My mom taught me how to use a piping bag when I was 11 or so, but after Jr High I didn't do much with cakes... My DH insisted on getting cable a couple years ago, and after seeing a couple episodes of Ace of Cakes, I thought, "Well, *I* could do THAT!" And I did...

I had a couple false starts with the nastiness that is Wilton fondant, so I made up my own recipe for "fondant" that's actually TASTY... It's the cream cheese based fondant on this site, and I use it for nearly every cake I do! Harder to work with than other fondants, but the taste is worth it!

I learned at "the school of hard knocks!"

I started playing with icing when I was a teenager, read books, and had fun. Now 36 years later, I own a cake shop with 12 employees in a major metropolitan area. The only class I took was one in gumpaste when it was first starting to become popular.

I started making decorated birthday cakes for my kidoes and I was an avid crafter so once I learned there were tools for all of this I was hooked. Years ago I used just a knife and the store bought tubes of gel writers and it grew from there. I love tools! I don't have very many yet but I will gather them avoer time. I would love to go take a class somewhere even a Wilton class! Hey Edna can I come clean some pots and pans for you in exchange for peeking over your shoulder?

I've never taken a class either. I've always wanted to but live in a small town where there are not many opportunities to do that. I've learned everything I know from books, computer, and trial and error. CC is the best! I've learned tons on here.

Thats a great history/story Foodguy. As for myself,I'm self taught. I started as a little kid & got ideas from an old Fannie Farmer & Waldorf Astoria Cookbook. I loved to read cookbooks when I was a kid, still do. I guess being poor I had a HUGE fascination with food, still do. My next major book that helped me learn how to decorate & I also got the instructions to my first fondant cake, was Rose Levy Berenbaum's The Cake Bible. I love that book, have bought it 5 times!!!! Yeah, I keep losing it. One day I would like to a class I think. Not Michae'ls though.

I learned to decorate when I was 10. I was living in an apartment complex and one of my neighbors saw me crocheting. She asked if I would teach her how to crochet. When I went for her first lesson, she was decorating a cake. I was fascinated, so we swapped hobbies. One week I would teach her to crochet and the next week she would teach me cake decorating. Unfortunately, I do not remember her last name. I only remember that her first name was Judy. I would love to find her to say thank you.

She never got around to teaching me the rose, so I learned from the Wilton yearbook. The rest, I was self taught. Then at 26 years old, I took my first Wilton course (before they taught fondant). I had to learn fondant and gumpaste on my own and through reading books. Now i'm a junkie!! I love challenging myself with gumpaste. I'm especially addicted to making masks....

I love this forum!!

My father had his own bakeries for 65 years, in fact he took a course at Wilton in Chicago in 1954!. He taught me to decorate in 1974 in his bakery and here I am today, he is 88 and very proud.
I haven't been around the forums in about 5 months, I have a legit shop and work those 80 hour owner/designer/office mgr/baker/networker/woman of many hats.

Hey shadowgypsie, I am down the street from you. I live in Acworth and have a shop in Marietta!

Totally self taught with Cake Central by my side...of course! I think you will get most (if not all) of your questions answered here. Youtube has great tutorials also. Good Luck!!

i have always loved to bake but wanted to learn how to make pretty cakes so i signed up at my local michael's for the wilton classes, almost a year ago now, and i too fell in love with cake art. i have learned so much here (a million thanks to all CCer's!!). another huge help has been sugarshack's dvds and watching toneda's youtube tutorials--they're awesome!!

I took my first Wilton class at Michael's about 10 years ago. I was also working full time and didn't really use those skills for a few years. I then took the series of classes at Michael's again and thought I really like these classes so I became a Wilton Instructor. I started my first teaching class at a community college (tuition was outrageously expensive compared to the same thing at Michael's or Hobby Lobby). I finally got a Hobby Lobby account and felt better because those classes are really inexpensive. That was about 3 years ago (teaching in the evenings after my 8 - 5 job). In March of 2006 (still new to teaching cake decorating) I went to Wilton headquarters and took their two week Master Course and the gumpaste, fondant, and pulled sugar classes that were offered during the two weeks I was there. Loved every minute!!!

In July 2006 I went to my first ICES convention in Grapevine, TX. I went totally crazy at my first convention, I would watch a demo and say I can do that!! Would run to the vendor area and buy all of the fun tools. Needless to say it is still just a hobby at this point in my life, a very very expensive hobby of just collecting tools.

In March of 2007 I went to Orlando, Florida and took a pulled sugar class from Ewald Notter. Loved that too. Went to the ICES convention in Nebraska in July 2007. And then in November I went to Georgia and took a two day gumpaste class from Nicholas Lodge. (Oh WOW!!!) He rocks my world!!!

Went back to Nick's school March of 2008 for his 5 day ultimate gumpaste flowers class. I think I have all of his DVD's. And of course the ICES convention at Walt Disney World in July.

I moved to Washington in September and I am not doing anything right now. I need to actually work with somebody and start doing cakes.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me to work with somebody up here. I am bored to tears. Have worked desk jobs all my life and don't want to have to do that anymore. I would like to learn how to make great tasting cakes and then decorate them.

Thanks for reading my boring post. I love reading all of the posts on here.

Carol

I haven't had any cake decorating classes, I give all the skills I have learned to mainly Edna's videos and a few of Aine2 and few others here and there. This site and video's have lowered my blood pressure majorly! My husband thanks you, my daughter thanks you and my dog thanks you!

Chippi!

When I was first married, a friend taught a group of us how to do simple designs with decorating tips at a homemakers meeting. I bought myself some tips and a Wilton yearbook and made by oldest son's second birthday cake. I just played and practiced and used Wilton books because that's all I knew about. There were no classes. I only decorated until my children got old enough to not really want decorated cakes anymore. Then I had grandchildren! I decided I wanted to be the one to make their birthday cakes. The funny thing is, I had to "audition" for my DIL by making my son a cake for his birthday which was a month before the baby's.
That's when I found CC. I have learned SO much from all of you great bakers and decorators! I never even heard of fondant or WASC or any of the other good stuff.
And the son I made that first birthday cake for just turned 30, and he loved the fondant covered dragon cake I made for him...I guess I'll stay in business-for my family, anyway, for a while.

I would like to thank everyone for their reply to my post. I really feel a lot better with my lack of "formal " instructions. I really thought that my love for baking and decorating was a hobby but my husband, family and friends quickly reminded me that my very very expensive hobby has truly turned to more than just a hobby. Especially with my growing amount of equipment or as a say "toys". It has become almost impossible for me to focus at work. My concern now at work is how my next cake will turn out! Im loving every min. I have truly found a home here on CC and will check out "sugarshack", "Tonedna", and registar now for Youtube.