Hi everyone...
I thought it would be interesting to hear the stories of everyone on how they were first drawn to cake decorating. How'd it all begin for you? What was it about cake decorating that made you say I want to do that? I hope we get some really good stories!!!

Susan

my mother took the Wilton classes way back in the 70's when i was a wee little girl... she took to it very quickly.. my whole family is very artistic.. painting, ceramics etc..
so naturally she taught me things as i got older... when i was in highschool, she decided to teach the neighbor ladies and me... the women never believed that i was doing my own "homework"... my cakes were always even and looking very nice while theirs were off centered or had the dome at the top.. needless to say as i became an adult i ended up doing wedding cakes here and there.. and reading about anything i didnt know how to do.. i am now self taught on the fondant/gum paste more modern skills... again from reading and looking and testing.. my mom and i worked on my first fondant wedding cake together... she wasnt sure she'd ever do one by herself.. she's very good at the old school way.. i thought about taking a Wilton course only to get the "certificate" but not sure there's a point.. and i cant take class lll to learn more about gumpaste without class l and ll.. i think its very calming for me... like being a painter... i call myself a cake artist.. even though i still have a lot learn... i'd rather decorate than bake any day.. so there's the long and short of my story...

I think I'm going to love this thread. I got into cake decorating well over 20 years ago when my very dear friend after she gave birth to her first child. Together we concocted many cakes over the course of a few years. I chuckle now that I think of how we used to do things. We each had a very basic kit with one bag, and about 6 tips, 1 coupler & 1 wilton yearbook...which I still have! We had no BC recipe and would end up making cakes free hand all decked in stars (the only tip we ever really mastered). I should mention, neither one of us had any experience or courses under our belts. We lived in a small town at the time and became quite well known for our cakes.....to the point that the town was celebrating a big school anniversary and we were "commissioned" to make several large sheet cakes.... I don't think we ever were paid for the,....it was all for fun. We drank copious pots of coffee & smoked equal amounts of cigarettes (happy that habit is behind me!), stayed up waaaaaay too late sharing laughs adn tears as we decorated. Our friendship blossomed to a very special bond that would never have happened otherwise. I will always be very grateful to cakes for that reason. My friend and I have since parted ways in terms of distance, but she will always remain very special in my heart. Just the other day I came across some pictures (before digital photography) of some of our masterpieces! Attaching some samples... hope it works I' quit decorating for a number of years due to geography and work . The "old flame" was reignited about 4 years ao when another friend asked me to do her wedding cake out of the blue! I took the Wilton courses and consider myself a very amateur decorator with much to learn. That's why I love this site so. I have 3 wedding cakes to do for family next summer and already I'm losing sleep over them......

Wishing everyone at CC a blessed and peaceful Christmas Seaon!

Lil

I got started when a lab mate brought in these beautifully decorated cakes that she decorated herself. This got me inspired to take the Wilton classes. This was about a year and a half ago. The rest is history.

I think you should check out this thread:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-8779-.html
It has many facts about the CC members and many talk about how they got started. It's a very long thread, but a very good read.

I am very new to this but it is odd how obsessed I have become about decorating in a few weeks. I found a 2005 Wilton Yearbook at my local dollar store and looked through it and thought I can do some of these cakes. Well another little voice said thats really stupid to waste money on that, your not the least bit creative. But its only a dollar. You don't have time for this. I swear I really tried to talk myself out of purchasing the book but here I am. I made a cake for my family on Thanksgiving and everyone was very supportive of my new hobby.

a boy of four starts to learn to cook (and bartend ).
baking a BIG family tradition...he takes to it naturally
many years of baking and cooking go by with nor formal training and lots of experiments...even figured out how to use a ziplock baggy w/ no tip to decorate cakes.

then finally takes a class...and....

In 1980, my husband bought me a Wilton Starter Kit with blue plastic tips and a thin instruction booklet. I made a two tier anniversary cake for his parents and I've been decorating cakes ever since.

BTW, the blue plastic tips outlasted the marriage!

Funny though, we have a son who is now almost 21 yrs. old. Just a few days ago, he asked me what inspired me to decorate cakes. The look on his face was priceless when I said, "your dad".

I got started two years ago. I always like baking but never took any classes. I was a stay at home mom until one day my boys grow up and I had no one to drive to school or pickup my husband was always working. So I got a dog and took the Wilton courses I like it so much I became a Wilton instructor.

I just got started like 4 moths ago, I had a baby and decided to stay home with him, but after 7 months or so of just staying home I needed to get out at least for two hoursa week, so wilton came handy to me. At the same time the main reason was my baby, I wanted a special cake for him every year. His bday is in 3 days so, the Im working now on the main reason of my new passion...cake decorating (this is addictive) I can stop thinking in my baby and the cake that Im going to make for Him someday...love , love , love .

These stories have been fabulous! I hope more people share their stories with us. I've enjoyed reading each and every one.

I got into cake decorating completely by accident. I saw the poster up at the local Michael's store and couldn't stop looking at the fabulous cakes created by students after just one course! And I thought Hey! I could do that! So I signed up purely out of jealously of other people's cakes and the rest, as they say, is history.

I was always interested in it. My uncle is, was, a baker and I always remeber loving to watch him decorate. I think like alot of others I REALLY started looking into it after my second (supposedly last.... NOT) was born and I had given up everything I was and had before being a mom that I was searching for some me time. I remember going to JoAnn's, not sure for what now, but grabbing one of there brochures and looking through it at home and saying, "I'm taking one of these classes." I saw the Cake Classes and signed up. It's been an obsession since then, can't get enough. That was about 5 years ago. I teach the Wilton Classes and enjoy reading and buying and trying anything I can. One day I plan on making money at it!

Vitade, I agree...earning money doing something you really love to do is rare....

that would be a dream come true!

I remember with I was around 10 years old, our neighbor would decorate cakes at home(they were beautiful) weddings cakes and she made me a barbie cake. I would love to go to her house and watch her decorate. When I was 18 I took classes at a cake shop and was hooked ever since(I am now 43). I would do cakes now and then but started back up when my 13 year old daughter wanted to take classes at Michaels. She took all 3 but really doesn't like to practice so I'm back to decorating myself.
So now I decorate when everyone is asleep, it's relaxing for me.

I got started a year ago now. It happened when I bought a cake decorating book that had some really easy kids cakes in it because my friend wanted me to make her daughters b-day cake. After I did the cake everyone said you should really get into making cakes so I signed up the next week for the Michaels Wilton courses.
my pinata cake was the first cake I made - the kids still talk about to this day!!!

I started when I was about 4. My grandmother had her own catering business and would let me "help" When she was making a cake, I always got to add the eggs, and vegetable oil, etc. into her kitchenaid.

When I turned 7, she made a 6"round cake and I got to decorate it. It's funny, she's got a photo of it, I should ask her to send it to me!

Robyn

I have been cooking and baking my whole life, and when my daughter was born I really started trying to perfect my craft. I have been making cookies/pastries/candies every holiday season since 1992. Last summer I saw a cake decorating flyer when I went into Michaels to get some kintting yarn (yes, I knit too...but only with the knifty knitter...heheheh ) anyway, the pictures of the beautiful cakes got me started. Unfortunately, my Wilton instructor is not "Wilton Trained" so she doesn't teach the Wilton Methods and I completed course one feeling like an idiot....so I am on my own trying to learn. I am practing course one techniques and starting to learn course two. I bought the book and the kit @ Joann's (they don't offer classes here in Oregon @ JoAnn's) and I am taking off with it! Hoping one day to make a business out of it!

Okay, this is going to be kind of long (I think!). About 3 years ago, I wanted a special cake for my husband's birthday. He is a firefighter and I thought it would be cool to have a firetruck cake. We had just moved in our house a few months before and were planning our wedding so we had little money. I found the Wilton firetruck pan and bought some premade icing and everything I needed and made it myself. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and it took forever to cover that thing in stars, but I loved it! And my husband loved it and my family commented on how good it was. Well, I didn't even think of taking it on as a hobby or anything, it was just a one time deal. I didn't make anymore cakes until the following year in the Spring. My best friend had mentioned that she had always wanted to take the Wilton cake classes at Michaels (I didn't even know they existed or what Wilton was) and would I be interested in taking them too. Well, I got the class for her as a birthday gift and her and I and my mom took Course 1. Our instructor was a little lax on the Wilton Method but I loved the class! My family is pretty artistic and I have always been into art and drawing so I took to it pretty quickly. Well, my friend never finished the rest of the courses because she didn't think she had the knack but my mom and I finished all three courses together and my instructor mentioned that I should consider doing this professionally. I was so flattered! From then on, I have been obsessed with cakes! I get as many books as I can (I have a HUGE wish list on Amazon!) and look at tons of websites (so glad I found this one!). I try to teach myself new things and experiment. I am starting to really love sculpted cakes and working with gumpaste and fondant for making figures. I make as many cakes as I can for friends and family and am starting to get outside orders to from word of mouth. It is still just a hobby at home but my goal is to have my own shop or at least work as a fulltime cake decorator for someone.
Sorry this was so long!
Heather

First off, I'll admit I am young (25). I have always been a baker at heart...starting when I was wee one. Made my first cake by myself at 7. Anyway, when I was 11 (1992), a homeschool mom in the area was offering cake decorating classes, so I jumped on it. Made cakes for every occasion you can imagine for a few years! Anyway, didn't touch my stuff from 17-24 (college, getting married, having a baby, you know...minor stuff). Then a friend was having her first baby and I out of the blue offered to do the cake! Coulnd't believe how fast everything came back...and how much better I was after not doing anything for 7 years! Hmm... I decided to take Wilton II and III earlier this year thinking I may want to teach...which I have decided not to for now because I started another home business...but I did learn a few good skills.

I have pictures of every cake I've ever made...kind of fun.

These are all great stories!!! Keep'em coming... There is only one post that scares me. It is the latest one from Cakeasyoulikeit because she has a cake with a BIG 50 on it and it has MY NAME ON IT!!! It's not time for that yet!!! lol Just kidding. I think the cake is very beautiful.

My friend wanted to make some extra money, so she wanted to take a Wilton Course 1 cake decorating class. However, she is also very shy, so she employed me to go with her. I really got into it and was making several cakes to practice with a week and giving them to co-workers. My friend ended up dropping out, and I stayed and finished all 3 courses! She sure is upset now that she quit since she's seen my cakes, but no harm no foul, I'm making her wedding cake!

I took a class at the local senior complex, no I am not a senior LOL. They offered them to the public. I really just wanted to learn how to make roses LOL. I liked it so much I took the classes for wilton.
Judy

I am 46 and cake decorating is my hobby. My love for cake decorating started when I was about 13 or 14. I bought a beginers set from a hobby store. I made my paerents 25th anniversary cake in 1983. And now in 4 more years I will be working on my 25th anniversary cake. Over the years I have collected the Wilton yearbooks. I have most of the Mailbox News that have been published. The older issues were better. And I have most of American Cake decorating magazines. I am still stubborn and prefer buttercream decorating. I am sure it will be popular once again. I have made a fondant bow. But I prefer working with buttercream.

Back in 1999 when i was in 7th grade, the school actually had a course in cake decorating. It caught my attention and when i finished the 8 week class I was hooked! Later on I went through all the Wilton Courses. I sold my first cake when I was 14. Later after turning I turned 17, I put together my first wedding cake! I call myself "the cake diva"..I'm addicted to cake decorating!

My experience all started when i was 7yrs old. I would get to go to work with my mother sometimes who was a baker/cake decorator. I remember sleeping on the big flour bags (because it was so early in the morning), and getting to help fill the doughnuts (to maximum capasity, no less). It actually took me until the beginning of this year (28 years later), to realize that i too inherited my mother's passion and creativity for decorating cakes. My mother gave me a couple of lessons this spring and i found that i not only loved to decorate but also loved the result of making people happy or surprised by what i had done for them. I have since read up on different cake books to learn new techniques and also just went for it when i wanted to learn something new, just deciding to be fearless and give it a try. Cake central has been such a constant inspiration and wealth of knowledge, i think my husband is soon to qualify me as a cake info. junkie since i am on here (seems like all the time) reading up on answers & stories to questions others are asking that i have as well. It is nice to know that there is a group of people that share in the same passion as you do and who all come together and support one another in their adventures in cake decorating.

After a series of disasters in recent days, I was beginning to rethink this whole cake thing but it's addicting, isn't it?

I love hobbies and like most, I have a ton of them but about 4 months ago, I saw an ad at a craft store for cake decorating classes. When I saw the rock bottom price, I signed up. I'm a SAHM and I'm disabled. Some days I can't do much at all and other days I need something to do with my time. I was just looking for an artistic outlet....for someone who isn't "really" a great artist but was willing to try. I bought my first Wilton book and lucky me, it came with 100 other pieces of cake deco tools and a tool caddy. LOL! I did my first cake and I've been hooked since. Can't seem to put it down even for a minute either.

The Christmas cakes aren't even half gone and I'm preparing for the next project so I can use all the things Santa bought me.

I have to say, I've never had an interest in it before but it just grabs you and suddenly your brain is swimming in tips and icing recipes. One of the biggest draws for me is that I wanted to give my daughter something on her birthday that wasn't BOUGHT. What do you give an overindulged 5 year old?? I give her my time, next to me on a stool in the kitchen where we can talk about everything and create something fun and tasty together. That's the premise of the whole cake hobby for me. Time well spent with my kids and something to give to others that doesn't come from a department store or Ebay. LOL!

Hi, I'm very new here & thought I would add my story to the list.
I bought my son's first b'day cake nearly 13yrs ago & was unimpressed with the quality & the cost of the cake, so from then on I started doing all my own cakes, it wasn't until about 3yrs later a friend asked me to do her wedding cake, I was very uncomfortable with being asked to do such a huge job so I went & done a course at my local TAFE. It only taught the very basics but it was enough to get me hooked, I joined the local cake decorating guild & have never looked back, I absolutely love it. Mind you after 2 planned weddings before finally committing to her husband, I didnt get to do my friends cake, as I was ready to have my 3rd child & was not in any condition to be decorating.
Being a single mum of 4, it gives me a little extra money doing something I enjoy.
Look forward to catching up on all the posts on here, I will try to post as much as possible, I've been looking for a site like this for a long time.

Mine was driven out of the fact that I'm cheap!

I did not want to pay 7.00/slice for my own wedding cake, and decided that I would take some cake classes and do my own cake for my wedding (which was July 2005). If I would have paid the 7.00/slice, my cake would have been 2100.00 bucks!!

I ended up loving the cake decorating, and I just practiced all the time and made cakes all of the time. I took classes at a regional cooking school, and I began trying out recipes for fondant from books. I made a few sample wedding cakes, and found that I really adored cake decorating.
The wedding cake was successful (it is the big 4 tiered daisy cake in my photos), and I had such rave reviews, that I just did cakes at every opportunity to practice, improve, and experiment.

My husband joined the bandwagon with me, and now we are opening up a shop! We are just going gangbusters on this craft!! I've been doing cakes less than 10 months and loving every minute of it!

Cakewiz, welcome to Cake Central!

You're gonna love it here!

WARNING: CC is addictive!