I really wanna do embossed fondant for cupcakes or cakes but the impression mats are just... too pricey for me. i wonder if anyone has ever made their own or improvised?

I'm gonna try if i can make a design on acetate using a glue gun and use that on fondant BUT the lines won't be as thin and delicate or intricate as the ones I've seen. Will cookie cutters work?

TIA!

Have never worked with the mats either due to the cost. So I would love to know if it's possible to make your own. I have been thinking about bubble wrap but I was thinking of using it for the geletin bows.
I do think you're on the right track but how would you use the cookie cutters?

just make up your own design by lightly pressing cookie cutters onto the fondant?

i just saw a video where she used putty to make some texture sheets. really looked good. there are some food safe putty apparently, i googled it.

i also wonder if it would be doable to make long thing snakes out of gumpaste using a clay gun and use that to trace over a pattern. i just don't know if the gumpaste will stick to acetate and dry. i cannot try this however since i am broke and can't buy ingredients for gumpaste.

I think that it depends on the type of decorations you want. But it sounds interesting

here's the link to the video

That was a cool video but how about using your own play-dough? Or there is a bread dough that you make from glue and bread. Understand the broke part, always in that boat! If you try this I really want to know if it works PM me would you?

Cookie cutters would work. It might be a little time-consuming if you were doing a large piece.

I don't have any impression mats either because of the price, but I've improvised with silicone trivets and with textured placemats. The placemat worked great...it was bumpy and we were making a snake and it came out looking just right. I do have a textured rolling pin (the wilton one with the spirals) and I find a lot less occasions to use it than I thought I would.

I think I read once that someone made her own with acetate and royal icing. I believe she put the acetate on top of a paper pattern, then traced it with the royal. I seem to remember that it doesn't last long though as the royal can break off over time.

I havent made my own mats BUT, go to your local hardware store. there are lots of textures there. they have a steel rod with fine lines, it makes a beautiful roller with delicate design for under $1. its about 3feet long so u may want to ask them to cut. or the paint section has those steel brushes used for stripping stains. or the supermarket has scouring pads that make awesome texture for your designs of starfish, soap, towels, rugs. we should start a thread on that...everyday ideas for textures under $2.

This is a very interesting topic! =o) I can't wait to hear what everyone else says!

Any suggestions for the texture of moss?

Sorry to be hijacking....

I have seen at Michaels impression mats for clay and embossing mats for scrapbooking. They are on the small size but cheaper than the large impression mats. I believe they would be perfect for cupcakes.
I have made the royal icing impression mat and found that it does not work that great on fondant, it works better on bc. Jaime

Moss??? Would those blue plastic scouring pads for dishes work?

I have used the scrapbooking paper embossing tools. Fiskars(sp) has some that are pretty cool.

I guess this is on topic....There was a guest on the Martha Stewart Show last week that has made a two-part food-safe clay. Once you mix the parts to a consistent color, you can mold anything. It dries in approx one hour and is ready for use. He used it for chocolate candy molds on the show, but it could be used for anything. I was quite impressed with the presentation. I am sure it could be flattened and used to make an impression mat. I have no idea what the cost of the clay is, but I am sure it is linked to her site.

I am will also be watching for other suggestions, good post!

Go to the Dollar Store, and get some rubber stamps...... they work GREAT, and some on them are like 2 for a dollar !

Try placemats, heavily textured fabric and textured glass vases. Look around the house for texture and try it.

still googling... has anyone tried the cuttlebug embossing folders? they have awesome designs and are less than $5 each. you just roll your fondant thin, place it on top and roll your rolling pin to get the design.

Earlene sells the impression matts for like 6.00 each. Someone on here has her website I'm at a loss for it now. Any of the cuttlebug or fiskers impression things will work though I've tried both.

if you look around your house i think i can find alot, small bubble wrap greased. it's funny when i started henna, i started seeing the patterns all around even in cake decorating i think i mentioned going to the henna tribe and seeing the designs. i've looked at the mats on line and they are expensive i book mark alll kinds of pages and found one that's realy reasonable i'll look it up. how about the ripples on paper plates, you know the old shower mats, they have them at the dollar store, they have allot there, bamboo place mats, i love fondant i just fiiished my first wllton course but have made alot of gumpaste flowers, and figurines, i still can't get the bc rose i bet i've made over 100. i was making them big and in class she made really little ones
i just can't get the frosting consistancy right i brought my frosting into class and she fixed it but i could hardly get it our of the tip. when i was leaving jo-ann's i found this tub of all different shapes $1.98 circles, squares, triangles, i dumped them out seperated them i tried to get them back into the container not. oh it had numbers and 2 different types of letters they have adhesive on the back but i figure i can just lay them on bc or fd get the immage, and then i got for $2.99 butterflies, ladybugs, and fireflies, i just love a bargain they had new containers marked 8 bucks. i gave the overflow to my son's soon to be step daughter i gave them to take him home he asked do these stick i said yep he's like nooo, i made him take them home lol. so now that i've rambled on, just look at everything with a texture, and the dollar stores are great.

i found a and c cake designs 5 mats for 9.99 haven't ordered from them but i think i'll try them. u could even take those clear or colored glass in the dollar store and and lay the fondant on them or use to impress on top.

I am thinking for moss I would sponge or dab the icing with a paper towel when fresh or if I'd use it to dab 'moss' on to crusted icing if that makes sense. Look in the clay section of your craft stores for impression mats. Oddly they are cheaper than when specifically marketed for cakes. Use those craft store discount coupons!!!

A few years back I was trying to do texture for a purse cake...I went to our dollar store and bought a plastic sink mat or plastic place mat and used that.

you're right. if i'm making little toppers for cupcakes, i use the rubber stamps for scrapbooking. for chinese new year, i made this for 600 cupcakes and the selection was awesome. i think it was the fiskars brand at joanns. also avail at michaels. the regular old fashioned rubber stamps sometimes work too, but you need to press hard so that is better used for a small piece that will then be cut and attached to cake. edges on these are not as sharp so dont try to press into fondant covered cake, it sometms wont work...too risky.

i found a couple small ones at hobby lobby in the clay area...where you would pick up the clay extruders...relatively inexpensive (mainly for size) but same principle. Would work well for cupcake tops i would think!
(sorry if someone already mentioned. )

For the moss question, I'd use a star tip to pull up the fondant a little bit, kind of like how Debbie Brown makes grass in her books.

different shaped and textured buttons work really well. You can get some really pretty ones!

different shaped and textured buttons work really well. You can get some really pretty ones!