So since I am new at this I've been trying to figure out what I can still use or learn to make my horizons broader or make the small amount of what I can do better!
So I thought I should ask all of... What accsesories/tools/techniques/recipes or anyother cake making essential could you not live without?...What in the world of cakes makes your life easier??

Can't wait to get the insider scoop! Thank you!
Ashley

A good turntable, English style cake drums, foam core and Glad Press and Seal...Bash and Chop bench scraper from Bed Bath and Beyone for perfectly smooth icing, Sugarshack DVD's, paintbrushes, dusts, airbrush, gumpaste tool kit.....the list will grow!

for me its different sized cake tins, lots of different flower cutters, different sized letter cutters, different sized round, star and heart shaped cutters, ball tool, foam celpad - seems a lot but you gradually build up and up and never stop buying - lol

When I read the question my first thought was a good turntable (then I read and see my friend Jamie agrees)

A good stand mixer too!

my Sam's club restaurant quality plastic wrap

my big and small angled spatula

toothpicks

corn starch, corn syrup, Crisco, and marshmallows

tweezers (used only for cake/food)

TYLOSE POWDER

Definitely my most useful item has been my Kitchen Aid mixer! Worth every penny!

Sugar sparkles and super pearl luster dust (I like all the colored dusts but this is my most used one). A little sparkle makes everything look great!

Sil-Pat silicone mat. Use it for everything. Expensive but worth the splurge.

Tiny cutters for fondant work, like stars and circles. Alphabet cutters too (I am terrible at piping names). Cutters are great for coming up with quick but impressive designs.

Sam's Club gumpaste flowers. They look really impressive but require no work and are really cheap at just over $2 per spray! I usually dust them to make them look a little better but you don't have to.

Ooooh, so many things to buy and so little time (and money)!

sam's club sells gumpaste flowers??? wow, i really need to check out the bakery sometime. between boxes, cake boards, and now flowers??? i'm so gonna be spending a LOT of time there LOL

small angled spatula
4" foam paint roller
KA mixer with extra bowl
wax paper for transferring patterns
freezer paper for covering boards
bubble tea straws
basic versitle pound cake recipe
WASC recipe
crusting buttercream
CC and youtube

All of 'em

edible glitter
spackling knife
foam paint roller
turntable (mine is just an old wooden lazy susan, but it works great!)
cakecentral
good bc recipe

Two KA stand mixers
Pans of all sizes and shapes
Fondant extruder
Fondant cutters
Good, heavy large rolling pin
Pizza cutter
18" bread knife for carving and leveling
Quality ingredients
Understanding husband who helps me whenever I need him

Makins clay extruder (makes the best hair for figures!)
Tylose
paint brushes
rolling pin with guides for thickness
sharp small knife
Pampered Chef pastry mat
cake leveler
cake frosting tip
KA mixer
Cakecentral of course!
Wilton fondant cutter that cuts strips into different widths

Wilton premade gumpaste - dries so fast!
My MMF
Powdered food color in brown, black and red for coloring MMF.
LoRann flavors for everything: cake, filling, BC, MMF.
Nielsen Massey chocolate and coffee extract - the best in those 2 flavors!
Gumpaste cutters
Paper towel cardboard tubes for support of various decor as they dry.
Kirkland plastic wrap with the slide cutter.
Baking strips to wrap my cake pans for level tops and no hard edges.
Bubble straws (no more wood dowels!)
My giant retro Tupperware bowls for making huge batches of stuff.
Frostin Pride or Bettercreme for stable fillings.
CC for help
Flickr and CC for incredible ideas