I hate to be dramatic but I mean it! I am brand new to decorating and a good friend of mine just asked me to do her daughter's 3rd birthday cake 
I was really shocked because I have only done a few cakes for my immediate family and this friend has only seen my cookies, not even cakes. I am a bundle of nerves now, I am not good enough for this yet 
I see things here about FBCT and edible images, I don't even know how to do that. She is doing a disney princess theme for 10-12 kids plus parents. Oh please someone help me, I am a wreck. The party isn't until the beginning of Feb so I have a little time to practice. Any ideas, tips, advice??? Anything? I'd be so embarassed if she hated it 
Thanks
Sue
your pics are beautiful, i am sure you will do fine. you could consider doing a barbie cake. you can make the skirt from a pyrex bowl or i use my pampered chef mix, measure, and pour.
looks to me you won't have any problems your well on your way nice cakes in you photos have to start somewhere she a good friend so you'll be fine. Check the galleries here on CC you'll be able to find a princess cake there to help you out.
Remember, stick to the basics. If you can use a round tip, you can use an open star tip. Make a batch of decorator icing and practice piping (flip a cake pan over and do it up) for at least 1/2 hour a day. Look at easy designs, like for kids cakes, etc. and don't worry about doing a mini-wedding cake for a 7-year-old's birthday (like I did last summer...) 
Stick to what you know and you won't go wrong. By the way, I did a cake for a kid last summer that looked like a flowerpot with butterflies. It's in my pix. Very easy to do -- simple techniques and lots of color. That's what kids like! You'll do fine!! 
I'm sorry, I have to ammend my previous comment -- I just looked at your cakes and you have NOTHING to worry about at all!! You are extremely talented, especially for a beginner. Yes, you have a long and glorious career in cakes ahead of you! 
Your cakes are great I am sure you will do great. I have attached a link to some great Disney Princess cakes I came across in the gallery.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&meta=search&type=full&search=Disney+Princesses
I haven't tryed FBCT yet but if you find good images online you can take the pic to a grocery store to make an edible image. Not all stores will do it but I know my local Giant will copy them for $10 a sheet.
Good Luck!
I did a Disney princess cake (in my photos) using the DecoPac plastic cake kit. It came with plastic figures of Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, & Belle and it also has instructions. You can usually find these kits at cake supply stores or online (CC might even have it!). If your that nervous, I think it would be a great starter cake. You are well on your way to making great cakes (as you already have some in your photos) and this would be a good way to practice some more basic techniques.
Just a thought! I am sure whatever you decide, you'll make it great!
HeatherMari
As everyone else has noted, you have done a beautiful job with your cakes. I know it's a stresser right now, but you'll see, you'll get through it fine, and then you'll have a lot more confidence for the next one. 10-12 is a good size to start. Just hang in there and have fune with it. BTW -- an edible image is the easiest thing to do! And, an FBCT isn't that complicated either. You'll get them no problem! Sarah
You will do fine. You have until Feb. to practice. My first cake for other then family was a FBT and they loved it. Just do something simple. Maybe see if the mom wants to get the girl a princess barbie and make her a doll cake. If you don't have the wondermold pan use a pyrex bowl. Or you could just do a FBT of a crown with maybe the princess names written next to it or maybe even figures of the princess (you can find them at the stores, my little girl even has a polly pocket princess). Maybe a castle. Wilton has castle pans. You could do that and just fill it in with stars. Again you will be fine.
If you go to the articles section, there are great tutorials about how to do a Frozen Buttercream Transfer, and on how to use an edible image. A FBCT is just a fancy way of saying "tracing a picture in buttercream icing and plopping it on your cake." An edible image is basically a printout of a computer image onto a frosting sheet with special edible ink that you can also plop onto your cake and it "melts" into the frost so you can eat it.
The doll cake is a nice idea, too. You can put that on a small sheet cake if you need to have more cake. Other people have simply cut pictures of princesses out, and laminated them, and displayed them around the cakes they decorate. You could make one look like a castle, put the laminated pictures sticking out of cupcakes, and then remove them before eating. You could also use the Cinderella cake pan - you just have to use the star pan and follow the lines and fill in! Or you could find a picture of Cinderella, or sleeping beauty, or the disney princesses, and try a FBCT. There are lots of options. Search the galleries for princess, or disney, or cinderella, and see the different things that have been done, and pick something you feel comfortable tackling. You are talented, so you will be able to do whatever you set your mind to doing!
i have a suggestion, beings you are such a whiz kid on the cookie thing. why don't you make a couple of cookies for the top of the cake that are a crown and maybe a sceptor decorate it all up like you did your fashion cookies and then individually package the rest of the batch for the girls to take home as treats for later. You'll do just fine hun. decorate the rest of the cake with flowers and leaves and swirls n stuff.
Thank you guys so much for your encouraging words, I am starting to calm down 
I am thinking of either trying a FBCT for the first time or just going with an edible image, is that wimping out ? I read the tutorial on the FBCT but I still am confused a bit 
on which colors would have to go down first etc when filling in the back. Would this be too hard for a beginner using the disney princesses? They have and awful lot of detail.
OK, so where would I get the edible imagine anyway? Would sugarcraft have it? Which do you guys think would be easier for a beginner to do , FBCT or edible image? I am still not sure of the design around this picture either. I have to look in the gallery for some ideas
chaptlps
You made me chuckle with the "cookie whiz". I was actually thinking something similar with cookies being the favor for the girls to take home, I don't want to step on my friends toes though and take over the planning Do they sell crown cookie cutters? I have the tiara one or is the crown sort of the same, for boys I mean.
Thanks guys! You always calm me down 
Thank you guys so much for your encouraging words, I am starting to calm down
I am thinking of either trying a FBCT for the first time or just going with an edible image, is that wimping out ? I read the tutorial on the FBCT but I still am confused a bit on which colors would have to go down first etc when filling in the back. Would this be too hard for a beginner using the disney princesses? They have and awful lot of detail.OK, so where would I get the edible imagine anyway? Would sugarcraft have it? Which do you guys think would be easier for a beginner to do , FBCT or edible image? I am still not sure of the design around this picture either. I have to look in the gallery for some ideas
chaptlps
You made me chuckle with the "cookie whiz". I was actually thinking something similar with cookies being the favor for the girls to take home, I don't want to step on my friends toes though and take over the planning
Do they sell crown cookie cutters? I have the tiara one or is the crown sort of the same, for boys I mean. Thanks guys! You always calm me down
THe FBCT can seem confusing at first, but it's really easy, and most people are surprised at the great results after their first try! PM me if I can answer any questions for you about it -- I've had great results with it.
The edible image requires NO WORK at all on your part, but looks really neat. I've only done REAL pictures of people, and I had them done at our local Albertson's supermarket. It cost about $15.00. I'm sure that someone here could direct you to an online site that sells edible images of characters -- or I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to look up. They are basically on a kind of sugar paper that you peel off, cut to size and place on the cake. You just have to be careful not to get it wet. There are a variety of methods to stick it down, but once it's done, you just border around it if you want and wait 1/2 or so for it to absorb into the icing. Then it becomes one with the icing and it's ready to cut. Sarah
for the FBCT, you kind of have to think of it backwards . . . . the things that you would see on the very top layer of the finished product are what you put down first. So, the black outline of a nose, or freckles on a face would go down first. Then, the color flooding of a face might be the next layer . . . your "background" colors are last.
I think the bigger the image, the easier it is to do - it isn't necessarily about the detail, but it is easier to do detail when it is larger.
Edible images are definitely not wimping out. You can order them online by sending them to sugarcraft.com or icingimages.com, but I'm not sure if they will print out disney images (because of copyright issues).
Just to add another layer of confusion, from a legal perspective, you are not supposed to use actual copyrighted images on a cake that is for sale unless you have properly licensed them . . . but the same is actually true for the FBCT techniques. All bets are off if you are just doing it for fun or giving the cakes away (personal use exception). If you are at all concerned about copyright issues, you are allowed to buy plastic toys and figurines, or laminate appropriately purchased pictures and use them as accents.
Ok everyone, i need a little more help. I met today with my friend who asked me to do her daughter's cake. Her only request was Disney Princesses, vanilla cake with chocolate pudding filling and pink colors on top. I wimping out and doing an edible image of the princesses and decorating around that. Here are my questions:
What size cake do I have to make for 50 people???? I have never done a cake for anyone before so I am so nervous. She doesn't care what shape it just has to feed minimum of 50
Also, does anyone have a really good Vanilla cake recipe??? I don't care if it is doctored cake mix or from scratch. I think i have a great chance here to get some more orders so I want it to task really good.
Lastly, she said she wanted to pay me but I said no. I just feel like I am not that good and I couldn't believe she even asked me to do it. This is my first cake ever She then said she at least wanted to pay for supplies but I have no clue what to charge for that Any ideas ???
Sue
Well I can't help you with all of it, but I'd suggest going with the white almond sour cream cake. It's awesome and will make more than enough batter for a cake for 50. I've made it myself and can personally vouge for the taste.
As for paying for supplies, tell her $20 and that will pretty much cover all food and incidentals (board, box, foil...) If it bugs you that much, keep a record and round up. For example if it comes to $21.50, tell her $25 to keep it simple.
Lastly, your cakes are very good. It's your confidence that needs improving. The more cakes you do, the easier it will become and you'll find you're not sweating the small stuff. Give it time. You do good work!
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