Hello!

I am making a life-sized electric guitar for a high school graduation party. I need a suggestion on how to make the strings. I thought about using an extruder with gum paste to make the "strings". I'm worried they would be too brittle and not survive the delivery.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
JudyZ

I have read here on CC that they use silver quilted thread and others fishing line.
There is a post by Izzy 1953 and by Khalstead on this subject.
hope this helps.
Ciao

If you are making it lifesize I really do not think they would make the trip. I think they would be way too delicate. How about that string licorice, then color it with petal dust, that way they would be edible. maybe LONG spagetti strands dyed.

i just made a guitar that was almost kid lifesize.. i tried florist wire first and ended up using plain (non mint) dental floss.. i tied it around a flat ended toothpick and stuck it in the cake, then i tied the other end around and stuck it at the other end (tied after I measured of course

You could also use rice noodles. (They sell them at Asian markets or in the international food aisle at the grocery store.) They are really long and a translucent white color. They come all jumbled up in their package, but you boil them for 90 seconds and they are completely moldable. Just straighten them out and let them dry and they will be really solid (but NOT brittle). Then you could easily color them silver/gold and put them on the cake.

I used fishing line, but cut it like they were broken strings so I didn't have to worry about everythign lining up perfectly. It helped that my cake was also in fire, so it didn't look so out of place. I have pictures posted here if you want to see.

I have a guitar in my photos. I used thin spaghetti noodles painted with silver luster dust. I joined them as well as I could to make them "look" connected. No one could ever tell it was pasta. I think I used 3 going up to the top of the guitar.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I ended up using silver yarn. It worked GREAT! It was stretchy so I could make the strings stand off of the cake by tensioning it. I tied each end to toothpicks that were topped off with gum paste "knobs".

My BIGGEST MISTAKE.........and I do mean BIG..........I had purchase silver HIGHLIGHTER (not luster dust) from GSA. My mistake was not reading the label closely before using it. I was so impressed that it was bright and really looked like silver metal. After finishing the cake, I noticed the label on the jar said NON-EDIBLE! I almost had a stroke. I had to tell the customer to not eat the areas where the highlighter had been used.

What a lesson to learn! And, of course, it was 2:30 a.m. when I realized the mistake and I had to deliver it at 10 a.m.........

Thanks again, everyone!
This is an AWESOME forum!!!
Judy Z

Dear Bailiascakes and tarheelgirl,

I would greatly appreciate the links to your guitar cakes on the website. I'm sure I'll make a cake like this again, so would be grateful for any ideas.

Thanks!
Judy Z

Ooo sounds great would love to see a picture