Does Anyone Else Do This? Whenever I'm In A Store-Any Store
Decorating By Foxicakes Updated 10 Nov 2010 , 4:44am by madgeowens
Great ideas!!!...thanks - ONCE AGAIN - for the inspiration, fellow CCers
I also, save EVERYTHING! You never know when you'll find a use for it...ex. last Christmas, I made snow globe cupcakes with the round holiday coke bottles and I saved the tops that I cut off each one...then, sure enough, I needed 'legs' under the forklift cake that I did and guess what I used!! worked out perfectly!!
I found butterfly stencils at Dollar Tree. And those coffee stirrers, the single-holed ones, make great centers for tiny flowers. Just press in lightly, then color it in. The two-holed ones make nice chain-like patterns if you emboss them into fondant side by side.
Theresa
Loving this thread also! I've been doing exactly the same thing, I've only been caking seriously for this year, so am still building up my kit, and I have had to improvise on every cake I have done so far.
I started off using my kids play doh equipment, extruders, modelling tools etc, and have had to use all manner of improvised stuff, I keep saying to DH,
"can you imagine how good I can get if I just had "xyz" proper bit of kit!"
Every time I go to ANY store, that's what I'm thinking about, DH is driven nuts with me doing a disappearing act, on the search for stuff that I can use for caking. I'll say, "I'll just pop down this aisle and pick up the cereal or bread or whatever, and I will invariably drift off into cake land, and get lost there!
I'm usually met with a disgruntled "where in the world did you get to??!!" 
My favourite source at the moment is garden centres and floristry stuff! That's how I found my way of wrapping my cakes in florist wrap, (it's in my pics) It's so much cheaper than proper cake boxes, and since I dont sell my cakes and they're only for family and friends, it's just fine.
I've been a regular subscriber of home decor magazines for the last 5 years, as we're only in our first house, and are still decorating and improving our home, so I have recently been scouring those for inspiration, and have cut TONS of clippings, that I'm currently scrapbooking, they're a fabulous source of inspiration!
I'm just itching to get some cake orders to be able to put them into practice! 
Wow! Thank you everyone for sharing. And, please keep the tips coming!! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for when I started the thread...
@leaf0 as for the sealant, you can use really any type of sealant that dries into a non-toxic state.
I dont know if everyone knows about Dick Blick Art Supplies, but they have a great clay section, and the fancy metal ball tool that some of the pros use is actually a clay tool. Further, they have TONS of clay tools that are used for sculpting and can be used to make really great fondant works of art also. Further, you should look into the clay section for these very inexpensive clay molds!! I think the company is called Sculpey and I KNOW that they are the ones that make a great extruder.
You can also find blank stencil material at Blick or at WalMart (cost at Walmart is like 5 to 7 $'s for 3 sheets and they are in the arts and crafts isle. You may have to look for them) for that matter, and then go onto Google images, print out whatever pattern that you want to stencil onto a cake and just have to have a SHARP (read: new) X-acto knife, make sure that you secure the photo to the stencil material very well, cut out the pattern. Then voila' !! You have your $70 damask (or whatever) stencil set that will last forever and you have only spent a few dollars and some time!!
One of the other things that I do, is look for high quality chalk sets at the art supply store. Just make sure that they have the Government seal on them stating that they are NON TOXIC. Blick is very high end. A lot of professional artists get their supplies there because the pigments are SO pure and really really stand out above all others. Anyway, they have a house brand of chalk that I believe cost me in the neighborhood of $12 for approximately 45 colors. And, ladies and gentlemen, THAT is what I use as my "petal dusts" to color my gum paste flowers.... Instead of coloring the gum paste ahead of time, I use white only, then once they are dried. I grate the chalk that I am going to use into those little plastic artists paint palettes that you can buy at Walmart for $2-$3 and color the flowers with that. The difference is that I can shade the flowers individually and make them look much more realistic that way. Are they still "edible"? YES!! Do they TASTE good? NO!! However, they look amazing!! And, Dollar Tree has plastic shoebox containers that I use to store them in. I just use thin, (1/2 inch thick) foam padding in the bottom of each container to protect them. Then, when I am bored or am just sitting watching TV I will break out the gum paste and tools and make a few flowers. My goal is to get several of the most common flowers to have on hand so that when I need them later, all I have to do is color them according to whatever color scheme I am working with and I am ahead of the game!!
Okay, I could ramble on and on... I am hoping to stimulate everyone's ingenuity and creativity. I have given you most of my ideas/"secrets". Come on ladies and especially the guys out there!! I KNOW you MEN get creative!! Lets think of some other things we can use/do cut down on our decorating expenses and put more money in our "profit pocket" in these hard times.
By the way, to everyone that said they like the thread...a sincere and heartfelt Thank YOU!! I LOVE these group efforts! Don't you??!!
I bought a plastic baseball bat at the dollar general sawed it in half lengthwise....taped wax paper in the hollowed out bat and poured melted chocolate in it half full and made the bat that was on a huge sheetcake
I use a thimble to create pitted marks on golf balls, or grass effect on fondant etc. I use a knitting needle to make hole impressions in fondant and to imprint ears etc.
I have just bought a clay extruder, here the sugarpaste extruder guns go for around $80 but the clay extruder was only $30 - it's my favourite tool at the moment.
I'm loving this thread!!! The baseball bat idea and thimble for the golf ball impressions are great! I will definitely be filing those ideas in my head
I like the idea of cutting my own stencil too. I've never tried that before, but it would be worth a shot considering the money saved!
Check out my photos of making pearl molds. I haven't been able to afford those pricey pearl molds as of yet, experimented awhile back with amazing mold putty and plastic cake boards to make fondants molds of flowers, beads, pearls and lace appliques from lace remnants fabric. I've used clay texture sheets - Chantilly lace for fondant drapes on a dummy cake to practice designs I would like to some day do on a real cake. I love to explore! Thanks for the new ideas, can't wait to try them.
Okay, so what's the largest round cake pan that you have ever seen?? Have you ever had a request for a MASSIVE wedding cake that you have to use several rounds in a circle and then start stacking other layers on top of that? (Like Jackie and Heath's wedding cake) What if I told you that I have found a 20 inch round that is 3 inches deep and a 26 inch round that is 3 inches deep? AND they do NOT cost an arm and a leg!! Would you be interested in something like this?? What kind of ideas do you have for something that large?? Share them with us....
Okay, I know what most of you are probably thinking.... so HOW would you bake the darn thing, right? Well, my guess is VERY CAREFULLY!! LOL!! I know that most of us would NEVER in our lifetime have a cake order that would require such beasts, but what if, just what IF you had it there to offer a bride and then talked her into making most of the rest of the cake out of dummies?? (read: charge for decorating the dummies, but not actually have to bake the cake!!) Besides that, every bride wants over the top these days and THIS would definitely be over the TOP!!
great ideas, im just starting out and on a tight budget, with my medical condition and not working my husband is, yes i did a cake and used a garlic crusher for her hair, and i was told by the cake shop lady as i was looking for cake pens for a cake i recently made, she said if you cannot afford it use non toxic felts, for tattooing on the body or use it for drawing eyes etc, and she told me about the chalk as well, so my felts for 24 colours was $3, and the chalk for 10 fat ones were $2, well the tattooin came out amazing that i put on the boobie cake, thanks ladies for your ideas keep them comming.
I bought a plastic baseball bat at the dollar general sawed it in half lengthwise....taped wax paper in the hollowed out bat and poured melted chocolate in it half full and made the bat that was on a huge sheetcake
Genius!!!!
Okay, so what's the largest round cake pan that you have ever seen??
Not a round, but I bought a 14x22, 2" deep sheet pan. When I went to my cake supply store for boards/boxes and told the owner what I'd found, she told me she didn't think they made sheet pans that size. And in case anyone wants to know, if you bake 4 of these and put two 2-layers side by side, it DOES take 2 people to lift it. Really. (and that's one big-a$$ sheet cake that serves over 300!!)
Love this thread!! I'm fairly new so its all an expense buying even the basics- my one magic find was a TV turntable instead of a cake turntable. £4 instead of the usual £12+ (sorry not sure what this is in USD!!)
As its just a hobby so far, I dont feel the need to splash out on a proper cake turntable, seeing as I've coped with just my own two hands to turn the cakes so far.
Anyway, I'm now off to get myself a paint roller, clay extruder, some wallpaper offcuts, chalk and pens, and a waffle iron....!!
I love this thread. Such cool ideas. I too am guilty of shopping/browsing in all stores for cake ideas. I just started doing it, so I don't have anything to share yet. But in time, I will!
Oh yeah, been there done that. I am always looking for a cheaper alternative. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but he goes along after I tell him...yeah well this costs X number of dollars in the cake section and I'm getting the same thing for 1/2 that. I also like the scrapbooking section at Walmart, and I have found stuff for caking in stores and second hand shops, as well as garage sales. When money is tight, you do what you need to do.
WOW! WOW! All of you ladies are sooooo creative. I just love this sight and all the great idea. Every time I go into a store, for the past year and a half since I started doing this, I too am always searching for the next cheap thing to decorate with. I go through my local hardware store from time to time and look for things that have unique textures. The other day I bought one of those rubber "sticky" things that goes in your tub so you don't slip. It was of a flower with lots and lots of texture. Don't laugh, but sometimes my kids get toys out of their cereal boxes and I steal them for decorating. One time they got some neat dinosaour stencils and another time they got some great little texture sheets. I have not thought about the clay isle (but will check it out now) but I do go through the scrapbooking and stamp isles all the time at my craft stores. I look for anything on sale. I just LOVE the chalk idea too. Going to go out and find me some chalk real soon. Petal dust can really add up. I also didn't think of using Cocoa Powder until I saw a couple posts recently by ladies using it for thier baby molds. I have been struggling to get the hair looking "right" on my baby molds and I am going to try that next.
I started making flowers recently too and needed something to hang them from upside down to dry. I went to Target and found these stackable locker racks. They fold down when you are not using them and they stand 8" to 12" high when the legs are up. They work great and only cost me a couple dollars each... Wish I could give more ideas but will post as I find other things to share! Keep all the ideas coming.
Oh and does anyone know of where I can get the edible food spray in the US? That would be a huge addition to the items I buy that may not start out as food safe.... Thanks!
Just today I bought a silicone mat made to dry wine glasses. It has ridges in it and is flexible, so I'm going to try layering white and milk chocolate on it. Hard to explain..
Also picked up some playdoh molds. My favorite that I just got is a leaf cutter from the clay ailse. Made really cute gum paste leaves! Also vinyl from walmart as a fondant mat, and tootsie rolls for a cheap moldable material. On a slow work day I printed and laminated some recipes. I have durable recipes that double as a spoon rest that can be rinsed off when done.
I love all of these ideas, but I have a question...how do you know which of these are actually food safe? I just feel like some of the things wouldn't be, but I don't know how you know.
Excellent ideas ladies!!! I'm taking notes! What I did on Friday to make pearls along the bottom of the cake, is I used a very small circle cut out and just balled each one up. They were all the same size and only took me 10min to go around a 9" cake (see my black and white cake with purple flowers). Easy. I use my sewing cutting board for both my cake stuff and sewing stuff. It's HUGE and I put it on my dining room table and can freely roll out the fondant to a nice size. I also get no powdered sugar or anything on the floor. 
My DH takes it outside and hoses it down when I'm done. I don't have much of a space to work in, in my kitchen, so this is great. I have used the clay extruder before but I found it to be way too much work for the result.
I love this thread. Beside the tips that all the good CCers said, I made my own lightroom, which cost me only at max $6,00 and I love it.
I love these ideas. But the chalk thing - is that really safe? I mean, play-doh is non-toxic too, but it isn't intended to be eaten. It says so right on the package....
Please help, I'm new at this. I'd been staying away from the clay/scrapbooking stuff because I was afraid it wouldn't be safe...??
I love this thread. Beside the tips that all the good CCers said, I made my own lightroom, which cost me only at max $6,00 and I love it.
If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean? Would this be for taking your photos?
Excellent ideas ladies!!! I'm taking notes! What I did on Friday to make pearls along the bottom of the cake, is I used a very small circle cut out and just balled each one up. They were all the same size and only took me 10min to go around a 9" cake (see my black and white cake with purple flowers). Easy. I use my sewing cutting board for both my cake stuff and sewing stuff. It's HUGE and I put it on my dining room table and can freely roll out the fondant to a nice size. I also get no powdered sugar or anything on the floor.
My DH takes it outside and hoses it down when I'm done. I don't have much of a space to work in, in my kitchen, so this is great. I have used the clay extruder before but I found it to be way too much work for the result.
Do you happen to be talking about the large green quilters mat?
[quote="MamaD77"]Loving this thread also! I've been doing exactly the same thing, I've only been caking seriously for this year, so am still My favourite source at the moment is garden centres and floristry stuff! That's how I found my way of wrapping my cakes in florist wrap, (it's in my pics) It's so much cheaper than proper cake boxes, and since I dont sell my cakes and they're only for family and friends, it's just fine. Sorry for asking, but I don't see what you mean in your pics. Is it some kind of celophane? I love your cakes by the way
she might have meant lightbox (or in this post it's referred to as a light tent), they're really good for getting a backgroundless/shadowless photo. Of course you'd need a bigger one for a cake
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent
I love this thread. Beside the tips that all the good CCers said, I made my own lightroom, which cost me only at max $6,00 and I love it.
If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean? Would this be for taking your photos?
808hedda,
yes, it's cellophane. If you look in my pics, the golf cake, the feather wedding cake, and I think the fundraiser strawberry cupcake stand, the wrapped cakes in thier cellophane are in the extra pictures, not the main picture. So you need to actually click right on the pics to get to the ones which are wrapped. Sorry, I forgot about that 
Thanks for the compliment, that's made my day that has!! 
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