I would love to take the Wilton's Cake Decortating Classes and my Dh has been quite supportive of me signing up for one so I looked in to them this past week. The problem is that the closest classes are 70 miles away in San Antonio. Being a mom to four little ones it would be difficult for me to drive that far during a weeknight. So I have been looking in to the alternative of DVDs (and books) that I can watch (and read) and practice with while doing so. Would any of you recommend this and if so what books or DVDs do you think would be the most appropriate so as to be comparable to taking a class?

Thanks for any help.

I forgot to mention that with my gas hog of a vehicle it would cost me $50 round trip in gas to attend the classes too so that would be $200 in gas to attend all four lessons for the 1st course plus the cost of the class (even though that isn't much compared to the gas).

So any help is greatly appreciated .

What city are you located in? Some of us Texans might be able to hook you up with some classes being taught in your area. Not all cake teachers teach the Wilton method, so they might not be as easily found without checking with your nearest cake supply store. I teach off and on in the Dallas area, but mostly just teach at parties now. DVDs could be the way for you to go. Even Wilton has DVDs out. Several Cake Central members also have them available.

HTH,
Deanna

You can try joining yummyarts.com

I am a member and i'm loving it. They offer e-books (decorating videos online) and they are so helpful to me because I am a visual person. I have made plenty of their cakes shown on the videos and I'm going to do more. So, just a suggestion to you , good luck

Why not just type into YOUTUBE.COM, or MYSPACE.COM (tv), and AOL.COM...and type in what you want to learn you can find FREE video to watch and see techinques...

good luck...

Thanks for the ideas. I am in a small town west of San Antonio, TX. The closest hobby or cake stores are all in San Antonio. The closest towns are Hondo (15 miles) and Uvalde (30 miles) and neither have classes for any methods, that I know about anyway. Both have a Wal-Mart but that is the extent of it. I have even had to buy most of my supplies from SA or ordered off the net as Wal-Marts around here are limited in what they carry.

I have several videos on youtube with a small variety of techniques if you're interested

I have taken the Wilton classes and I have found that even though the classes are good, it is really trial & error that is your best teacher. There are alot of good instructions on the internet. You just need to search what you are looking for. Some of the best cake decorators are self-taught. Good luck and don't give up. Having the support that you have means everything and will help you reach your goal.

same thing here! I had to drive 140 miles round trip to go to my class at Michaels. Yes, it was so worth it!! The gas was pretty bad, but I was determined Luckily for me, I found classes during the day while the kids were in school.

wilton has dvds out that teach the basics, i saw them somewhere. Other places to look for classes is your local community college, church groups and mothers groups. I took my first cake classes through the local college they were held at the local HS and it was 6 weeks long, They of course weren't a wilton class, but i learned soooo much and was biten with the cake bug that still hasn't let up after 16 years.

American Cake decorating magazine also has good instruction in it.

Another place to look for dvd's & instruction books is on E-Bay. Type in cake decorating books and cake decorating dvd's. I found the older home instruction course by Wilton which they no longer offer. The prices weren't bad.

. . . don't forget our very own "sugarshack's" DVD's . . .

http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

check out some of the youtube snippets . . . should give you a good idea of what's available on her DVD's . . .

. . . and of course another fabulous resource is our own "aine2" . . . check out her free tutorials . . . and she also has DVD's available . . . http://www.extra-icing.blogspot.com/

I'm sure there are other helpful members . . . but these two come to mind immediately . . . HTH

I took the Wilton classes and I learned that I love to decorate cakes but this website has helped me & taught me things that I never would have learned in classes. Cake Central is awesome...no matter what you need help with some member knows that answer or is willing to help find the answer. It is like having a 24 hour helper on standby.

I took a cake decorating class at our local rec. center. If you have a facility like that near you, they may be offering something. I was pleased with what I learned there. Good luck!

Maybe you could find a local decorator that will give you private lessons. If you have some ohter skill maybe you could swap and it won't cost you. Say for every hour she spends teaching you, you could spend that amount of time cleaning her shop. Just a thought.
Mary

I am self-taught and here are some of the best videos that have helped me (although I did take Wilton Course 1...only to learn the rose...I had already been doing sculpted fondant cakes by then):

Cake Decorating Made Easy www.yummyarts.com

Darci Decorates http://darciwarner.com

ALL 3 of Sugarshack's videos http://www.sugaredproductions.com

Thanks ya'll! TOO nice of you.

I do recommend the wilton classes if you can get them. if not, all of the above basic dvd series are good beginning lessons. keep scouring the net for more books, videos, mgazines . and the cake boards, like CC, will be the place you probably learn the most.

I know that MOST of what I know I learned from great aldies on the message boards over the years.

disney, i was PO'd!!!! i was so mad i had tears in my eyes!!! the manager told me that she was informed that they had called me. i told her, No... i was on vacation and noone had called at all. then she said that they had told her that they (not the instructor because she had to quit due to gas and they were screwing up her pay) got ahold of me and i ok'd a tuesday class the following month. i almost lost and it and told her i didnt' know who gave her that load of bs but i would have never ok'd a tuesday class because of my 2 jobs! Either way, my instructor wrote me a personal letter when she found out what happened (she was told they had called me too) and let me know she's now w/ Hobby Lobby and wanted to get me back in classes so we're going to hook up again. since i was her only student she did fewer longer classes too! she was really sweet! we just bs'd the whole time! LOL

sorry to hijack the post! lol

Our local tech college has adult night classes for cake decorating...you might be able to find one of those in your area, especially if you want hands on.

Also a lot of cake supply stores offer classes in gum paste and such (so they can get you to buy cutters and such from them..grin)

I agree with the posts on the DVDs and such.

You are all so wonderful! Thank you for all the great suggestions. I have copied and pasted all the ideas and suggestions into a word document for a quick, easy reference to go to as I get time to learn. I am going to watch my first youtube video tonight and then head to bed since it is almost 11:15 here.

And to the anyone who thinks they are "hijacking posts", I don't mind at all, I love to hear other's stories so keep them coming! It reminds me that we all have trials and tribulations to overcome and we indeed overcome them to get to our goals! You are all inspirations to me!