This is my 1st cake order! I made my blues clues cake but my handwriting is HORRIBLE! How do you ladies do it so neat! Im going to have to apologize to the lady for my sloppyness

I think you did a great job! It looks fantastic. Nothing wrong with it that I can see and nothing to apologize for

Lazy_Susan

i don't think she'll think you're handwriting is sloppy. the "trick" to handwriting (for me) is first, practice. also, icing consistency(thin), and finding a style that works, whether it's printing or cursive. some people will "write" first with a toothpick, then follow those lines. did you do blue freehand- you did a great job

I think it looks great.Handwriting is very difficult to achieve nice results and I admit mine isn't that great either!! Keep practicing..it will come!!

It's easy to do the writing if you buy stencils. Just get the alphabet and make the impressions on the cake and then write over it with icing! My daughter has the neatest handwriting I have ever seen, so, I let her do mine!

Actually Blue is a Chocolate transfer! And i filled in his spots, tounge, eyes with iciing

The harder I try, the worse it always look so just relax and write!! If you really have a hard time, Wilton has message imprints you can use and then pipe over them. I do this when I am limited to space and want to be sure I get the letters all on!!

That cake is so cute!! I wouldn't apologize to the lady at all. I can't give you advice on handwriting - mine is terrible on cakes, but the letter impressions might help.

Writing is one of my trouble areas too! I usually use a small Star tip (#13), and I find I have better control. I am just not steady enough to pull it off with the small round tips. I've even tried the wilton stencils, but the outline of the letters doesn't do me any good if I'm not steady enough to do it smoothly. I always DREAD the writing part of decorating!

I think your writing looks great. And besides, even if it was a little messy (which it truly isn't!) it's for a little kids birthday so it may just look like you tried to match the writing to a little kid....

I personally think your cake looks very nice. And as everyone says handwriting takes time.

I was watching a wilton blurb on FoodTv and I paid particular attention to the lady wehn she talked about writing. She said the most common mistake (I was TOTALLY doing this) is to do the icing writing like handwriting. she said when you write in cursive with icing do not go back over the letter when you make a loop. Let's see if I can illustrate with words...

If you are making a cursive word HAPPY. Normally when writing you make one continuos line to form the letter. She said to make each part of the letter separate. Stop and start to make the rest. So make the circle of the "a" pick up the icing and start again at the top to make the straight backside of the "a". then continue the backside of the "a' into the straight part of the "p", but pick up the tip and start a new line when making the round part of the 'P'. that way the letters are connected, but you do not have the cross over lines that tend to blur the letters. The lines of cursive just keep building an eventually they are not looking as crisp as you want.

Another option is to start with block letters, then when you get those down go on to cursive.

I hope my explanation wasn't too confusing...it made sense on the show and really improved my writing.

Also, make sure your bag is not too full because then your hand will shake...I find just larger than the palm of my hand works best for writing.

Good luck and WAY TO GO!

edited to correct spelling...apparently not enough coffee today!

Your cake is great..the colors are just perfect!

acookieobsession...your explanation is excellent, not confusing at all!

acookieobsession what a fabulous explanation! I haven't tried writing yet but now I think I will. I love CC!!! I learn more and moer every day

Lazy_Susan

I think your handwriting looks very nice...you should see mine! I can't write on paper very well...let alone a cake!!

Your cake is great! Hugs, ~Denise

I to agree your cake is really great, and the writing just takes time and pratice. One thing my Wilton instructor told us is if you have a shakey hand to tuck your elbows into your side. Don't be so hard on yourself I think the lady will love it

Your writing is very good! Don't be so hard on yourself!

If I do 2 cakes like I did last night, the handwriting on one looks great, the other, well?!?!?! You did a great job!! I don't think anyone here is perfect, especially in their own eyes!! With every cake, you'll feel more comfortable.

I think you did a great job! A couple of things that I do when writing on a cake which seem to help me are: 1) move your whole arm, not just your hand and 2) hold your breath. I know it sounds weird, but it works!

I wouldn't apologize to her at all! We are always so much more critical of ourselves than others are. Chances are that your client will think it looks great, and will wonder why you aren't more confident in your work!

Your Blues Clues is wonderful.

I have found that I do better with a larger open round, #4 is best for me.

I have found that I write better if I let my hands and arms rest a bit after decorating the cake. Just a suggestion.

Your cake decorating and handwritting look great!

Some tips I usually share with people (sometimes it helps sometimes it doesn't)

1) When writting most people try to write like they do with a pen or pencil, by only moving their hand from their wrist. Most people write better when they stand above their cake and can move their entire arm from their shoulder down. Does this make sense?

2) When first starting out I thought my writting looked bad because my round tips had little squiggles in them sometimes through out the word. To help "fix" (ok hide) this I would use different size star tips. They tend to hide these little mistakes better b/c of the texture on them.

Hope these give you some more ideas so you are happy with your writting.

Leily

Do you have a practice board? If not, cover a piece of styrofoam with plastic wrap and just practice writing with the icing for awhile until you feel more confident. You can just scrape the icing back into your bowl and reuse it to practice some more.

I tend to write with my letters different sizes and not even on purpose, it looks cute and then any mishaps look like they were intended!

If you really hate your writing, you could always print out your words and trace over them on wax paper with royal icing. Let them dry, and put them on the cake. A bit more work, but it is always an option.

I really like your cake and find that your handwriting is fine. I hate printing on cakes and buy lots of candy letters!

Recently I have been trying to write more on my cakes though. I like to practice on a piece of wax paper first. I also like writing with thinned icing. I think I get better results.

The cake is really precious...no need to apologize!

I think the writing looks fine. I find that it is easier to stand over the cake and holding your breath does work. Don't go over lines like when you are writing with a pen or pencil. And the most important is not to let the tip touch the surface of the cake. Let the strings of icing that make the letters fall onto the cake. Kinda like when you are doing cornelli lace ot lattice work. I hope I haven'e confused anybody.

I think it looks great too!! No need to apologize...


by the way I love the paper you used to cover the board!!

so you all hold your breath too? Funny. I thought it was just me. I do the whole arm thing too.

the lady LOVED the cake and now i have an order for next weekend from it! They said it was the best cake they EVER tasted!

Yippie you see you stressed for nothing - just goes to prove we are our own worst critics. There are lots of great tips in this tread, the two that I use the most are using a bigger tip for writing (I hate the #1tip too difficult to get the pressure right so it doesnt' come out all squiggly) and making sure you don't loop over your letters, take one letter at a time and try not to cross over.