I've had someone at work ask me to do her wedding cake and I've been looking through all kinds of books and have realized that I love the look of fondant pearls. My problem right now is finances. The local cake deco shop has silicone molds for making strands of pearls but they run $38. Is there a source out there for anything cheaper? There are a few on ebay that have been running about $2 but the postage from England is $17.50 and they haven't been the size I want. Any sources out there?
The only place I've seen them is Country Kitchen SweetArt. The prices range from $18.95 to $26.00 and they have an assortment of sizes. here is the link:
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/mini.aspx?T=15&SubCatId=1284
Good luck!
Diane
I don't know how big of a cake you are making but have you thought about making your own individual beads?
Earlene Moore has a great tutorial on it http://www.earlenescakes.com/prlinstruct.htm
To make my fondant pearls, I simply use the tip of my "tips," if that makes sense! I sit in front of the TV on a slow night, roll out my fondant to the desired thickness, and grab tips #4-#12. It depends which size pearl you are wanting. I have a little bowl of cornstarch next to me, and I use my tips like a cookie cutter. Once I have cut out around 20 of them, I gently coat my palms with cornstarch and put my fondant pearls in between my palms and round out the edges. In the beginning, I rounded out 1 pearl at a time in between my index finger and thumb, but the more you do this, the more pearls you can do at once.
Voila! All uniform and perfect. I leave them out 1-2 days to dry thouroughly and I store the pearls one of those weekly medicine holder things.
Try it! It's very easy and its free! 
Besides coutnrykitchensa.com, sugarcraft.com has the bead makers. I think they are made by CK. I'd go with whichever online source is closest to you if you decide to get one (if the prices are similar) so you end up paying the least possible for shipping.
FYI, FMM makes another kind of beadmaker which sells for a lot less. I bought the 9mm one and I can't make it work. (It might just be klutzy me, though) As much as I hate spending the money for the silicone ones, in the long run, I think it is worth it. I just ordered a second size.
As for making individual pearls. I love having the individual ones and making them while watching TV is easy (and gives me an excuse to watch TV). I do think placing them in huge numbers to resemble strands of pearls around a cake can get old really fast. Free isn't really free if there is something else you could be doing with your time.
That was my original thought to have the bride pay for it. I don't think the wedding is going through so it won't happen this time around. Now that she got me all worked up planning this cake, I still want the beadmaker and want to be ready for the next time. I love the look of strands of pearls on a cake.
It always seems to me that although one can charge extra for things that take extra time or need special equipment, to actually add the cost of a pan or tool to one cake isn't really fair, since one get's to keep the pan or tool and use it again. It's just part of operating expenses.
Just my $.02 
I kind of agree with Itsacake. I once purchased some chargers that we needed for a catering job to use as decorations. Instead of charging the full price -- we charged a rental fee. It helped to pay for part of the chargers without charging the full amount to the customer.
That is true that you can use it again but if it is necessary for a specific look on a requested cake then I think that it is fair to include it into the price just as we would include the cost of dowels, stairs, boxes, delivery etc. into the final price.
Do you include the full amount of the cost or would you consider it a rental of the item? I purchase items as decorations all the time for different clients -- I'm a caterer as well as a flower designer, cake decorater and decorator. I only charge a partial amount and consider it a rental. I noticed on a subject here that someone doesn't charge the full amount for the use of a fountain but charges a rental fee with a refundable deposit. Do you do that with the stairs and other items you mentioned or do you charge the full cost?
I bought my fmm beadmaker from sugarcraft.com for less than $10.
This is just a friend at work that nailed me with an assumption that I would make her cake. "BTW, I'm getting married. I told my Mom and my sister you've got the cake covered." I think she expected it would partly be a gift so, heck yeah, I'm going to get a toy or two out of the deal and that was discussed with her up front. "I can do some really cool things but that takes toys, so howz about you buy me a couple" was a part of the original deal. 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%