I'm a newbie to the site and am ADDICTED! I received a phone call today to do 5 cakes for tables at a fundraiser gala. The event is a black tie event, so I want the cakes to be black and white and very elegant. I absolutely love the Damask patterns and think it would look awesome on the tables. My question to all of you is where can I find reasonably priced materials to do this? Because I'm donating these cakes, I want to try to keep my costs down as much as possible! My next question, would you recommend stencils or the cutters? I've never used stencils before and although it looks so easy, I'm afraid to try it! Because I'm doing 5 cakes I need to have something fairly fast, but the cakes will only be 6" rounds so I'm not too terribly worried about that. Any help, tips, shortcuts or thoughts would be MUCH appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

check out the damask stencils at global sugar art:

http://www.globalsugarart.com/product.php?id=22785
http://www.globalsugarart.com/product.php?id=23052

i just used one on a cake and it was a quick and simple way to give it a real touch of class. i practiced on a spare piece of foam core once just to figure out how much icing to put on there, but it is definitely a great option and should save you some time!

I can not get stencils to work and have discontinued offering them. I swear by cutters. Or even better, the Cricut.

leah_s- what is the cricut? I've never heard of it. How is it used?

I have the Martha Stewart set from www.designerstencils.com and really like them. I've done cake boards, but have my first cake with them this weekend where I will be doing the sides with royal on fondant. I think I will do panels (like on Cake Boss-TLC) and attach them, rather than stenciling on the covered cake. It's a shoe box, so the top will be covered with the lid and other items, so it will hide the top seam.
For a 6" round, I would make a panel with fondant, mix in a little powdered tylose to stiffen it, and stencil on that, then wrap around the frosted cake. Just my opinion, but I've seen it done and worked great