Seriously many kudos to all of you who make these awesome creations all the time. I managed to make 2 princess castles two weekends in a row and my hands are finally un-cramped enough for me to post my story.
I will post links to the pics first so you don't have to endure my long story unless you want to read it

Here's the first, my thought it was going to kill me, thank the good lord it's over castle

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1261970

And the second, I learned my lesson, give myself plenty of time and only have to carry it next door castle

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1261995

Some of you may remember my pirate ship saga, well happily that story ended well. Then my neighbor asked if I could try to make a princess castle, I said yes right away, it meant I could buy new cake stuff (fun), I only have a son so I thought it would be fun to try girly and I knew I had you all just a few clicks away, besides it would just be a pretty simple stacked cake right! Then when I told another friend I was doing it she asked if I could do one for her daughter's first birthday, now I was starting to feel like people had far more faith in my abilities/skill than was due, they had no idea, but I said yes to them both the parties were on 2 adjacent weekends.

I am a planner by nature so I thought I had everything figured out, I had drawn and redrawn, visited Jo-Annâs and Michaelâs so much people probably thought I worked there and researched the new stuff I was going to try. Royal icing drop flowers, cake stacking, transporting, freezing layers. Holy cow I thought a castle would be so easy after the pirate ship, I was so wrong!!

I thought I would bake all of the layers I would need and freeze them, easy, I needed 2 10in squares and 2 6 in rounds for each cake, but I only ordered 1 of each pan, I could have kicked myself. It took me 2 nights after work to get 1 set all baked, wrapped and frozen. I figured I could defrost on Thursday night and decorate on Friday for the first one (pink princess castle) Long story short despite all of my planning I was up until 430am trying to finish, the party was at 2pm about 20 minutes away.

The frozen cakes were wet when defrosted, what a mess, I was so afraid it was all going to fall apart, I spackled it with frosting to try and keep it stable. Because of that pink stones were starting to fall off, my cupcake towers were all leaning and I ran out of frosting! The smash cake collapsed and my cupcakes all overflowed and I still wasn't done at 1pm. basically this was the most stressful cake experience ever and I was afraid I was going to ruin a first birthday. We managed to get it to the party in 1 piece minutes before other guest started arriving, I added all of the last stuff and wanted to sit in the corner and cry, I don't think I will ever, ever attempt to transport a stacked cake again and I was afraid I used so much frosting it would be inedible. Thankfully there were no cake decorators there and they were all happy with it.

Now the second castle was a breeze by comparison and minus a few days of hand cramps it was an enjoyable experience, I learned a ton from the first one, I made plenty of frosting, baked my layers the night before and didn't try freezing. I arrived at the party with an un-creased forehead a smile on my face and completely put together cake I can see why you all love this so, but the more I try the more in awe I am of the sheer talent, skill, effort, time and money you all put forth! Whew, thanks for reading if you got this far. Now I have a friend that asked if I can make her son an electric guitar in a few months, not even gonna think about that yet, I think I need to stick to my son's once a year birthday creations

andpotts you did a great job on both cakes, very imaginative and I'm sure the recipients loved them.

We're all the same you know, we accept a challange and than we lie awake in bed at night trying to come up with the best plan to complete that challange. We sweat it out and put ourselves through all kinds of stress. But, it's all worth it in the end when we deliver the finished product and the complements start pouring in

Keep up the great work

I think you did an absolutely fantastic job on both cakes!
FYI- if you want to bake and freeze... the night before you decorate, take the wrapped cake out of the freezer and put it right in the fridge. In the morning, move from fridge to counter and keep it wrapped till you need it. It won't get goey if you do it that way...
You deserve a pat on the back, you really did an excellent job!!!

That pink castle and all that goes with it is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!! What a scene!

I am a total beginner, and I am always amazed at the wonderful work that people on this site create. True artists!

Girl, you done good!!! I absolutely love both of them.

I love both your castles, I don't know which one I like best to it's a toss up.

Wow... looking at your cakes, one would definitely not think you had stressed and fretted about them. They are PERFECT!!!!

You have a lot of skill and beauty in your work. It's funny, often when I start a cake I too think, "what was I thinking" "I can never pull this off" and some how its always the last finishing touches that end up pulling the whole design together!

GREAT JOB!!!

I always doubt my cakes and never believe when someone says they are great. Great job on your!!!

I just looked at those pics and you did an awesome job on both of those cakes! I expected to see something kinda messy and those looked beautiful and professional - you're great!!! Congrats on the beautiful cakes and the detail is fabulous.

Great job on the cakes! Very creative!
One thing though, I didn't know they made Chocolate skittles!!! Where I have been?
Jen...

Both castles are beautiful!!! I know exactly what you mean about taking on more than you can handle, everything seems like a good idea a month before, then the week of, panic sets in. I especially love the white castle, my daughter has asked for the doll cake two years in a row, this year she has finally decided she wants a castle, bear in mind, we are 5 months away from her 4th birthday and she's already planning : )
Great Job!!

andpotts, those are adorable. Of course, the pink ones my favorite!!! mellormom, the chocolate skittles taste great! But I'm an all out chocohloic, so I may not be the best to ask!

Awesome job!!!!! They are so beautiful!
You WILL get more efficient as time goes on. Trust me!
Again, beautiful work!

You did a fantastic job on both of them. No one would know you have any problems.

You mention you hand cramping.....that believes me to think your icing consistency was too thick
Try adding a tablespoon more liquid OR Crisco....you mgiht even need more -- it's hard to tell w/o knowing the recipe you used.

I love the white castle. What a lucky little girl to have such a beautiful cake. You should be very proud of your work.

wow!! no wonder your hands were cramping, they both look like they took alot of hard work to complete,and you did an AWESOME job on both!!!