One dd has her 14th b'day looming. I want to give her Wilton cake decorating classes as a gift plus the 4 Wilton student kits and a few other tools as her gifts. (we give big gifts for b'days here, not Christmas). We are planning on spending about $150 (not counting classes because we can pay for them every 4 weeks and they only cost about $22 here), so what do you expert types recommend? Besides the student kits I've chosen a toolkit tote for her and will make her a turntable.
What are your most valuable tools?
And! She is lefthanded - are any tools better than others for lefties?
TIA,
MZ

Some really good pans (square and round and maybe a heart or other fun shape) and a food coloring set. You can find fun pans at yard sales and on ebay. But, I would get her a brand new set of real cake pans for basic shaped cakes. Cupcakes are all the rage now, so maybe a cupcake holder and silicone bakers, too.

I decorated cakes for fun money when my kids were very little. My mother taught me. Showers was the most I would do, never a wedding. I was too chicken to worry about ruining someone's most special day.

It is a great skill to teach a child! I hope she enjoys it.

I'm a lefty! I think those icing/frosting funnels work the same way for me as they do for the righties - it's just that I have to write awkwardly (as always) to avoid smudging my writing/design once it's on the cake.

I just received a book called "Hello, Cupcake!" for Christmas. It shows adorable decorating ideas to do - requiring more creativity (on the part of the book creators!) than talent. I adore this book. I think your daughter would love this book! The pictures are beautiful, and the designs are so innovative. I agree - cupcakes are all the rage these times.

What a nice gift you're putting together! I hope she loves it!

__________________
"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

I am a lefty and cake decorate semi-pro. I taught cake decorating for 10 years. My favorite tool is the offset spatula both large and small. I would let her take the classes first and then choose the "extra" tools she will enjoy. Otherwise when the class is over she will still want to purchase some extras and you will have met your budget.
Happy Birthday!

Hit the thrifts to get all kinds of great fun cake pans! You might be able to score some decorating books too.

I never took the Wilton classes but I did do cake decorating way back in my 4-H days so I know a little bit about decorating and I have a great time with the fun shaped cake pans. They're like doing a paint by number that you can eat.

__________________
Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

We have a variety of pans, but what she's really interested in are all the artistic decorating methods. She'd love to learn how to make cakes as pieces of art w/fondant. You know those shows on FN where there are competitions for cake bakers? She loves those cakes and watching how they're done. She also loves Ace of Cakes. I have offset spatulas already, but I don't do anything other than frost cakes with em, nothing like the sort of stuff she's interested in. I liked the Wilton student kits for the classes because she'll end up w/a total of 26 tips and lots of other tools.

disposable icing bags

Maybe a gift card to get supplies to make cakes and icing?

__________________
Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

I got interested in taking the classes a few years ago (and am very far from an expert) but wish I had bought the Wilton tool caddy with one of the 40% or 50% coupons that Hobby Lobby puts out all the time and all the tools that she would almost ever need would be in that for a fraction of the price for what I paid for them. Weekly Specials : Hobby Lobby I just didn't know at the time though. I had a lot of fun doing it though.



There is a website/forum that is so addicting to go to called Cake Central.com. It has a forum tab at the top that new users can go to and ask questions and there are so so many hints/tips that the other cake decorators will give that I learned.

I hope this will help out just a little at least and maybe save you a little money .

Well good, am glad to hear that my idea to get her the caddy is a good one.The saleslady @ Michael's was wonderfully helpful also. She told me to take this week's 40% off coupon to use for the purchase of my most expensive item, then take next Sunday's (03/01) to get the second most expensive item. Her b'day is 03/-1, so this will work out well (cuz, natch. all the things I want to get for her are not sale or clearance priced). Just wish I'd thought of this earlier when I coulda used one of those coupons each week!
The student kits for each class have *everything* she will need for each class.
Don't know when #1 class starts yet, I was told to check online next weekend to see March's schedule. One of my sons has a bday later in March and I hope she'll have been able to take a few of the classes cuz I *know* she'll want to decorate his cake ;-)

Don't forget a really cute new apron... I just made my daughter a new one and she loves it(ScoobyDoo) LOL

Great idea,but already have that front covered cuz I've already given her 3 aprons , each w/name on em ;-)
I am an apron junkie ;-)

omg! my daughter(age 15 now) is exactly like your daughter. when she was recuperating from back surgery, she complained that 'there's only reruns' on the food network and aces of cakes. So after her 2nd back surgery, I bought her a ton of Wilton bake decorating items on ebay that sold as a bundle for only $63.00. the set of tips, icing bags, spatulas, rolling pin, boxes of fondants, about 8 jars food coloring, mat, cookie cutters in all differnt shapes and sizes, cookie cutter alphabets, and more! I got a steal of a deal on ebay.

just last night, she made a 3 tier cake and today she's going to cover it with fondant and experiment a little more.....

good luck! I am also going to check my Michael's to see when the next class is!


found one on ebay just now that is similar to the one I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-NEW-wilto...1%7C240%3A1318

Also, just in case this may help. The Michaels store by us will take competitor's coupons as long as they are not a "print at home" coupon like the weekly hobby lobby coupons. If you go to the JoAnn's site and sign up for their direct mailings, they will send you a 40% coupon every couple of weeks you can use as a competitor coupon at Michaels too. Joann.com: Online Shopping for Sewing, Scrapbooking, Yarn and Crafts We didn't get a paper with Michaels coupons so I had to wait for Joanns to send me some .