the bas relief cake in my pictures was almost entirely sculpted with a pair of cuticle scissors, a toothbrush and a needle tool. The toothbrush is one of my favorite sculpting tools--one of those with lots of levels of bristles.

LOVE this thread! I've used a fancy candle shield as a fondant impression, Playdoh tools, and all sorts of odds and ends from the dollar store. And I love using my large pizza pan (one with lots of tiny holes) to make a really neat polka dot pattern.

I use the plastic that you buy in the fabric section at wal-mart it's cheap and you can cut it down to whatever size you need.

lots of great ideas thanks

i am from a very small town in SE KY. no micheals, joanns or any craft store. only place that has ANY craft items is wal mart and hallmark. i shop online for most everything. my ? is except for ebay & globalsugar, which i find is very reasonable even on shipping, what are some websites where i can find cheap stencil sets ( the tier sets run $60 or more!!!) and impression mats like the ones talked about on this post? thanks!

One of my best hardware store buys is a couple of long threaded bolts (like a long screw but without the head). You can use them as a textured rolling pin to make a really realistic grosgrain ribbon, or anything else that needs fine lines or a fine grid.

I have used one of my wire cooling racks as an impression mat to make a square stone walkway - just pressed it into the modeling chocolate and voila!

Don't forget the dental floss to torte your cake!

Lots of great ideas - I now know what to do with the old quilting mat my mother bought me and I never used - never thought of using it to roll out fondant, etc.
I like to go to the clay department at the craft store for molds for gumpaste. I also bought little wooden shapes of fish to use as guidelines for nice looking fish, palm trees, etc.

I have a meat grinder for my KA and I use it to make hair, rope, etc out of fondant. Just spray it all real good so the fondant doesn't stick, works great!

I found scooby, a guitar and other like new cake pans from the goodwill. $1.99 each. I also found a lazy susan there for .99 cents.
I bought different shaped ice cube trays for chocolate molds and i use my daughters stencils for decorations. A pizza cutter works great for cutting fondant.
I also ask on craigslist and freecycle.com and have received a lot of items for free.

those of you that use ribbons can use the spool cases that dvds and cds come in. just cut a slit for the ribbon to by pulled through and the center spindle keeps them stacked. and dust free of course.

I use egg cartons for flower formers and for paint pots.
paper towel tubes to hang bows on to dry, also split them in half for leaf and flower formers.
I have a huge ( 3" diameter) pvc pipe rolling pin for fondant. bigger pin, less work
and a knee high for my PS puff

I like to use the individual applesauce containers for paint pots. I use alot of the applesauce instead of oil in my cake batter.

I found the great big plastic lettuce knife from the dollar store cuts big chucks of fondant into smaller pieces.

I like ground coffee for my sunflower centers.

I like using the great big tiles from Lowe's for cake boards. You can glue round knobs or wooden knobs to the bottom for feet.

Old wooden clocks or the decorative ones make excellent cake boards, you can spray paint them any color you want. You can find these at Hobby Lobby or garage sales or hanging on the walls at your grandparents house.

Awesome thread btw, thanks for posting everyone.


A

Oh, so glad to read this post, gotta print it out so when I go to the stores I don't forget anything. LOL.

Great ideas! This thread is getting me thinking outside the box. I just used an infant syringe, they kind they give with infant Motrin -fresh out of the sealed plastic- to get a real thin thread of fondant.

Rylan mentioned deviled egg trays. I waited until after Easter, and got the Easter Egg trays from WalMart for 25 cents per. Each tray holds a dozen petals.

Theresa

I use old towels for bake even strips, I cut then by cake pan sizes, and use a T-pin, they are great.

Lomikesa

If you don't have a deviled egg tray, just break the ends off of disposable spoons and hot glue the spoon part to a piece of cardboard or foamcore - waalaaa - petal dryer!

I haven't be doing cake for very long but have been sculpting for years and I use dental teeth tools (can be found at walmart) for sculpting and gumpaste, I love the GUM tools the most.

Styrofoam with dowels stuck in it like pegs for drying racks.

I use a plastic fork, break the the ends in the middle off and you can use this to drip chocolate on cake balls and the top of cake.

Paint brushes to smooth gumpaste or clay in little areas you can't reach.

Kitchen cabinet mats (the one that you put in your cabinet to protect them) for texture use them like impression mat.

Hair ties to keep my decorating bags close at the ends.

Egg shell cartons for my petal dust and food die.

Biscuit cutter to cut my fondant and gumpaste circles.

I make mine own stencils by buying the cheep flexible thin cutting boards I found at HEB. I print out a pattern I love of the internet and place it on the cutting boards tape it in place and cut very slowly with my very sharp exacto knife. This may take some time a practices but worth it in the end.

bushes, comb, forks, buttons, zippers, small belt buckles for texture.

I have never tried this is fondant or gumpaste but in sculpting clay we use natural sponges (the hard ones you find at hobby lobby or walmart) for texture in the clay

*lol* I have even used my grill rack if you need a straight flat grill pattern.