Just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to get straight sides on a cake, especially square cakes? Thank you so much!!

Practice...That's all I can say...and a good icing that smooths really nice.

Get Sharon Zambito's DVD on icing cakes. You need to buy a metal bench scraper that you can heat up, and your icing needs to be soft enough to work with. Sharon's DVD is REALLY helpful.

Ditto on the bench scraper and the practice. Once I discovered the bench scraper, I didn't have any problems. I started out with a metal one, then tried a plastic one. I liked the plastic one better, but it's all personal preference.

here's a thread with a link to some photos of how I ice squares and corners:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6968350.html#6968350

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your advice!!