What kit/supplies would you recommend for someone who is starting off without any knowledge/experience? I am simply doing it for pleasure, so I think it would be too ambitous of me to buy the 101 piece kit.

Should I just buy tips/supplies seperately, or is there a kit you would recommend?

You might find the following article from Earlene's Cakes site interesting. Although she is talking about what she would find essential for setting up a cake business, many of the items are the basics to collect at the beginning of cake decorating as a hobby, or things to think about as you acquire more equipment.

http://www.earlenescakes.com/business05.htm

Cake decorating is just a hobby for me but I would definitely concur with Earlene's list of "must have" icing tip #'s. Maybe you can see if any kits carry most of these recommended tips together? I'd add that you can't have too many star tips or round tips or else you find yourself constantly washing out as you change colours but need the same tip you were just using. A turntable is a must in my books, too.

I found the little Wilton booklet called, "Cake Decorating: Easy as 1 - 2 - 3" very helpful.

I'll be interested in what others have to add.

Wilton makes some smaller kits if this is what you are looking for that come with tips, bags, colors and even a spatula, everything you need to do a basic cake:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/department.cfm?id=3E304FD9-475A-BAC0-5C4D9295A12AED24&fid=3E305C7C-475A-BAC0-55827813FF9C82AC

Get some cake boards (like 30-50 cents a piece at bakery stores), a decent angled spatula (if you dont buy the set that comes with one) and you are in business! You can add on pieces as you go along, or if you find more interest in decorating.

I would recommend also a bottle of Clear Vanilla (if you want pure white icing) and a can of Meringue Powder. Each is about $4-5.

Also suggest at least the Wilton Course 1 and 2 books that will tell you about icing consistency and doing basic designs. They are about $4-5 a piece.

I assembled my own kit after hanging out here for a while and looking around on Wiltons site and in some cake books. So I spent a bit more. But I intend to do a lot of decorating so I went beyond the basics with a lot of extra tips and flower stuff and etc. Then I bought for like $7 a cool plastic 3 level storage unit with pullout drawers at Walmart to keep it all in.

I will second the turntable. That is on my shopping list this weekend. You can do cakes without it, but it will make your life a lot easier. Wilton makes a cheap one for like $11. I have one I plan to get at my bakery supply store costs a bit more but is bigger and heavier.

Thanks for the tips ladies! My dh and I are stationed in Germany right now, so it's hard to find a store that carries cake supplies. Our PX has hardly anything, so I'll have to drive to the one 30 min away and check it out.

I already have an 8" angeled spatula, 9 & 16" featherweight bags, 3-star tip, Icing tip, and tips 5, 18, 67 and 104. I also bought some pre-made decorater icing just so I know when I'm practicing the techniques, I'm using the right consistency.

My store sells the red/ivory tool box, so I might go out and get that since it should have more than enough room for the amount of supplies I have.

Turntable is definitely on the list - I agree it will make life a lot easier!

I also won on Ebay the Course I, II and III books as well as the practice board. I think it's a good start!

..sounds like you are off to a good start. I personally couldn't live without the Cake Level gadget!

Congrats on your eBay win!

Sounds like you have yourself a nice little stash there with some pretty versatile tips. 67 is a leaf tip. 5 is a plain tip (like for writing). 18 is a star tip-that will be one of the most versatile tips you have. It can do small drop kind of star/flowers, shells and zigzags. 104 is a leaf tip-like what you use to do roses. Typically the center of a rose is made from tip 12, but there was a poster here just yesterday I think who was talking about doing the center with the 104 too-maybe if you search you can find them and ask them how if you want to try roses. Or things like daisies and the other flowers. The main difference between all the petal tips is size so you could do many other flowers too.

Wilton also has some basic decorating things to do with the tubes here:
http://www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/index.cfm

Wilton also has some partners that distribute for them internationally:
http://www.wilton.com/contact/intl_distrib.cfm#europe

I believe there are other posters around from Germany who may be able to help direct you to a supplier who will ship to you. And there is always eBay.

Good luck with your decorating!

You know that tip with all of the little holes in it? Faggetaboutit!!!! I tried using it to do a furry Elmo today and ended up doing long #16 stars.... aggrivating!

As for me, parchment triangles, 15 inch, are a definate must!

Debbi

AWWWWWWWW-I LOVE the grasstip (one with little holes in it!) I have 2 of them and use them alot! I have done Elmo with it and bears with it and just love the way it looks. But everyone has their favorites. You will find out things as you go along-what you need and what you have that you wish you didn't-you will learn to improvise things-I've used the little plastic rectangle in curtain rods to make pieces out of fondant-etc. Your colors, parchment bags and tips will be your biggest things-tip 16, 4, 18, leaf tips and roses tips are the biggest for me. Have multiples of all of them and then my favorites.

The way I started was buying the 3 Wilton course books and a course 1 kit off of Ebay.