socks, onesies, knit hats or baby t-shirts to create this centerpiece. You will also need some green florist’s tape, faux greenery and floral wire.

If you decide to use socks, starting from the toe, roll the sock up creating a sock “bud.” Holding the sock together tightly, create a stem with a piece of floral wire inserted into the center of the bud. With floral tape, start wrapping the tape around the bottom of the bud to join it with the stem and then continue wrapping around the stem. You can add faux leaves to the stem as you wrap to give it a more authentic look.

The same steps can be repeated several times with baby hats, onesies or even baby tees. Once you’ve made several “roses,” you can arrange a bouquet with additional faux greenery. To display the bouquet, place it inside a pastel-colored metal bucket lined with green tissue paper. A clear glass vase can work just as beautifully, finished off with a satin bow.

3. Diaper Cake
The diaper cake is one of the most popular baby shower items, often given to the mother-to-be, but miniature versions are now turning up as adorable homemade centerpieces. And, once again, they’re great gifts for the pregnant mom as she stocks-up on diapers in anticipation of the little one’s arrival.

How to make a diaper cake: Roll each newborn diaper tightly and tie closed with a ribbon. Repeat several times, and arrange the rolls on their ends into a circle until you have enough rolls to create a small “cake layer.” Then tie wide decorative ribbon around the entire layer, along the side of the cake, with a neat bow in the front. Repeat all of the steps, making the second layer a smaller circle. You can add tiny plastic animals, or baby rattles as a cake topper. The cakes can be wrapped in clear or colored cellophane to complete the look.

4. Baby Photo Tree
A few weeks before the shower, ask the guests to send or e-mail you a baby photo, and place the photos in inexpensive 2-by-2-inch frames. Christmas tree ornament frames work well for this. Tie satin ribbon around the frame’s hook if there isn’t already one. Arrange three or four bare tree branches of varying lengths into a glass vase. Make sure to choose branches strong enough to bear the frames’ weight. Hang the baby photo ornaments around the branches at varying heights. These baby photo frames can easily be used as place cards, set up at each guests’ place setting, and the frame can be taken home as a personalized party favor.

Another version of this idea is to get a variety of baby photos of the mother-to-be and arrange them on the table in different-style and sized frames in the center of each table.

5. Stuffed Animal
A large stuffed animal can look quaint and adorable as a centerpiece, especially if you dress it in a soft onesie, cloth diaper or baby hat. For a cuter look, a teddy bear or other animal that can sit up are ideal.

Each table can be adorned with a different animal and if you’re assigning guests to tables, cards at the front can be set up with the person’s name and a photo of the animal corresponding to her table.

6. Rubber Duck Pond
This is another simple project. Fill a large, wide clear glass or acrylic bowl, such as one used for making salad, halfway with water. Float a few rubber ducks on the water for a cute centerpiece. Options include different colors and sizes of ducks, or creating a duck “family,” with two larger rubber ducks, and a few mini ducks for the babies.

7. Mini Charm Tree
For the baby shower of Kim Raver, star of TV’s “Lipstick Jungle,” Brooke Shields had all the guests bring baby-themed charms for Raver and hang them on a tree, creating a charm tree. This idea could easily be translated into a centerpiece, using small branches arranged in a vase, and guests hanging charms for the mother to keep.

Each centerpiece will be adorned with beautiful charms, and the mother can put them together on a necklace or bracelet. It will remind her of the special day each time she wears it.

8. A small wagon Filled With Baby Items
A small wagon for a baby boy or a toy baby cradle for a girl can be filled with baby rattles, pacifiers, washcloths, bibs or other small toys for a beautiful centerpiece. Arrange the items inside as you would in a gift basket, with larger items in the back and smaller items in the front.

Top it off with ribbon and once again, the mother has beautiful gifts to take home for her upcoming bundle of joy.

9. Balloon Bunches
While balloon centerpieces don’t sound all that unique, the way the balloons are arranged can make a difference. FOX-TV’s Jillian Barberie’s baby shower centerpieces displayed balloons inside balloons, and long skinny balloons wrapped around large balloons. The result was a wild but fun display. If you use smaller helium-filled balloons, weigh them down by tying them to baby items, such as baby bottles full of gumballs, pacifiers or other common baby toys.

Don’t feel as though you have to make everything yourself. If you’re extremely busy making plans and preparations, just order the centerpiece from one of numerous websites or enlist friends to help you. You can also find simple items at a dollar store.

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Step 1. Ingredients for a diaper cake:

You can get all of these at a local baby supplies store. (You may need to go to a craft store for the ribbon)

• 60 diapers (depends on how big you make it) You can use either disposable or cloth - better find out what the expectant mother would like. You can use either white or patterned diapers.

• Ribbon, 1/2 or 1 inch wide, patterned to fit the baby shower theme. Pink, blue, or yellow are good choices.

• Ribbon, 1/4 inch to tie rolled diapers with

• 36-60 small rubber bands (depending on how you want to "build" the cake

• 6 large rubber bands

• One 8-oz baby bottle or one large bottle of baby lotion

• One 4-oz baby bottle

• A cardboard or plastic cake platter

• Cake decorations - for example, baby confetti, baby sock roses, artificial roses, etc.

• Baby items - Pacifiers, bottles, lotion, bibs, receiving blankets, miniature stuffed animals, baby towel, onesie, wash cloths, baby hygiene products, toys, etc.

Step 2. Let's build this cake one tier at a time.

For the first tier, you will need about 35 newborn or stage 1 diapers. Unfold 17 of them and, one at a time, roll them up tight, starting from the front of the diaper and rolling it to the back. The tighter the better. Place a rubber band around the center after you roll each diaper up to hold it tight. These are the inner diapers for the cake.

Take the cake platter and place the 8-oz baby bottle or large bottle of baby lotion in the center. Then place about 5-6 diapers around the bottle and put a large rubberband around the entire ring of diapers.

Next, form a 2nd ring with the remaining 11-12 diapers by placing them around the 1st ring of diapers. Complete it by placing a large rubberband around the 2nd ring.

For the final ring of diapers for the 1st tier: Take 18-20 diapers, unfold each one, roll them up tight like before, but instead of a rubber band around each one, tie a thin, 1/4 inch piece of ribbon around the middle around each one. Then place them around the second ring to form a 3rd ring. Now take a large, 1/2 to 1 inch wide ribbon and tie it around the entire tier to hold them all together in a circle shape.

(Note, you could use just rubberbands around each diaper for the 3rd ring if you have opaque ribbon to hold the 3rd ring together. The important part is that no rubberbands are showing when you are done.)

You have made the 1st tier.

Step 3. The second tier is made much the same way, only instead of 3 rings, you will only make 2 rings of diapers. Just like the 1st tier, the inside ring will need about 5-6 diapers. Part of the 8-oz bottle will be sticking out of the 1st tier, so place your 5-6 diapers around it to form the 1st ring of the 2nd tier. The 2nd ring will need 11-12 diapers. Place a ribbon around each one of those 2nd ring diapers and hold them all together in a circle with the 1/2 to 1 inch wide ribbon, just like before.

Step 4. Third tier is easy!

It is probably easiest to assemble this tier on a table and then place it on the rest of the cake after it is assembled. So, take a 4-oz bottle and place it on the table.

Then take 5-6 diapers and roll them up like before and tie them with the thin ribbon.

Then place them around the 4 oz baby bottle and tie your wide ribbon around it to hold it together tightly in it's shape. Take the top tier and place it on the top.

Now for the finished product...

How to make a diaper cake

Step 5. Now for the fun part:

Add little baby items like Pacifiers, bottles, lotion, bibs, receiving blankets, miniature stuffed animals, baby towel, onesie, wash cloths, baby hygiene products, toys, etc. Place them between the folds of the diaper, tuck the larger items into the outer layer of ribbon.

Add stickers and decorations to match the baby shower theme.

Place a stuffed animal, such as Winnie the Pooh, teddy bear, Elmo, Demdaco angel, Precious Moments figurine, pair of baby shoes, or something else on top to match the baby shower theme.

You're done and it's a masterpiece! Your baby shower diaper cake is sure to be the hit of the shower.