Hi all! I'm very new to all this, and feel free to giggle and my newbie questions 
Has anyone used store bought frostings to decorate? My hubby does not like buttercream frosting. Just wondering if there is any paticular reason why store bought frosting doesnt work? Can anyone explain these to me, what they are or how to do it....(giggle away) 
1. Crumb coating
2.Smooth buttercream frosting (i dont have the right tool...i use a butterknife to frost and it leaves those litle creases everywhere......)
3.Filling in a shape that's been piped on...outline it, and smooth icing into the middle of the shape? Mine always looks crappy when i do that....I need advice
Any other basic frosting advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance! 
crumb coating is spreading a thin layer of icing over your cake. This prevents those nasty crumbs from appearing in your final layer!!! You want to spread the thin layer over all of your cake and the put it in the frig for a bit so that it sets up
I have never used the canned frostings but I have seen a few who have on this site. If you go to the recipe section of this site, it has TONS of different icing recipes and haven't had one so far that was bad!!!
If you do a search on this site, there have been several posts about how to smooth out your icing. Using the viva towel method works great as well as a small sponge roller that you would paint with, which was recently shared (and is WONDERFUL!!!). You always want to leave your icing set up a bit before you use either method.
I think your cakes are very nice! I'm also brand new at this but I'll try to answer your questions. Crumb coating is just slapping on a thin layer of icing so that the crumbs are kind of glued together. To smooth out your icing, you'll probably need to get rid of the butter knife. I use the wilton metal spatula thing with the black handle and it works well. After my icing has kind of crusted over I dip my spatula in hot water and shake it off a but and run it over the icing, it smooths it out pretty well.
I have heard that the only store bought frosting you can use to decorate is Wilton Frosting - but I have never tried either.
I wonder this myself, because sometimes, I just dont feel like making frosting. I also wish they would start selling tubs of colored frosting to decorate with - ah wouldn't that be nice....
I've never tried piping with store bought frosting but I dont think it's stiff enough to hold a shape. As far as getting it smooth most people use a crusting buttercream and let it crust then use either a viva paper towel to smooth or Melvira's foam roller methed, however, the store bought frosting would stick to the paper towel or the roller so that's not an option. You could pick up a large spackling knife at Home Depot or Lowes and give that a try but I'm not sure if that would work either. I think your options are limited with the frosting you are using.
My DH also only likes canned frosting! I have made so many different recipes and he's always like "No......" so I finally said "whatever" & don't make him cakes anymore! I make for everyone else 
However, for his birthday I did make him what he calls "a plain chocolate cake" using canned frosting. It does not crust so you cannot smooth it out with parchment paper or VIVA towel. I ended up doing a basketweave and it was very soft. You may want to chill the can a little first and see if that helps with the softness of it.
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