I've been on here for a little bit. I do not have any professional training, but I love to decorate cakes. I've taken a few "Wilton" cake courses but I don't have a lot of time to do formal education because I am a full-time manager in the food industry.

Many of you have such talent and art. I would love to do this full-time and get out of the restaurants....I don't think I'm bad at decorating, but I do know I have a long way to go.....

How did you all get where you are? Formal education? Understudy? Practice (obviously)?

I "semi-professional" meaning I rent a commercial kitchen,but can't affoed my own place yet..I had an investor interested however I have three very small children and I just don't have the time yet to start a full blown shop ( but the SECOND my youngest steps foot in kindergarten I am going for it)...Anyway I am completely self taught..I have been cooking and baking since I was three years old (seriously my grandmother could tell you stories lol!) I also used to really enjoy sculpting with clay making masks and such..I guess over time I kind of married them both in to cake decorating. I watched a lot of you-tube and researched quite a bit. I still have a lot to learn, as there are always new techniques out there..but this is my passion and I want to continue to learn and improve as long as I am able

Originally, from watching my mother in the early '70s.

Midlate '70s, self-taught from Wilton yearbooks.

Late '70s, from making wedding cakes on my own, and having a job working as the cake decorator.

Early '80s, several more jobs as cake decorator.
(if you put in the time, speed and skills follow, and you'll never regret the experience that you'll gain.)

Just practice, practice, practice. If you want to take a class of some sort, try art ones. The painting, arranging, and modeling skills are invaluable and they type of class shouldn't be hard to work into your schedule. I went to for-reals pastry school and I wouldn't change it.... but they only decoration they taught me how to make was a rose (buttercream, gumpaste, and sugar). Those schools are more about learning the insides. Everything else was just practice.

Some of the ones from television, like Duff Goldman, attended culinary school but others like Buddy Valastro didn't. I think he learned from working in his family's bakery. I would love to go to culinary school but i've already have one degree i'm making payments on, so for me, I learn from tutorials online like the ones on this site as well as youtube.