I think we all feel that way, I have many cakes that I put on here that I was not pleased with but that is when you look at it and then you can figure out what you did wrong. I am sure that at every level people feel that way and if they dont well....
1 thing I do now each time I make a cake is that I critique what I did on my design sheet and I do it as soon as possible so all the ideas for making it better are fresh. It helps me think of how to do the next one better even if it's really different.
I think taking classes is a great way to learn unless there are none in your area. I know many people are in cake clubs. If you are lucky enought to know some people who are really good at it that want to let you in and check out how they decorate, that would be another way. Also I have been known to watch the decorators are the supermakets or Target just to see how and what they do. It's funny how you get a different perspective when you watch so close up.
A few other things you can do also in the practice dept. is use a cake dummy and practice while watching TV to ice and make it even.
Another practice trick I use when I have extra icing I putt out a few different size tupperware containers, I turn them over and I just doodle, I make drawings or designs, I scrape it off and start over, eventually I figure something out that I like, I either take a picture or write it down and then use it somewhere. This way you are not using cake and it's super easy to clean up.
I also will write stuff out, like Happy Birthday and stuff on tupperware so my hand/arm coordination get's used to the height of a cake. It works for me.
There have been several short clips lately that have come up. on how to cover and decorate a cake and they have been pretty good.
I also borrow books from the library and I try and copy some stuff. Figuring out the proper Icing consistency is key. Sometimes I try and make it a little less stiff and it works better to pratice roses for me.
There are so many great tips on this site. I cannot stress that enough. I started to compile a list for myself. And being able to share is good too.
I also found that "JanH" always put on great replies when she is on. She is on top of those links and always a few post sometimes many for us to check out. Thanks JanH you are really helpful.
Here I am again rambling on, I love CC.
Good Luck.
Why are there so many people from michigan responding to this LOL! Come on Michigan! Maybe we dont get enough sun and warm weather here to boost our confidence or something 
!
When I decided that I wanted to "decorate cakes for real," I also decided that the first few years I would view as my "home-schooled education." I look at every cake I do as a lesson and have found with every cake I learn something new--either something that works or something that doesn't work. On the last cake I posted, the "Brownie Wedding Cake," I actually reiced all the cakes except the pink ones. The middle layer of the brownie cake took three tries. I learned quite a bit about icing and also that I could ice and smooth almost 16 cakes in less than two days. It wasn't fun when I was doing it, but because I persevered, I got the job done. I'm not so afraid of square cakes anymore. We are constantly tempted to compare ourselves with others--I think its more productive to compare ourselves with ourselves--are we learning, are we improving? And I can't wait until the end of my "education" to see how far I've come.
Don't give up ..
Yep, I too am a stinker. Sad but true
I love to mess around with cakes though. I just wish I had a teeny tiny little bit of the talent of some of the people on CC. I look at some of these cakes on here and i'm like WOW! I could NEVER make anything that halfway looked as good as that. They say practice, practice, practice but I never get any time to practice. OH, well maybe one day.
I guess each and everyone once of us look at our cakes as a "stinker" and we look at others as WOW!!! Maybe thats the way a non decorator looks at ours... hmmm thats a thought !!! 
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