I am an intermediate decorator and want to become better. I have been getting more orders for cakes. SO my question is: what tools do y'all have that you would consider "necessary"? I have some things, but I go to my cake decorating store and ther are so many great things to buy and so little money!
Can you tell me what you can't live without? Also, what size pans should a person have as a basic arsonal?
Thanks,
Stephanie
That depends what your style of decorating would be..as for i am strictly Fondant only, therefore all my tools are Fondant tools.
But a set of diff sizes spatulas would be useful no matter what type of icing, a nice/good turn table, a lot disposable piping bags and tips, and a few rolling pins (for Fondant). As for me I have a lot of Fondant molds. 
Good luck
a good set of round pans, many sizes and sheet cake pans - also different sizes.
My Ateco turntable, spatulas, KA, 9-in pans, ¼ sheet pan, ½ sheet pan and lots of decorating tips and bags. Also my Viva papper towels! But my most important tool for cake decorating is CC!!!! They are ALWAYS here to help. HTH, Kristen
I have always found the best thing to do, is buy things as you need them for a cake. Yes you should have some basics, but if you are an intermediate, you should have those already. Basics for me:
Turn table
spatulas
bags and tips
cake leveler (can't for the life of me level a cake with just a knife)
sheet cake pans in all sizes
squares and rounds in a veriety of sizes.
Not necessary but nice to have
Basic odd shaped pans: the doll pan both sizes, the sports ball, book pan, cross, and horse shoe.
I do buttercream and fondant too. Here are my necessities:
-disposable bags
-parchment to make bags for those "little jobs"
-fondant smoother - to smooth buttercream as well as fondant
-VIVA for smoothing buttercream (use fondant smoother with it)
-cake leveler (small one)
-various sizes of round pans
-sports ball pan (I've never made a sports ball but I've used 1/2 of it several times)
-fondant cutters from Wilton
That's all I can think of at the moment.
And definitely keep an eye out for Michael's, AC Moore and Hobby Lobby coupons. At least one of them has one each week for 40-50% off. Great when buying pans. I think AC Moore accepts their competitor's coupons and beats them by 10%. You can print Hobby Lobby coupons online.
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