I saw on a previous post that some people listed this as their favorite kitchen gadget. What is it used for?????????

I would use it for fondant. It has some great shapes you can make with it.

Believe it or not I just purchased an older sesame street kit off of ebay to make some characters I need for a cake in june! So I think it is a great idea!

I just bought the Dora Fun Factory and used it to make the characters for my Dora cake. Just use fondant or a 50/50 mix of fondant/gumpaste in place of the play-doh!

I've been looking for the one that presses the playdoh out into hair-like strands but have been having a hard time finding one. Is it me or did they stop making that?

So, do these sets have molds or just things to cut out the shapes with?

Just to let you all know, I e-mailed Play-doh a while back and asked them if you could use never-before-used w/ Play-doh tools on food items.... they didn't recommend it. I can't understand what would be wrong if you've never used it w/ Playdoh and you wash it w/ warm soapy water before using..... but I just thought I'd share that info - and maybe someone knows why they wouldn't recommend it and can let us all know. I've gotten the same response from Sculpey clay on their molds & products - however, Makin Clay said their items were food-safe if they'd never been used on clay.

I got the fun factory at Target around Christmas time. It was all of $5! I ran it through the dishwasher and though I haven't yet used it, I don't see where there would be a problem.

THANK YOU CakeDiva73...never thought to explore. I'm always is one section when I go to the craft store and when I had to do strands, Playdoh was the only thing that popped and stayed in my mind. So glad I found this site. Yeaaahhhhhh!

I LOVE my fun factory!!!!!! I use it for making ropes & borders. Came in really handy fot the tassles on the grad cap cakes.

I highly recommend it!

imartsy,

I'll bet Play-Doh didn't want to make an official statement saying that the Fun Factory because of liability issues. Their plastic is probably not food grade and the intended use isn't for food. Even if it is safe they probably couldn't officially tell you.

That being said, I admit I pulled out my kids' play-doh stuff the last time I did a tassle cake.

I can't think of any reason not to use the play-doh sets for fondant. I'll bet, because they're in the toy business, they don't dare recommend or even suggest, their product be used for food. It's made of hard plastic, doesn't sweat any type of petrolium products and that, in my book, makes it food safe. (I wouldn't recommend eating the play-doh set itself. Silly, but it sort of sounded like I was recommending the plastic, not.) I've used one for ropes and edgings and love it. Soften up the fondant before you try to extrude it. And, be sure to cover everything with Crisco. Have lots of fun.

I bought a playdoh set just for myself and fondant.It is the best $5.00 I ever spent!!!I really don't think anyone would get sick but I guess they have to cover there butts!!!

Well maybe I'm just gonna have to run out and get me a play-doh set and sculpey I guess if NO ONE on here has had issues with it - it can't be all that bad, huh? I would think there's be a major thread about it if it poisoned someone or something......

As I said before I just bought one on ebay that has Cookie Monster Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and other things for a cake in June!

Yep - I have one too. Works great and was only $5 at Target. I think they carry them all year. I also got a small cheap (like $3) clay extruder at Michael's which works great for fondant! Oh, I have the clay impression mats from Michael's too. They're a bit on the small side, but you get 4 different mats for about $5! For someone who doesn't do many cakes (like myself) these tools are fantastic and so much cheaper than the "real" thing.

Wow you guys give good ideas here!!
I'm so going to look into the playdoh!