I took a cake order for this weekend for a simple sheet cake with a pumpkin on it and the wording of Happy Birthday Pumpkin. I already had a large order of 100+ decorated sugar cookies and a large baby carriage cake but the pumpkin cake was for a friend of my mom's who has ordered from me several times before and I am not one to turn away any business. So I told her it would be a simple sheet cake for $30. Go to make the cake, get the borders on and the pumpkin piped in. Then I think that it would be really nice to make the stem and leaves out of fondant b/c then I could give them some veining and texture. Even made some little green curly things to stick on there. Then I noticed that some little fall leaves cut from red, yellow, orange and tan fondant would really look nice. Then I decided to pull out my gold luster dust and give each leaf a little shimmer. Then I decided the leaves would look really cool if I dried them over upside down egg carton to give them some motion and curl. Before I knew it, I had spent hours on this "simple" cake for only $30. It was like once I got started, I couldn't help myself! Does anyone else find themselves going above and beyond what you had promised because you just can't help yourself !!!!

Yep.

I can't do anything "simple".

I find I do this with cakes for my family. I don't do cakes outside of the home, but Lord help me when I have leftover frosting!! I've even put a mustache on my son with frosting! Something simple ALWAYS turns into an even more inspiring thing with ideas that keep coming. Sometimes I will only do cakes last minute because of this. Don't worry, there are more of us out there!

So... where is the picture of this super cake. I'm excited to see it!

I do this too! The tombstone cake that I did last night was like this. I was having so much fun! I added one spider, then another. I covered the tombstone in grey frosting, then swirled in another shade of grey. I couldn't stop fiddling with it.

ALL THE TIME! Even with the simple cakes, I always end up doing something on it that takes longer than it sould.

I seem to put the most effort into the freebies...

I believe that it is the God given gift that we have to "create." And the drive to satisfy.
It's a great thing

Lets see a pic

I usually get artistic freedon with my cakes...and yes I get carried away easily because I use that as an opportunity to try something new.

Oh yes! I do this a lot and then wonder if the person will actually like what I did. Eek! Especially when it's an "easy" or simple cake, I always want more so I tend to add extra things which of course takes longer to do. But when I'm told " do whatever you want".. I can't think of a thing! LOL!

KimAZ

I do that on nearly every cake I make. I think part of it is creativity and you want to see what you can achieve. The other part is probably foolish in that you never make in money what you spent in time, but you still have the satisfaction at the end when the customer picks the cake up and raves because it is so much more then they were expecting.

When I know that I can take it and run with it boy do I. I was asked to make a cake for Holloween and I was told that it was supposed to be something with a few spooky decorations or something grose or . . . well she couldn't make up her mind and decided that I could do whatever I wanted. What ressulted wasn't the most technically complicated cake but definately something I think was imaginative. I just let my imagination run wild and came up with a pile of dirt cake complete with eye balls, gummy worms and spiders. It was such a hit and generated such interest that I received $100 worth of orders for Thanksgiving because I dropped the cake off to her job along with mini cupcake samples. Going overboard is par for the course. I say any opportunity that you get to practice your art and have someone else foot the bill (even if I am just breaking even) is a blessing. Besides if you take pictures you can right it off as a marketing expense!

the added touches will bring them back...but try not to cut into your profit. where is the pic of this very cute sounding cake.

According to friends and family (who think I should be making a lot of money), I spend WAY TOO MUCH time on my cakes, therefore, if counting all the hours, I don't make Jack! LOL!!!

My Best Friend said to me, "Deb, don't mind screw it to death!" LOL!!!!!!!!!

Oh I'm always getting carried away! So alot of the time I will make sure to express that, "I wanted to try this out, thanks for being my guinea pig! But I cannot promise you'll get all this next time for the same price." This makes them feel special that you did some extra and gives an opportunity to show off your talent, and next time they typically want the same work on a cake and are willing to pay more. I also have started asking for a price range that the client wants to stay in, that way I know when to say when...or at least I try anyway!

I think that's a good point to say, "Oh I was having fun and decided to do this and this" so that they REALIZE they are getting more than they paid for. Not to make them feel guilty, but to make them aware that next time if they order the same thing (or same style) that they may not be getting all the extras. Extras are only possible if you have the spare time.

So far that hasn't been an issue for me because I'm usually trying to finish the last bit while running out the door at the same time. That's probably a good thing, because I could see myself adding more and more just to see how this looks or that -especially for family.

Melissa

Oh yeah....I totally do this. Once I get an idea in my head I just have to follow through with it. I can't help it! People usually give me artistic freedom and I ask what their price range is just to get an idea so I don't shock them with a $100+ price. But still I spend more time on cakes than what I charge for most of them. I think that's a really good idea to let them know you spent extra time on the cake, and that you would charge more in the future.

LOL! That is so true! I ALWAYS have something to finish at the last minute. I've even been late to a party before b/c I wasn't done with the cake.

Courtney

I get waaaaay carried away on some of my stuff. That's what makes it fun! I love going over the top!

Me too. Sometimes I just have to make myself walk away.

YES! I took a "simple" cake order yesterday for today when I already had a wedding cake to worry about. I finished the wedding cakes pretty early yesterday but then kept adding extras to the simple cake with a pig on it. Supposed to be just a plain old pig, no frills, then I thought it'd be cool for him to sit in mud, then what about a party hat? Then what about holding a gift...When its 2am and your still thinking of fun little things to add to a pig, there's a problem!! Soooo tired..