Ok, I joined up today so that I could ask a question please:

a fellow blogger I know lost everything in house fire and she's a busy Mama of 5 kids and a part time cake baker and decorator.

I am a Foodie (but very novice baker) and a crafter and I *know* how sad I would be if I lost my crafting stash, cookware etc... so would love to send her a gift certificate to use on cake / making / decorating essentials.

She knows WAY better than I ever will what she needs but I in turn know nothing about USA shops, Where would be the best place to look for a certificate for etc. (I'm in The Netherlands)

So, where can I find this information?
Well, simple answer is: I decided to come here and pick your collective creative baking brains LOL

So... which shop would YOU choose for supplies in a situation like this?

I would need the shop to take credit card (mastercard) or Paypal and then for me to pay for the gift and for them to post it direct to my cake baker in GA if that's at all possible.

Many Thanks in advance... kind regards... Kiwidutch

I would probably consider something like a prepaid credit card. You could put how ever much you wanted on the card, and she could use it at any place that excepts that type of credit card. I also believe you can use them at a ATM and get cash from them for a place that may not except them.

Thanks for the kind reply TexasSugar...

I was however hoping that there was a shop (or brand) specifically for cake making and decorating supplies who would be on everyones dream shopping list where I could then get a gift certificate

... then she could browse and shop at leisure (maybe even on-line?)

Would the item you suggest not be just a tad too generic?

I know they "need" to start from scratch and replace a lot of basics at the moment but I think it's also nice that she isn't tempted to use the money for just the mundane stuff (the local community ARE helping there a lot) and a certificate for a specific specialty shop or brand would really be a "treat" just for her... you see what I mean yes?

... so might you have any suggestions for shops or brands please?

Thanks again!

I understand you wanting her to spend it on a splurge item. But really it is hard to know what anyone else would want to purchase. I don't purchase a lot online, so I'm not sure which is the go to shop for that myself.

You could check into Global Sugar Arts, since they do seem to have a big variety of stuff.

My thought with the prepaid credit card is that it could be used anywhere, so she could spread the shopping among several sites if she found good deals for something she wanted, or liked something that isn't carried on every shopping website out there.