What gauge wire do you use for the big swirly things that stick out of the cakes? I am doing a cake next week for a lady who wants a cake like she saw on ace of cakes where there are all these wires sticking out with balls of gumpaste (I guess) on the ends. I can't for the life of me find wire heavy enough to hold up in a swirl with a ball on the end of it. Advice any one? Have you done this? What gauge did you use and where did you find it? Thanks!!!!! 
I asked this same questions a few months ago! I was told by a few to insert coffee straws into the cake where the wire will go, both for safety and so the heavy wires don't pull out of the cake. Good luck and I can't wait to see the finished product when you are done!
I bought the 20 gauge wire (the only thing Wal-Mart had) and it didn't want to hold up my bees to well. My fondant wanted to tear. I figured I needed lighter weight bees, but who knows?
darkchocolate
P.S. I can't attach a picture here but in my pictures you can see where the wire pulled the fondant. Actually I smoothed it over the best I could for the picture, so it doesn't look so bad. On my computer I have another picture before I fixed it but I don't know how to make the picture smaller to attach it to this post.
darkchocolate
two things could have caused the pulling... including the size of the bees.
1. you needed stiffer mmf/fondant
2. (if you didnt) a hook at the end of the wire sometimes helps with the pulling.
just for future bee on wire making 
-- Fi
PS: your bee & beehive are so cute!
Perhaps use those little styrofoam balls you can buy at craft stores instead of fondant - they'd be a lot lighter. Lightly brush with sugar-glue and then roll in lustre dust or petal dust, depending on the look you're after. But don't forget to let the woman know they're not edible! Please note: I haven't tried this, just think it could work.
If you go with fondant, 20 gauge wire is very strong and should hold the balls - might be a bit difficult to bend into a nice, even, curly shape though. Maybe try something a bit lighter like 22.
Cris.
Just a quick update. I went to Michaels and finally (after much searching) found some armature wire. I had looked before for it at Hobby Lobby and couln't find it, asked a couple of people and they looked at me like I was crazy... but I digress. Anywho - found the wire in 1/16th diameter in rods and in spools. Am sooooo excited. I think this will work very well. Oh and I bought some styrofoam balls, like someone suggested, while I was there just in case the gumpaste is too heavy. I am not making the cake part until next week, but I'll post pics as soon as I can.
Thanks for your help!
Feefs,
1. My MMF was probably too soft.
2. A hook at which end of the wire?
darkchocolate
Whe I do this type of thing, i put the hook at the end that is inserted into the fondant or gumpaste. Before I insert it I dab the hook into a bit of gumpaste glue. I've found if I work with fondant I get a better result if I mix it with gumpaste, rather than on its own. I think fondant dries too slowly, thus staying soft too long, for many of these types of things. At least the 50/50 works better for me.
khoudek has answered the hook q...
mmf - unless mixed with some tylose/cellogen or other product - will be too soft to do any modelling with. If you can work fast, mexican paste (also known as pastillage) dries rock hard and is stiff enough to hold shapes - but it does have the downside that it likes to dry very fast too while you are still working on pieces!
Next time, try making a hook or closed loop at the end where you are attaching the decoration too. Just remember, the bigger the hook/loop you have the bigger the insertion hole that you will need to close up. Glue on the hook isnt necessary in most cases as the paste will hold in place if you can gently squeeze the part into position on the wire - and i mean gently! you don't want to distort your shape. I have found that if you glue a hook it has the opposite effect of what you wanted and will cause the piece to sometimes fall off - works like a lubricant - and I did it thinking it would make it more secure! i was sooooo wrong.
There is another method... sorry this post is getting long winded....
if you have smaller piece to thread, having a hook might not be possible... let your piece (eg; your bee) dry 100%. Then take you wire, heat over a candle until it is burning hot, then quickly thread on the bee. What happens is the paste melts and adhere's itself to the wire making it almost impossible to pull off once it has cooled down. You do need to work fast after you have heated the wire as it is very difficult to thread on when the wire is only just warm - if you get my drift.
Anyways... hope this helps...
and sorry it ended up being an epic post!
-- Fi
I found a product called "Wild Wire" at Michael's just last night to use for gumpaste stars coming out of the top of a cake. I got the 18 gauge silver wire. It seems more than strong enough for my application. The only drawback is that it comes on a small spool, so you cannot get it perfectly straight, but for anything with a curve or curly q's it would work well. The wire comes in different colors and different gauges. It is designed for wire art, so it is meant to be bent. They even have boards with pegs to help make designs with the wire. It is very shiny and there are some great colors. Now I will have to look into the armature wire, that never occurred to me, thanks!
I have been asking this same question since I signed up! My cakes always tear with wire. My cakes are too moist. If I can give any advice. Do not add the decorations until you have the cake on the table in it's final destination. And bring a few things in case there is a tear. Extra fondant and icing to hide mistakes I just talked to someone the other day and they suggested cutting out a small portion of the cake and replacing it with styrofoam. frost and cover the cake with fondant. And then stick the wires into the styrofoam part. Haven't tried it yet, but it seems like it could work. Good luck and if you discover anything great please keep us posted!
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