I am just a beginning decorator, but I love it! But being only 14 years old, very broke, and very busy with school/classes (even during the summer ) I've had very little time or money to put into cake decorating . I took a Wilton I course a year ago and have made a total of 2 cakes since then.
Another problem I have is getting rid of finished cakes because nobody in my family has much of a sweet tooth and the Wilton frosting is SOOO sweet.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can keep up (or should i say start) cake decorating with my small allowance and little time? Thanks in advance!

dummy cakes.. You can purchase them at a local hobby shop. You can make your own icing vs wiltons. It will probably be cheaper.. The dummy cakes are great for practice, you can decorate them and then when your done wash them off and keep on practicing.. This will help you in practicing on new ideas without the actual "cake". Also you can bake your cake ahead of time and freeze, then when you need a cake thaw it out, ice and eat! This will help with time. Good Luck

Good for you dandelion! I started when I was little, just playing with frosting and tips. (under 10 yrs old) It's a great skill to learn. Check out rummage sales. When school starts up again, maybe you can dole out free samples at school if allowed. ( Maybe the teachers lounge or office staff?)Don't forget your neighbors too. No one family can ever eat that much cake, so you need to give it away!

Also, I rememeber practicing on pans turned upside down (like the actual cake). This way, you can perfect your skills without having to spend a lot on time or money on ingredients.

Or get a "practice board" or cover a board w/ clear plastic. That way you can just wipe it off and start over.

Tell your friends that you can decorate cakes for them if they supply $ for ingredients. (for their parents birthdays, etc)

JUST HAVE FUN!!

PS, how did you learn of this site?

How awesome that you are into cake decorating at this age Are you planning on doing this for a career? or maybe becoming a chef? Or just for fun? The cake dummy is a wonderful idea, but you could also do like a lot of us do - give cakes to your friends for gifts. Unless you do something very elaborate, you could do cakes for very little money, and your friends would be so delighted at such a personal gift! Just do the cake in the theme of something that interests that friend! At your age, you probably wouldn't have much competition from your other friends! Keep up the good work - I'm so proud of you

Thanks for all your encouragement! Cake decorating is just a hobby for me right now, but I love working in the kitchen!
Dummy cakes sounds like a really good idea! One question, should I cover the pan with plastic wrap ? or can I frost directly on the pan?
I can't quite remember how I found out about this site... It might have been from a random web search that I did for a recipe or sometihng. I'm always searching for recipes and decorating technique tutorials (even though I rarely get a chance to try them--I want to try a BCT for my sister's b-day cake).

dandelion: decorating is a wonderful skill, and as others have suggested, there are ways to practice without having to bake or eat the cake itself. i would definitely focus on your piping skills at this point, and this of course can be done on any cleanable stable surface. practice your cake writing now and you'll be well-ahead of the game in the years to come. visit your local library to read books about cake decorating -- while much about decorating needs to be experienced first hand to really understand, there's lots you can learn from other people's experience.

and think about more than just cakes: providing that your family has a sturdy mixer, royal icing is cheap to make (just egg whites and icing sugar -- be sure to use paste colours though) and you can practice doing colour flow decorations on flat cookies. there are businesses that do just this sort of decorated cookie, so you could make great gifts for the people in your life or even turn it into a little neighbourhood business. the key to doing this type of decorating is to learn how to make your own piping bags with the wilton parchment cones that you can buy at wal-mart.

if you're wanting to practice your cake-layout skills on a real iced surface, you can bake little thin cakes in foil pie plates (or rectangular foil biscuit trays), ice over the tops, and then do your borders and decorations -- this will help you develop a sense of balance and proportion with flower arrangement or other decorations, and getting messages to fit ("congratulations on your graduation, samantha" is a nice challenging message to fit on an 8-inch cake!) distribute the thin decorated cakes to your neighbours if your family won't eat them.

finally, don't spend too much on collecting decorating supplies. a lazy-susan that you can slip your fingers under can make a great revolving cake stand, and the plastic wilton one is great too (no need to buy an expensive metal one). stick with the basic tips: star (size 18 is good), round (#3 or #4 for writing) a rose tip, a leaf tip, and maybe a basket weave tip (actually you can do basket weaves with just about any tip). keep your tools clean and organized and they'll last you a long time.

Just frost directly on the pan and scape it off when you're done. Maybe just use one color to start so that when you keep scraping off, it will still be white (or ?) but I know you're anxious to experiment!

Remember Michaels and Jo-Ann gift certificates to use towards classes if you want to. (As Christmas, birthday gifts to you).

Personally, I think you can learn most of it on your own, and eventually, you'll find the the right source to teach you the perfecting of it.

Just go on to college and this can be your stress outlet. Of course, if you love being in the kitchen, there are culinary and pastry schools. Maybe study business if you want to make a living in the industry..who knows where life will take you.

No matter what, it is a skill that you will be able to use in life. As a vocation or avocation. And someday you'll have a little one (but not until you're in your late 20's or 30's!!!) to make masterpieces for.


I hope my two cents worth is helpful.

Oh! I meant to mention, have you thought about joining 4-H. I don't know where you are, but it's for city kids too. You could learn something there i'd bet.

Keep us posted!

Haha, this is the 3rd time I've visited this site today. I'm becoming an adict! But I can't help it! So much cake stuff and everybody is so nice!

I'm not familiar with these gift cirtificates... could you explain please?

I've looked into 4-H before becuase my sister likes horseback riding, but I never quite figured out what it really is. Could you give me some info on that too?
Thank you so much mudpie!!!

What is a lazy-susan?

Sorry about all these questions. But I really want to know!!! This is so interesting!
Ohya! And could anyone teach me how to basketweave? Does that have to be done with royal icing? Or does bc work too?

Thanks!!!

hey dandelion: i'm sorry, i don't have any photos to show you for basketweaving, but i'm sure that someone can post a how-to for you. you will find directions (and pictures) in the back of any wilton yearbook. it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and like i said, you can pretty much do it with any tip (i like to use a round tip to get a "reedy" effect like a real basket). you can use any icing that will stand up on its own -- canned frosting from the supermarket will not work as it is generally too soft.

a lazy-susan is a spinning (revolving) pedestal using ball-bearings between 2 pieces, often found on table-tops. i have the plastic wilton revolving cake stand, and that's good and cheap and it gives you extra height (it's important that your work surface is high enough that you're not contorting your body in uncomfortable ways), but lately i just use the big wooden lazy susan that i bought from ikea (picture attached), as it's very sturdy.

here is wilton's "how to do basketweave". Good Luck!
http://www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/basketweave.cfm

You can get plastic lazy susans at Target in the kitchen organizing section for a few dollars. The one I have has a rubberized bottom so that would be perfect because your cakes wouldn't slide around.

Would you be willing to get a part time job? Even babysitting might be fun, and that way you could make your own schedule if you're busy. A paper route would be another option too. Even if you just did it on Sunday mornings, it would still give you a few extra dollars.

A dummy pan and class frosting you could use over and over though.

Ask for gift certificates for your birthday to Michaels, or books on cake decorating too. Check out books at your library. Spend lots of time online learning new techniques. (:

I think that is really neat that you are starting out so young!!!! I think using cake pans is a great way for you to practice. What kind of party is your sister having? I am sure she will love whatever you make for her!
traci

Wow! So much info! Thank you all very very very much!!! Now all I have to do is.... ask more questions!!! Acutally, what I think I really have to do is PRACTICE. Yay! It's so fun!
I'm definately going to visit the library... and maybe I'll get my mom to take me to Ikea!
I've found that practicing with Royal Icing on cookies is very effective for me becuase my sister likes to eat them! Horray!

Good luck dandelion!!!
I went to my library and checked out all the books I could on cake decorating. Also the libraries around here are all connected so if another library has the book I need, I just put in a request and they sent it to the library closest to me.

Check with family members - grandparents, aunts, cousins...someone might have 'extra' pans, tips, cook books, even a lazy susan!!!
Check garage sales or estate sales - they usually have stuff for nothing!!
Go to salvation army or goodwill or other thrift shops - they have all kinds of things to offer!!

Michaels, Hobby lobby, Joann's all offer gift certicates so ask for them for your birthday or christmas!
Keep us posted!!
Take pictures of what you do so we can all see!!

Welcome To Cake Central!!!! We are glad to have you here!

Congratulations!! Welcome! If you do want to take more classes keep an eye out at Micheal's. Sometimes they have specials on the classes. You can get the class for 1/2 or buy the kit and get the class for free, that kind of thing.

I read somewhere on here too about the dummy cakes. Someone suggested covering them with plastic wrap before you ice to help protect them!

Good luck and don't ever be afraid to ask a question here-lots of peeps willing to help!!

For the month of sept., michaels is running the special buy on get a friend free.

So dandelion if you and a friend take the class it is 12.50 each.

I'd love to do a Wilton class with one of my friends! But none of them are really interested in cake decorating .

OOOOHHH!!! I'm making my first BCTs today! The first one I'm going to try is a bunch of balloons...really simple outline. And then I'm going to attempt a little ballerina and bring it to my dance team sleepover if it turns out good. I'll post pictures as soon as I find the USB cable for my digital camera!