My cousin got married, but did not have a bridal shower with family since everyone lives across the US. We wouldn't be seeing her till the weekend of the wedding, so my mom and I wanted to make something cute to give her and her fiancé at the rehearsal dinner. After browsing through her registry, we decided to make a "bridal shower cake" using several different items. These items included a pizza pan, a large pot, several towels, a pot holder, a liquid measuring cup, spatula, dish brush, and salt and pepper shakers.
The pizza pan was the base of the cake. Next, we put the large pot upside down on top of the pizza pan. We draped hand towels around it, and placed a pot holder in the front. For the next level, we placed a circular cardboard cutout to use for a steady base, and put a large silver doily to add pizzaz. This second layer composed of rolled dish towels standing upright. The third layer sat on a smaller cardboard cutout with a smaller doily. The liquid measuring cup was draped in washcloths, and the salt and pepper shaker were placed inside. We bought sticker letters and stuck Mr. and Mrs. on the shakers.
We then tied the three layers with ribbon matching the colors of the towels. We placed the spatula and dish brush inside the ribbon on the bottom layer, and tied a smaller ribbon on each. We then tied a ribbon around the entire height of the cake to hold it all in place.
We then had to travel 11 hours with this thing in the truck of the car. It fell a little, but it was nothing we couldn't fix. After some minor touch ups, and one last transport from the hotel to the restaurant in the rain, it was presented to the bride, who loved it. Overall, it was easy to make since we had the pizza pan and large pot to use for a good base.
OH! And we couldn't forget the groom, of course...
We used the same cardboard cutouts and doilies to make the groom a "beer cake." Since his favorite beer was only sold locally, we had to buy the beer at home and pack it in the car. We didn't put it together until we were at the hotel. This was harder to transport than the bridal cake, but it made it to the restaurant. Both were a huge hit.