AIRBRUSHING
- spray color through lace, spongy shelf liners, plastic mesh, ribbon, and paper doilies
- Use milk bottle tops, mason jar lids, etc as a mask to leave unsprayed round areas
- cut cardboard cake boxes & transparency sheets for masking and stencils
- Stencils from every department (toys, crafts, doll house, art)
- Cookie cutters (put cutter on icing, push in slightly, spray shape gently onto icing) The side of the cutter helps keep it from going everywhere


OTHER
- squirt bottles for gel food coloring
- rubber stamps with food color for ink
- emergency decorating tubes- ziplock baggy, wax paper (Be quick and don't squeeze hard)
- Kid medicine dropppers (new) for measuring small liquid amounts
- clay extruder with different exchangable disks for hair and ropes
- old fashioned postage scale and a paper plate for weighing ingredients
- Ice cream scoop with trigger for perfect cookies and cupcakes
- I had a 6 foot table that was too low to use for decorating. I made it taller using lengths of PVC that slipped snugly over the feet of the table.
- Made extra tables from collapsable saw horses and plywood. Fold up and store.
- wire shelving from old refrigerator for drying petitfours

And the list goes on & on!

Here's a site where you can get the rubber bands to go around your rolling pin. I think they were about $15 but you get 4 sizes. Hope this helps.

Oops I forgot to attach the site....http://www.kitchengifts.com/

I posted on the other thread about unusual products but just in case I will post here also.

For the O-rings for the rolling pins I would go to Auto Zone, Carquest, or Napa for them, You should be able to get them for next to nothing. I'm calling my mechhanic (he's a close friend to see the largest ones I can get..Parts stores treat women like idiots..If you tell them what they are for watch out..They may even hang up on you or just laugh at you.

WOW! What a great help everyone is! Thanks for posting your helps and hints. I never imagined....
And to think I sit here each week waiting for Michaels to put their 40% off coupon in the paper so I can buy ONE item each week.

I love all the creative uses for car parts!! Now if we could only figure out to utilize our outdated cell phones and and computer parts for cake decorating.

OK....I said that my hubby and kids had better watch their toys after reading this. Guess what? My son has a hershey's kisses maker and I just stole his kisses mold to make "cake Kisses" or "cake drops". Not sure which description I like better. I will post a pic when I'm done.
Tabby

My son has a hershey's kisses maker and I just stole his kisses mold to make "cake Kisses" or "cake drops".

I'd love to see what you do with the kisses maker. I just bought one for my daugher on clearance and would love to be able to do something else with it.
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They are done! Good too.

so, on your cake kisses, did you use chunks of cake, or what exactly did you do? They look cute

Thanks
dara

I used the cake ball recipe and packed it into the mold. Then I covered them w/ the melted chocolate.
Tabby

Where can I find this cake ball recipe?

here is one recipe I found.

Here is the one I use I have been using. It is not my recipe, but I don't remember where on here that I found it.
Cake Ballls:
2 cups crumbled cake scraps
2 tbls confectioners' sugar
2 tbls cocoa powder( if cake scraps are not chocolate based)
1/4 cup chopped almonds(or any other not you like, or mini chocolate chips, or M&M's, you get the idea)
2 generous shots of Amaretto (or any other liquer you may like, a good non-alcohol substitution is any flavored coffee creamer)
Put all ingredients in a mixerand mix on medium speed until all ingredients form a ball. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more of the liquid used to make it moist enough to form into balls.

I put all my ingrediets into my food proccesor to chop it all up into a ball. I use all different flavors of extracts as my liquid. You can cover them w/ melted chocolate or nearly anything you want. I haven't used any nuts yet, so I don't know how it holdstogether with them. I also made one batch that wasn't chocolate cake and I didn't add the cocoa. I just figure it makes them a little different.
I sure hope this helps. It's a lot of info. Maybe the author of the recipe I use will let you know who they are and give you more tips.
Good luck.
Tabby

Those do sound great and I will try them. Could you also "smush" them in to shapes with small cookies cutters - would they hold their shape?

I think as long as they aren't too big and are moist enough they will hold just fine.
Tabby

Where was I when this forum was first started?????

You guys have some great ideas! I already use play-doh toys as cookie cutters, but I hadn't thought of stealing the extruder from the kids too!

Here's my list of "tools":

1. Tile adhesive spreaders (makes a great decorating comb to ad texture to buttercream icing)

2. My kids got tired of me taking their Crayola Trace n' Draw, so I finally had to buy my own (also bought an extra set of disks, can be used to project all kinds of images onto your cakes!)

3. I got tired of not being able to quickly locate exactly the tip I was looking for, so I recently bought a cabinet designed for holding screws, washers, etc. in the hardware department at WM. I absolutely love it! I took my label maker to label the contents of each drawer (rose tips, star tips, small, medium and large rounds, etc. Mine even has four larger drawers that I use to hold couplers/rings and various size decorating bags...best $10 I ever spent on cake decorating!)

I don't like the bands for the rolling pin, because they slip off (at least when I use them) In the hardware store, with the dowels, there are metal dowels-square metal rods of various sizes. they work great for measuring the thickness of rolled items. And they don't roll around like wooden dowels can. The larger ones (3/4 inch) work great for candy barriers. You pay $60 - $100 if you order ones made for candy.

I've been swamped for the last couple of days; Mommy Duty, event planning and making easter goodies for church children. I hate to even ask what I missed!!

I do not think these have been mentioned yet

Shower caps or hats to cover bowls. I always ask friends to bring these home when they stay in hotels. I use good quality ones for larger bowls.

tiles for buttering royal icing

old picnic cooler to carry all my cake decorating tools when I demonstrate

I carve out dowelling rods to get texturing tools

Fiskar roller cutter for trimming fondant. The textured blades make lovely trimmings for inscription

Children's buttons for impression and embossing

Dental silicone for making moulds (sorry molds for anyone outside uk)

Thank you all for such great ideas! I am gonna steal my son's playdoh toys as soon as I finish this post.

Since I first started baking/decorating cakes for other people 18 to 20 years ago, I've hated those awful cardboard cake boxes and cake boards that every bakery uses.

So, being a recycler, I went to WalMart and looked for a reusable substitute. I discovered that clear plastic Rubbermaid Blanket Storage Boxes could be flipped over and used for see-thru cake boxes that could be used indefinitely. And little kids can look at the cake, but can't touch until time to serve.

I have about 16 now of the large size boxes that I use for half sheet cakes and larger shaped cakes, and a dozen smaller size for quarter sheets and smaller shaped cakes. Each is about 6 inches deep. And I have a couple of deeper ones for when I have a taller cake, or a cake with tall decorations. My DH cuts plywood cake boards for me which I cover with white Contact, and then foil. The Contact lasts a long, long time, and only needs to be wiped off with a damp cloth before recovering with new foil. I also supply my clients with a smooth edged cake cutter/server which won't cut into my boards.

I average only about 20 cakes per month so I never run out. I have a steady, loyal group of clients and they have always returned my stuff, usually within a few days. I think over the years, those more durable boxes and boards have saved me lots of money.... money I did not have to spend for disposable cardboard boxes and cake boards. Also, I believe that our kids shouldn't have to worry tomorrow about the trash we create today. Yay for recycling!

I use the popcycle makers to store all my icing bags in while im decorating it holds 8 bages and I havent use more then 8 colors at one time on a cake yet. its great for roayl icing you put a damp paper towel in first and no dryed out tips
2) the sissors for scrapbooking with all the different edges for fondant is great. there cheap and stay in the bucket only for the fondant tools.
3) bubble wrap to store layers of flowers in a shoe size storage box so you can layer them on top of each other.

Ooh! I though of another one:

EGG CARTONS! (various sizes, various uses)

...as stated on here before they can be used as flower formers once they have been properly cleaned!

But...the smaller cartons, 12 or 18 ct., can also be used to store and transport miniature muffins or decorated cupcakes. When closed, the top is just right to cover the icing without messing it up. (I also use these to transport deviled eggs. Just cut the eggs in half while standing on end instead of lengthwise. Quick, easy and disposable! That way I don't have to remember to get my container when I leave a party!)

And...the larger ones, that hold 2 1/2 dozen make great cooling racks for cakes that are still in the pan, or already boarded. I have several metal racks that I use on a regular basis. But, when I have a large # of cakes to do, they make a great addition when I run out of the traditional cooling racks, and allow the air to easily circulate around the pans. You can also lay several together for more support with the larger cakes (ie: 12x18", or I also do 2 larger "double-sheet" sizes, 15x22" or 18x24").

This is a great topic...keep 'em coming! I love to hear about all the creative uses everyone has found for ordinary objects!

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet but I use those spongy paint brushes to grease my pans. I tried the pastry brush for this but it left stringy things behind. The spongy brush works great and only cost like .99 for a bag of 4. Plus they clean up great with dish soap and hot water

Lazy_Susan

You know, I was wondering if those scrapbooking scissors would work for cutting fondant. How about RBC? I think I need to try this. It would really make some nice edges for cakes.
Thanks. Tabby

Dont know if anyone has posted this yet (this is a LONG thread!) but I also do quilting and I use my quilting rulers and squares a lot for cutting fondant (I clean them really well first...) They also help a lot in figuring out the measurements for a squares and diamonds around a cake.

I have a fairly small kitchen and I get very frustrated when my kids want to help ... before they would pull up stools up to the counter so they could reach ...but that only meant that they got in the way and I couldn't get stuff out of the cabinets as I needed to .... so now I pull out the sofa tv tables the kind that fold away ... I put the the tables in the middle of the room so anyone can move arround them ... the kids can reach easy

I went to get pvs for a rolling pin, and couldn't find the rubber things that someone else suggested, so I got two of the caps that fit on the end of the pvc. They are about 1/8 inch thick, and still keep the fondant an even thickness...plus, they fit tight so they won't slip off!

so funny jen I just did the same thing!!!!!

Are these brushes easy to clean after using for shortening? I usually use a paper towel or napkin to grease my pans, but it is so messy. I really like this idea much bettter.
Thanks for the tip.
Tabby