Quick!!!

Decorating By yamber82 Updated 15 Sep 2009 , 12:51am by KitchenKat

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yamber82 Posted 12 Sep 2009 , 1:36am
post #1 of 17

i have been trying to anser this customer's price request for 3 days now. (my one year old is not helping, lol) anyway, she wants a stand up sponge bob for a small party. she hasn't told me how many servings yet, so i am suggesting a 4x8x8 size according to the pan i will be using. that will be about 16 servings and i think that is plenty for what she needs so i'm sure she'll be fine with it. she said just a few people. so i have a 100 minimum on carved cakes but if she only needs a small amount of servings, is that too much? i feel like i am asking too much, but not sure if i lower the proce it will be worth the trouble. i am offereing free delivery right now also.

opinions? i need to answer her asap, just still not sure what to say.

16 replies
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yamber82 Posted 12 Sep 2009 , 3:05am
post #3 of 17

bump

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prterrell Posted 12 Sep 2009 , 3:09am
post #4 of 17

I would not do the cake at all. Sponge Bob is a copywrighted character.

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coffeechick Posted 12 Sep 2009 , 3:23am
post #5 of 17

any cake that I have to carve no matter how small the carving is starts at 60.00 and goes up. that cake you showed from flickr is well over a 100.00 cake. if you want something smaller and less money maybe offer spongebob out of a 1/4 sheet laying flat. hope this helps I always feel like a confuse everyone when i post
cherie'

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yamber82 Posted 12 Sep 2009 , 3:26am
post #6 of 17

that's a good idea. i was just thinking how much easier it would be to do him laying down. i also have to do one for my nephew too laying down. the standing up part is the hardest thing to do on it

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Makeitmemorable Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 1:30pm
post #7 of 17

The 2D spongebob is really easy, here is one I did.

I made this for my son so there was no charge but I used a 7.5' x 11" square - it fed about 30-35 people.

Cheers,
LL

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yamber82 Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 2:33pm
post #8 of 17

that's really cute. i went ahead and told her 100 for the sitting up one, and i told her if she wanted to switch to the flat sponge bob i would do it for 65. i havn't heard from her though. there's really not anybody in my area taht does cakes like that, so it seems that people around here dont' understand how it can cost so much, but if i charge any less it will just be a waste of my time. i think the flat ones look pretty simple, but i would still have to make the legs and arms and decorate the board etc etc. i am doing one for my nephew next month also. sil actually asked me if i can do it like i did the thomas cake for him last year which she bought one of those shaped wilton pans and had me pipe the whole thing. it sucked! she doesn't like fondant. i told her i can do bc with just fondant for the decorations and i'm not using the darn pans. the last cake i made for her was her daghters bday and it was my first time with homeade fondant and i was still learning. the fondant was super thick but who freakin cares if nobody eats the fondant, its jsut for look. i am trying to explain to her that some cakes, like my dr seuss one, just won't look the same without fondant, but i don't think she gets it

wow that got really off topic, lol.

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Makeitmemorable Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 2:47pm
post #9 of 17

You are right, some people don't get it ! icon_surprised.gif

You made me smile with your story - sometimes we just need to get it off our chests!

You have some great cakes BTW! thumbs_up.gif

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yamber82 Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 3:01pm
post #10 of 17

thanks!!! ...and likewise. i just peeked at them. i noticed your 10th anniversary one with the furniture etc. that chaise is awesome! how did you do it?

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Makeitmemorable Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 3:07pm
post #11 of 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by yamber82

that chaise is awesome! how did you do it?




Just made it from fondant - the brown 'wood' part is chocolate fondant.

Have a good one,

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cownsj Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 3:21pm
post #12 of 17

I did a sitting spongebob. I also did it as a 4 x 8 x 8 and it toppled over at 4am. At 6am I began baking again for delivery that afternoon. This time I cut the cut to 6 x 8 x 8. I thought it would be way too deep at 6", but didn't know what else to do. As it turned out, I was happy with the look and it made it easier to keep him upright
LL

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LaBellaFlor Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 3:25pm
post #13 of 17

ANY carved cake or 3D cake, whatever you want to call it has a minimum of $150 and I do not care if it's for 16 people or 60 people (of course the price would go up for 60). Sitting up, laying done all take time. Also, if you know a cake looks better in fondant, then you go with fondant. I know it's your SIL, but I'm refferring to future clients. You as the decorator knows what works & what won't work. You don't want to do something in buttercream, cause they didn't like fondant or cause buttercream is cheaper, and then they want a refund cause they didn't like how it came out.

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yamber82 Posted 13 Sep 2009 , 4:31pm
post #14 of 17

i totally agree. i told her i can do the yellow main part of him in bc but the decorations are gonna have to be fondant and i am NOT doing one of those generic pre-shaped pans. if she doesn't like it, she can go buy a cake. i'm still getting my biz started so doing cakes that i can't put in my portfolio is not an option.

as to the stand up, how did you support it? i was thinking of making the base part, the pants, out of styrophome as the support and putting some thick dowels or whatever in that, then threading the layers on top. i think i have seen something else done that way and am wondering if that would work. still havn't attempted anything like that though. and btw i think your looked good even though it was thicker than you wanted ;p

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cownsj Posted 14 Sep 2009 , 3:27pm
post #15 of 17

I had debated using styrofoam for the base layer, but was just too afraid of it toppling because the styrofoam is so light. I just used cake, put buttercream under the cake to help "glue" it to the board and ran the dowels down from the top. The one thing I'd do different would be to use a cake board so I could drive the dowels right down into the board to help with support. Transporting this cake was still very nerve racking and I had to do some minor repairs when I arrived. I was happy using the bc for all the yellow parts, it let me get texture into him without too much fuss, and I do think the fondant accents really stand out against it.
I'd love to see yours when you get it done and here how you did it. Maybe you'll have an easier time of it, I hope so, though my 2nd try went much smoother.

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yamber82 Posted 14 Sep 2009 , 6:54pm
post #16 of 17

i just talked to sil and she decided on the sitting up sponge bob so it looks like i will be doing on eof those. i am going to consult with hubby about the stand part. she was first looking at one of the standing ones but i have no idea how those are done. anyway, i will post pics when it's finished. icon_smile.gif

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KitchenKat Posted 15 Sep 2009 , 12:51am
post #17 of 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by yamber82

i have been trying to anser this customer's price request for 3 days now. (my one year old is not helping, lol) anyway, she wants a stand up sponge bob for a small party. she hasn't told me how many servings yet, so i am suggesting a 4x8x8 size according to the pan i will be using. that will be about 16 servings and i think that is plenty for what she needs so i'm sure she'll be fine with it. she said just a few people. so i have a 100 minimum on carved cakes but if she only needs a small amount of servings, is that too much? i feel like i am asking too much, but not sure if i lower the proce it will be worth the trouble. i am offereing free delivery right now also.

opinions? i need to answer her asap, just still not sure what to say.




Honestly, you should say you can't do it because Spongebob is a copyrighted character. You cannot sell a cake in his form or with his image. Your business may not profit from him either by using his image in advertising or making any references to him at all.

Making this cake is a violation of copyright law. If this is not enough of a deterrent, in the off chance that you are discovered to have sold this cake you will be liable for hefty fines & legal proceedings.

I'm hoping ethics alone, not the threat of being found out, would stop cake pros from infringing on copyright.

It would be a completely different deal if you were making this for your child. Cakes for personal consumption is okay. But the game changes once money or other forms of compensation enters the arena.

All said in the spirit of cake sisterhood. Not trying to be harsh - just stating the facts.
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