Hi all,

I thought starting a discussion on this might get the creative juices flowing, and might be helpful to everyone. I wish we could buy every mold and texture mat out there we find.... but as we know that gets pricey!!!

I'm hoping to come up with some neat ideas for ways to make our own textures & imprints. You know, "New uses for old things". Where/ what are some of the most unique places & items you have found for making your own textures & imprints in fondant?

Any ideas?

I can't think of anything unusual, just stuff like cookie cutters etc.

I started a little research and here is a neat video for clay work, but the principles still apply!

I have no idea if this is food safe and I have not tried it, but I saw a tutorial for making a textured rolling pin for working with clay. Basically get a rolling pin (maybe PVC pipe would work?) and draw a design on it with a hot glue gun. Once it is cooled you can roll it over the clay to get a textured design. Perhaps there is a food-safe hot glue out there!

http://potteryblog.com/2007/11/#post-51

The idea with the PVC pipe/glue gun would work if you put waxed paper or parchment onto the fondant before rolling - that would make it food safe, right? Sounds like a fun idea to try.

cool post! I do the texture papers on the scrap book isle. the sheets are about $.25 each. For the inside of my flowers, the buttons, i usually use my mesh strainer to indent them.

Check out fabric stores....good textured fabric impressed into the fondant, rather cool!!

I used a plastic sheet to imprint a brick pattern on fondant--it was about 15" x 12" and very flexible, & it was supposed to be for dollhouses, to make brick walls. Turned out great! I also have a similar sheet that's supposed to be a mini-embossed tin ceiling for dollhouses, but it makes a pretty pattern on fondant, too.

I've used embossing sheets that are marketed for working with paper to imprint on fondant, too. I believe they're made of some kind of vinyl or plastic, very similar to the ones marketed specifically for cakes.

I've used my metal meat tenderizer and a zester (for small pieces). I'm always experimenting with kitchen utensils.

play dough tools, textured wallpaper. I bought a footstool for my son with the cutest rubber non-slip mat on it, it had dragonflys, frogs, flowers, so cute! And an excellent embossing mat

clay tools!!! they have lots of embossers and even molds

I bought a zipper from the fabric store to make an impression for a zipper on a cake. Everyone kept commenting on how real it looked.

some vegetables come in an expandable mesh bag. garlic is a good one. this can be cut open at both ends and slipped over a rolling pin. its a great way to make fish or snake scaly skin texture for shoes, bags etc.

now that is a brilliant idea gosh it saves me trying to make zips on handbag cakes. thanks for that Here is a Diy for making your own Diamond impression mat i hope this is helpful http://cakes.keyartstudio.com/tutorials/item/87-diy-impression-mat-fondant-diamond-pattern-marker.html

I read somewhere about using dried corn husks (or was it tamale wrapping thingies) to create texture on petals. I need to try that.

So many fabulous new ideas to try
 

AAnother way of making a zipper is to 'borrow' a tyre from one of your sons toy cars - the Lego ones work great.

AAnother way of making a zipper is to 'borrow' a tyre from one of your sons toy cars - the Lego ones work great.

AI posted this information a little while ago when I was researching the very same thing, I hope this helps some one: This evening I was researching how to make a silicone texture mat or rolling pin and I came across this website: http://www.chicagomoldschool.com/ProductsforChefs.html Making a : http://www.chicagomoldschool.com/Articles/TexturedMat.pdf or Making a: http://www.sweetconnections.biz/CATALOGUE/CATALOGUE%20001-%20AcrylicRollingPin16.jpg I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of them especially with working with sugar molds. This is just sharing info, I hope I post in the right forum, WOW I found this interesting! thumbs_up.gif

In the scrapbooking aisle!  Get a paper crimper, break it open and use the 'roller'.  As a bonus - u get a raised 'roller' as well - (haven't tried that yet, but might be fun!).

There are so many different designs out there and they're really cheap too!

The 'rollers' are kinda small, so idk abt them working for large pieces of fondant, but def great for smaller pieces - ribbons/bows,...

I like to use Amazing Mold Putty to make my own molds with stuff I have, e.g., brooches, lots of other things. I only do small things. I haven't tried to do a whole sheet as is shown in the second link that HamSquad posted.

I wander around the house looking for things that would make a good impression or mold. I also check out the dollar store or thrift store for things to use. I scrub these things thoroughly (and rinse with bleach if possible) and it is extremely unlikely that the small amount of time the object is in the putty it would transfer "toxic" elements or that those would transfer to the fondant used in the mold.

I am in my office right now (and should be working, shame on me) and looking around I see things with interesting patterns--my pencil cup is metal mesh, my water bottle has an interesting "corrugated" design in the plastic, one of my paperweights has an interesting pattern on it, a takeout container from the cafeteria has different kind of corrugated pattern, etc.

textured wall paper, painted with confectioners glaze makes a good food safe embosser/ texture mat

Crumple up aluminum foil then smooth  it back out...roll on top of fondant for a leather look texture

AI used a piece of textured wall paper the other day to make both a texture sheet and a stencil. [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2887993/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I have used a string satsuma bag for the texture on a handbag and a sink draining mat that I got from the pound shop to make a quilt effect on a baby dedication cake which would also be great to use if you wanted to do as bar of chocolate to make the squares. I used the tip of a star nozzle to get the terry towelling effect on a nappy stack . I was pleased with all 3 results and am always looking at stuff from a cake perspective. I have recently brought some  stick on body art jewellery that was half price as I think it would make a great impression around a cake that I could use to outline before piping with RI that's if I ever get round to RI anything.I have an old sterilised vinyl tablecoth that I use as a floral impression mat. The trouble is now I find it hard to look at any object for what it is as I always look at stuff from a ,' how can I use that on a cake' view.

I had to make a design on a basketball for a real look and found that pressing the picky side of my grater onto the fondant worked beautifully.  They say that ceiling panels (plastic) from a DIY store work beautifully on fondant - you just need to use a spray like PAM then wipe most of it off before using to prevent sticking.  Onion bags give a great pattern and lots of papers from a craft store have a 3-D feel and a grease proof finish which would be perfect for imprints.  Also at the craft store they have lots of small rhinestone designs glued onto cardboard for imprinting.  So what I'm suggesting is a very slow walk down the aisles of any Fabric, DIY or Craft store (leave the kids at home) so that the ideas can flow freely.