Made By Melissa

I have wanted to take a cake decorating class for at least a year now. But between work schedules, and having a baby, it was not happenning in 2007. I had planned to take it in January, then February, but again things just kept comming up.  So finally March was my month!  I was supposed to start class last week, and I was so excited. I had gone out and bought my supplies, planned my work schedule and was good to go. Imagine my disappointment to find out the class had been canceled. It turns out I was the only person signed up for the class, so I thought I would have to wait yet another month to take it in April. But the people at Michael’s were so nice and scheduled a special class just for me on Tuesday and the schedule will resume on Thursday.

I was a little nervous about being the only person in the class, but the instructor quickly put me at ease and assured me she gets paid either way! Tonight I basically just learned about how to frost a cake so that it is smooth and also about what I will be learning about in course one and what supplies I would need.

Prior to the class, I read about Katie’s experience with class 1. She is very smart, so I took her advice and purchased the Wilton Cake Decorating Caddy and Tools kit. It’s like my own little cake decorating tackle-box! I am one of those people who has the best intentions of being organized, but am rarely able to follow-through. However, this thing makes it very easy to keep everything in it’s place. There are spots for tips/couplers, colors and some small items on top, then the bottom is open for the larger items. I also brought a small notebook as suggested and a pen to write in the actual instruction booklet with.

The caddy comes with:

• 19 decorating tips- all the ones you will need for courses 1-3
• 2 couplers
• decorating brush
• 10″ re-usable decorating bag
• practice board
• tip brush
• 4 icing colors (lemon yellow, royal blue, leaf green, Christmas red)
• 18 disposable decorating bags
• flower nail
• instruction booklet
• small angled spatula

After the class tonight, I picked up some more supplies per the recommendation of the instructor and also those things that are required for the next class.

• toothpicks and holder
• scissors
• wax paper
• 8″ round, 3″ deep cake pan
• piping gel
• 10″ cake circles
• clear vanilla and almond extract, and butter flavor
• bake-even strips- supposedly these help the cake bake evenly, resulting in moist, level cakes
• cake icer tip and 16″ re-usable bag to put it in
• icing colors ( no-taste red, violet, kelly green)
• 4-pack of couplers
• small containers for frosting
• revolving cake stand

Total cost for everything so far is around $75. The caddy was $50, but I used a 40% off coupon for that. I also used a 40% off coupon for the most expensive item tonight and the 10% off coupon you get on all cake supplies for taking the course. The cost of the class was $17.50 this month, normally $35, but I guess at different Michael’s, they charge different rates.

The next class we (I) will be making the “rainbow” cake. I am not really sure what I am going to with this cake, but I am looking forward to finally decorating a cake!

Sorry this turned into such a long blog entry, but I found these posts very helpful when I was looking into taking the course, and it is also a way for me to keep track of things!