I'm fresh out of my Wilton courses and am loving every minute of cake decorating I can squeeze in! My family is tired of cake, so I begged my friend to let me do her daughter's 7th birthday party cake (didn't take much arm twisting, though). Of course, I did it for free as I am such a newbie and just wanted practice. It is an 8" Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake (with extender) and Jayde's Triple Chocolate Fudge Buttercream filling and crumb coating. All accessories but Kelly doll are fondant; colored piping gel on top.

I am not really satisfied with it. There are things that need changing and I feel that it lacks the "wow factor". I promise I won't get upset, but I am genuinely asking for feedback on what could have made this better. I am hoping to learn from my mistakes and your ideas so I can get better each time. Thanks!!!

You must be joking this cake has WOW factor all over it, I think the cake and the colors are awesome! I wouls not change a thing about it! congrats and keep practicing give some of your cakes to fire stations if your family is tired of cake

I think it's great! I hate how we are our own worst critics, I am dissapointed in my cakes too, but everyone else says their beautiful. Just ease up on yourself and glow in the praise of a job well done.

I have to agree, it's perfect, I wouldn't change a thing.

I really don't know what you want us to say! Make the doll from fondant next time?! Just kidding. It looks GREAT. Good job!!

I too, think you cake looks great!!! There is really nothing to change! The only thing I could find...and this really doesn't matter...is maybe make the hole in the "tube"??? a little wider???

you did an AWESOME job girlie!! i'm new to this too and in the same boat of loving every minute of it!! it is so great huh!! i have to say you did so good. i really didn't learn much in the wilton classes. mostly by practice. the only thing i can say is maybe try making the doll or figures next. i know i always feel better about my cakes when i've purchased less and made more.

also....i've learned that after you stare at a cake that you've been decorating for hours and hours you see all the mistakes that most people will never notice!! and i'm really bad about thinking when i'm almost done should i have done a different design? should i have done this or that? i think if i didn't have a time limit, i would never finish!!

keep up your confidence and keep in mind...it's icing, it's cake, it's edible...not plastic. there will be times when the cakes aren't "perfect". someone once told me that and i've repeated that to myself a lot in the wee hours of the morning. hopefully it will help a fellow newbie too!

I think your cake looks great. I'm still pretty new to this too and I have yet to make a cake that awesome!!! For example...I made a pool cake about a month ago and I promise you it was soooo awful I didn't dare take a pic and show my fellow cc'ers

You will learn that even when everyone around you says it looks great, you'll find any little crack and want to change it.

One more thing that cake is SCREAMING WOW FACTOR!!

Keep on cakin!!

I am so impressed that you would jump out there to something like that! I consider myself pretty adventurous, but my first cake was a little bitty plain round with some dots and a bow. YOU ROCK!

Seriously, and I am trying to abide by my owns words, you have to take a step back. Your cake is absolutely darling and I know the birthday would say the same. Nothing edible will ever be "perfect" - although I have seen some benchmark cakes on here that would contradict that. I would bet that those folks weren't happy either. Every cake I make I hope will be fabulous astounding iconic works of art. Without fail, I am disappointed and the recipients are delighted. So, ease up on yourself and keep the enjoyment in there. There are gonna be two kinds of people looking at your cakes - those who can also do it and those who cannot. Those who cannot have no cause to bring you down and those who can know good and well what goes into caking. PLUS you get to eat your mistakes - it's a win-win situation!!!! Have a ball with it. This is the happy side of life!

That looks great!!! That color of blue is hard to get in fondant!

Very cool cake!! Extremely good job and it doesn't scream amateur either. Feedback... did a towel and umbrella fall in the pool? a beach ball might have been a good filler, especially in the colors matching the fondant balls around the base. Definitely A work... You rocked it out!!

You nailed it , good job for a first timer. I still wish mine came out that good, and I've done a few cakes.

You guys are great! I really didn't post this to boost my ego...but the nice things you said didn't hurt. LOL! Really - thanks for the advice. Gah! I didn't even think about a beach ball! The towelish-looking piece is actually supposed to be a raft. You'd have to be in my head to know that, though. What would have been the best way to get the umbrella to stick up? I tried to stick the umbrella to the fondant "stick" I made with buttercream and wasn't surprised when that didn't work, so I had to end up laying it on its side.

Looks great! Vibrant colors, very lively and looks really cute. I wished you could have made the doll out of something edible though.

i think it is perfect apart from the doll - i just have this OCD thing where i like everything to be made out of gumpaste or fondant - the cake is absolutly perfect, cute and neat and brilliant colours but i think you would have been happier with it if you had had a go at a simple little cartoon figure - you certainlu have the talent - i had really worried about figures but they realy are easy if you just take them in sections - the ones in my pics are all adapted from Lindy Smith's Celebrate with a Cake book.

trust me, you definitly wil improve realy quickly, you have more than a basic skill, the cake is really great but i would definitly try and avoid non-edible items like toys, etc on cakes. they just take the look away off a cake as toys are perfectly machine made so the cake can only look worse in comparison if you know what i mean.

I really loved your cake. I see nothing wrong with it, except maybe the upper ring of the pool where is not completely straight on the bottom edge of it on some spots. Other than that, it looks amazingly great!---
You are your own worst critic, remember that always!