are there any wilton course instructors here?
i'm taking classes at michael's and they are looking for instructors. my current instructor is retiring at the end of summer and asked people in our class if anyone was interested in becoming an instrucor.
my question is..do you actually make any money doing this part time or is it really just for fun??
being the coupon queen that i am, i have everyone collect the 40% coupons for me and do my rounds at 4 local michael's. all are advertising for instructors so i'm toying with the idea of pursuing this.
any insight would be great!!

My opinion... It's a great part time job, but I wouldn't depend on it to pay the bills. I look at it as a great source of spending money.

What store is it? Each store do it a little differently.

At Michaels you get paid by how many students you have in the class. The basic pay is $30 a night, $120 a month for 1-7 students. Your pay goes up at 8 strudents to $40 a night. It keeps going up from there. You also get paid $50 for the required demos.

So how much you make is going to depend on how many people you have in each course as well as how many course make each month. Some months you may only have 1 or 2 while other months you may have 3. So you do not know until the first week of every month how much youa re going to make for the month.

There is also an expence that comes with teaching. The first night of Course 1 you make a cake and icing as well as royal icing in Course 2. This comes out of your pocket. When you do cakes for store demos that also comes out of your pocket. This include any of your products you use while making a cake.

At Michaels you are a store employee, so you get their 25% off discount. Which is nice, BUT then agian you are there several times a week and tend to spend more. You also get a 40% off discount when you order directly from Wilton.

There are a few other things, but it does depend on what store you are at.

Why not stay after class or come early and talk to your instructor about it. She can give you the specifics to that store and a really good idea of what you are in for.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

Well, you really don't make great money but the benefits are great. If you love cake decorating like I do then you will love being an instructor. Also you get 40% anyting you order out of the yearbook, that means all you pay is the shipping. And most of the time you get a store discount as well. I work at Jo Anns and get a 15% discount there. But your Wilton product you have to order direct from Wilton. And when you are doing special class then they offer those supplies to you at an even greater discount. So there are a lot of perks. Plus you get to teach people how to do what you love to do and inspire them. I love the kids classes...right now there is another instructor at the store I teach at, she does the I II and III classes and I do the specialty classes, that is fine with me right now. I say go for it, it is a lot of fun. Good luck and keep me posted. If you have any other questions, pm me

thanks so much texassugar and southernbelle! i was thinking of doing it for fun since i've simply fallen in love with cake decorating...not really to pay bills...if anything it will be to support my new obsession (and to get out of the house since i work from home and take care of my young daughter while DH works his long hours )
i'll talk to my instructor next week and see where it goes.
thanks for the insight!! i really appreciate it!

I agree, you can't rely on a steady income because it won't always be the same. BUT, it is fun and keeps you involved in decorating and meeting lots of great people. It sounds like you would REALLY appreciate all the other extras you get such as the discount and free stuff.

I work at AC Moore. We get $120 for 3-6 students, $150 for 7-10 and so on with a cap at $225. Then there are the demo's and Project classes for extra money.

I do it because I love cake decorating and the 40% discount is pretty cool too.

I just had to post my two cents!! I am a Wilton instructor at Hobby Lobby and I must say that teaching the classes is great fun, but the best part of it is all the "extras" that you get from Wilton. Once a year they host a one-day instructor meeting (sometimes near you, sometimes you have to drive aways.) At these meetings you will learn many new valuable items and they always give away freebies to all! And you get to meet other addicted cake decorators like yourself! I went to a 3day instructor seminar last fall, and it was unreal! We decorated from 8 in the morning until 6 at night! Learning many new things. I came home with a truckload of free stuff that I could use! They charge a very minimal fee to attend too! Hope this helps with your decision. I don't regret it for a minute!

hi I am I Wilton Instructor @Michaels I just started about 6months ago the pay is not great but if you LOVE cake decorating like I do,it's worth it to actually do something you love and the bonus quirks are great from wilton, I say go for it!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for the honesty and encouragement, everyone! i think i will go for it!

AI was just asked to be an instructor at Michaels And i was wondering what you all mean by perks from wilton. Do you get free stuff? If so how often?

I have taken course 1 through 3. I am waiting to take course 4. I have thought about being a Wilton instructor, but my problem is that I don't drive and I would have to go where they sent. If I did drive, I would get lost in a city. I am not good at directions. The only place I could go to would be Michael's, which is about 25 miles from where I live. I know I would enjoy teaching. I have showed my sister, my niece, and her two kids how to do leaves. I enjoyed showing them how to do it. And I wanted to teach cake decorating on my own, I would not be able to promote Wilton products.