Taking a "mental health day" off from work today, mostly to cook a lasagne and decorate a cake for my one son's birthday (but the boss thinks I have a stomach virus).....and I was wondering...... how you all find time to make and decorate such beautiful cakes; and how you find the time to do practice cakes! Working full time really puts a crimp in my experimenting (although folks at work love the results when I do), and I am in total awe of all of you who can just whip up cakes and decorate at any time. What's your secret? Pre-baked cakes just waiting in the freezer, with bowls of icing just hanging around waiting for a chance to decorate? I need my day to be a good 12 hrs. longer to get in both my work and hobbies! 
I'd like to know too..... so I'm bumping you to the top! 
I have always baked, made frosting, and decorated in one day. Everytime I do this I find myself completely stressed out, so from now on I am planning ahead. I am making cakes and freezing them for the cakes I will be decorating within the next month. I am also making frosting and freezing it. That way when the day comes all I have left to do is decorate a/k/a PLAY!!!
Um, I'm crazy! 
That is what I boil it down to. I work full time, teach two nights a week, have three kids and all that comes with them. I tend not to get a lot of sleep, but to me it is all worth it. Cake decorating is a hobby for me right now and I enjoy all the pleasures and pains that go with it--including the lack of sleep. (Okay, I really don't enjoy the lack of sleep, but deal with it. 
) Oh, And I usually take a bunch of sick and vacation days to do cakes!
I usually get my orders a week in advance and sketch out the design for the cake, which includes the colors and all little details of the cake.
I make my frosting and color it the first night, then I bake the cake on the second night. I usually decorate the cake on the third night. Doing all of this in one day just seems impossible to me unless I get a babysitter, a husband sitter, a house sitter and a shrink!
I tend not to get a lot of sleep
With her limited sleep, Missy has sweet dreams of Legolas/Orlando 
Who wouldn't? 
I don't think I particularly qualify for this thread but I will say, I did a bumch of cakes and icings in one day to freeze and it made practicing sooo much easier--I loathe doing all of that in one day.
I bake my cake, cool, and wrap the layers in clean towels overnight.
Next day fill, frost and smooth icing.
And on the third day...decorate...
(Not having kids at home helps...and working from home helps too.)
With her limited sleep, Missy has sweet dreams of Legolas/Orlando
Who wouldn't?
LMAO! 'Tis so true though! My office at work is decked out with Legolas everywhere--including a life-size cut-out poster board! So I get to take lots of cat naps at work and enjoy!
Hi
I make my icing ahead of time and normally about 2 batches. If I'm decorating for the weekend I leave the icing in the fridge else it goes into the freezer. I'm still nervous about freezing cakes so that I do a day before I want to decorate. On the day that I want to decorate, that is all I want to do. The last 3 cakes I did, I coloured the icing on the day of decorating and even doing that extra bit annoyed me.
Oh and just to add, my DH is really great when it comes to baby sitting my 2 DD's when I have a cake due and that helps a whole lot.
I have kids at home so I have to try to do cakes while taking care of them. I usually bake, fill, and crumb coat two days before event, day before I frost stack and decorate, and the day of I usually just add any decorations that are flowers, fondant, etc. I do most of my cakes from scratch and I just prefer not to freeze my cakes so this works for me.
okay, I hit submit before I was done. I usually bake one day and decorate the next. I start my icing once I have a cake in the oven. This also gives me time to stop and spend time with my babies, I don't honestly leave them in front of the TV all day. I also crumb coat, come back ice, come back and decorate. but i do have a lot of time since i only work 2 days.
Plan plan plan! Like this week there's an "unbirthday" potluck at work (We usually have a birthday potluck every month, but no one has a bday this month). So I decided to make a topsy turvy cake.
Bought ingredients on Saturday, buying box and cake boards today, making MMF tonight, baking and making tomorrow night, and decorating Thursday night. Makes life easier.
Also a tip, if you've found any bakery where you love their icing, they will probably sell you a big tub of it. That would cut down on having to make icing. I buy Rich's Bettercreme whipped icing from Sam's. Wish I had bought their But-r-cream icing so I didn't have to make any tomorrow, but I'll live 
Like I've said before, why can't the cakes just bake and ice themselves so all we have to do is the fun part? hehe
I stay home with my kids so that helps. I've gotten them so they love watching me, they're 3 and 7 so they can play on their own too. I always bake the day before so the cake is completely cool.
My oldest likes to help pick up, he sneaks licks from empty bowls and squeezes out the icing from the tubes.
Like Sun33082, I plan, plan, plan. I don't have a husband or children but I do work full-time. I tell people that because I do work full-time, I need 2-3 weeks notice.
I make a list of everything I need for the cake and make sure I have it/buy it at least a week before. The weekend before, I bake the cake and put it in the feezer and make my icing and put it in the frig. I also cover the cake board and get the cake box ready.
Two days before it is due, I pull the cake out of the freezer and icing from the frig before going to work. I fill and crumbcoat that night. The next night, I ice and decorate.
Doing it this way, cuts way down on the stress level.
I work full time and now decide to go back to school. My husband is to watch the kids a few nights a week. I just plan I mainly to cakes for family. I have my niece cake for the 8/27. 3/4 of the cake is baked and in the freezer for the last two weeks. This weekend I need to finish the last 10". Frosting I make can be made a month or two ahead of time. decorations are made in advance. Then I start putting it together without going crazy. If you look at my photos the dragon was started Thursday night with a crumb coat, and thick layer of frosting. Scales were put on Friday night and finish face Saturday morining and cooked and clean for the party on Sunday. No cake was left. So you can do step ahead of time to make it easier for you.
Good luck.
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