This may be on here some where... I have been reading for about 2 hrs and am half way thru lol. I have "HOT HANDS" which totally alters your icing for extensive decorating. I went to the dollar store and purchased 2) 8" super cheap baking pans. I put water in one and tucked it in the freezer till frozen solid. Instead of loading a massive 16 inch bag I use 2) 12 inch bags w/the same batch of icing & tip. Pull the pan w/ice out of the freezer, put the 2nd one in it and now you have a "cooling" system for your bags. Just put ur bags in the pan and they stay cool. I alternate icing bags to keep one from getting too warm. Works all the time. Hope this was clear.... 
I have been going thru this for 2 days. Thank you for all the great tips! I also am a newbie.
With cake mixes I always use 1 butter recipe and 1 oil recipe. The cake is moister and holds up well to decorating. I also use Betty Crocker, the batter is thicker and the cake just tastes better.
To help the settling process speed up, after I crumb coat my cake, I put a piece of parchment paper to cover the top, take the same size pan as the cake and put it on top, then I put a ceramic bowl or something with considerable weight (but not too much so it doesn't smash the cake) in the pan. I leave it there for a few hours or overnight. Ever since I started doing this I've never had problems with bulging after the cake is complete!
Finally i finished the 33 pages!
My tip is when your filling cupcake pans with batter, instead of using spoons or even an ice cream scoop, you can fill a piping bag with your batter and just fill the pans- no mess and much easier!
I've been filling my cupcake pans this way for some time. Whats shocking is it took me sooo long to figure out I could! 
I can't believe I read all 33 pages!!! lol. I have to say that I just tried out the tip about putting the decorating tips in the microwave to clean them and....OMG IT REALLY WORKS!!! I was so scared to try it out even though everyone said it would be fine. After taking them out of the microwave I just had to rinse them and that was it!!! no oily hands and soooooo much faster!!! Thanks for the great tip!!!
Ihave a wondermould doll pan but have lost my core,IMin the uk and cant get one can i use my flowernail or tin foil rolled to almost the size of the pan thank you
I cover my kitchen table in an old, clean sheet to catch all of the crumbs when I am working on my cakes (I must sit and cannot stand for long periods)...then I scoop up the ends of the sheet, go outside to shake out the crumbs, and then straight into the washer. My kitchen is as clean and neat as it was when I started.
Also, I have a Dust Buster that I use that is designated just for my cake crumbs...I use it to take off any crumbs off of the cake board that may show up...my family laughs about my 'Cake Dust Buster'...it keeps crumbs from ever going anywhere![/i]
Great tips everyone!!!!
I read earlier that someone uses a griddle with a towel on it to keep their bags of chocolate warm. My girlfriend uses a heating pad...no need for a towel and perhaps a bit safer?! 
Use the upside-down frosting technique to get SMOOOOOTH sides and top crisp corners on your cake!!!!! Saves SO much time!!
I'm glad I rediscovered this thread. I don't know why the email notices had stopped though... 
Ooh! The piece of saran wrap around the mixing bowl is a good one.
My secret is I never use oil in my cakes. I sub out unsweetened applesauce for it, cup for cup. It does not affect the flavor and makes them so moist. People call them "Mary's moist cakes", and that is how they ask me to make them one. Can we have a Mary's moist cake? LOL!
I sub for apple sauce too although I use sweetened applesauce and lessen the sugar in the recipe.
OK...most of us stay in hotels that give you shower caps...I take my collection of caps and use them to cover my buttercream/fondant when working. I put them over the edge of the bowl and do not have to worry with the satanic plastic wrap!
Also, when making WASC cakes, I have found that the cakes come out better if I sift the mix, flour, and sugar together two times...you would be surprised how the sugar lumps are caught.
I put the salt for the buttercream icing in my clean coffee grinder. That way you do not get 'spots' in your final icing product.
When making filigree for my cakes, I find patterns of designs and print them. I attach them to my smallest self-healing quilting mat and cover the page of patterns with parchment paper and/or wax paper. I can see the patterns through the paper and wax paper and pipe the royal icing over the patterns. It is perfect for intricate work and they all are the same size, etc. Makes beautiful filigree work and filigree butterflies come out gorgeous! I let them dry and pack them in tissue paper and put them up in the closet in my see-through plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store...last for years (I have some that are a couple of years old and still usable...dust-free and organized).
Another idea is using Denture powder with my fondant when I am making my figures/gum paste flowers for cakes. It is the Tylose Powder that is so expensive at the cake decorating supply places...it has a little minty flavor, but no one is eating the characters I put on the cake. They want to save them for whatever reason...the denture powder is food safe and is excellent to use.
I use my quilting rulers (which are clear), along with my pizza cutter to cut even strips for decorations. Everything comes out perfectly straight.
Brown sugar or pulverized pecan sandy cookies (by Keebler) make great sand for cakes when you have a beach scene or flip flop cakes.
Sams club sells their awsome frostif in the bakery dept by the bucket they also sell colored buttercream alot of colors in smaller amts...it is so delicious and a huge time saver...sorry if someone already posted this secret...just ask at the sams club bakery they are very helpful ...Good luck to all !!!!
Frosting...sry
Do you know how much it costs?
Oh my...what a great post! I've learned so much just cruising some of the pages. I wish I could get my hands on a copy of the word document someone created with all the tips...what a wonderful idea! Anyhow, here's my tip....
I have a working island in my studio which I've covered with the clear plastic vinyl. I have it clipped to the island top with picnic table clips to keep it from slipping. Prior to placing the vinyl on the island, I measured out all the pan sizes I have adding 3 inches to each and drew that out in a square pattern with a permanent marker. Each square is concentric and I did this until I had all the sizes required. I then flipped the mat over and now when I roll out fondant for a 10" pan for example, I know exactly how big my fondant piece needs to be without guessing. Hope this makes sense. Wish I could post a pic cause it would be so much easier to explain!
edited to add: if you go to my photos and search out the cake pops pic, you'll see a bit of the marked covering on the island the cake pops are sitting on. HTH
I thought of something else...do not throw any scraps away when leveling...I keep a bowl to put all the scraps in...never know when you need to repair and if you still have cake leftover, freeze the pieces for cake balls, etc. I have a repair kit that I take with me (I include pieces of cake in a zip lock bag) when delivering my cakes.
In the repair kit, I take several Viva towels, my high density roller, the matching mediums (buttercream/fondant/royal icing). Included, also, are a clean tea towel and a spray bottle of clean water to clean my hands after it is all over, fresh gloves, the proper decorating tips, my different sized angled spatulas, tweezers, my cake lifter, a garbage bag, a little mixing bowl with a lid, parchment paper, roll of paper towels, a tray (to place everything on while repairing), my business cards, a knife and cake server (in case someone forgot their utensils to cut the cake), first aid kit (basically, a few band aids), and a bottled water (for me to drink after I have it all 'perfect'). Always take extra pieces of decorations (like filigree, gum paste flowers, ribbon, etc.). You never know what will and can happen on your way to the venue 
I know I am forgetting a few things...oh, yes, my cell phone...what else?
Today I came upon this gem purely by accident. I have to decorate 120 wedding cake cut out cookies so I was sitting at the table decorating them while my DH was putting the blank ones in front of me and taking the finished ones away so I wouldn't have to keep getting up. Well he said to try putting them on the lazy susan and turn it as as I decorate them. It works great, I put a bowl of the pearls I was using in the center. You could also use your turntable too and this would also work for decorating cupcakes. Wow, the DH IS good for something!
I added a picture in my gallery if you're interested in the Lazy Susan decorating wheel!
Thanks for all of these great ideas - now I need to rack my brain so I can share too.
I haven't tried this one yet but have been thinking about it because I have to do it on a cake this weekend. When using wires on cakes, first put hot glue on the wire end and stick it into a coffee stirer. Then you can stick the stirrer into the cake and the wire will stay put and not move around.
Okay after reading this tread fo like 2 days on and off I have to say this is the best reading pleasure that I have had in a long time
I also have a few tips that can maybe help a few of my fellow cake decoratores
If you are in need of a very cheap but sturdy turntable try the wooden turn tabel from Ikea they are the best and they are big enough to hold a 14 inch cake
I also us the Blanda stainless steel salade bowls for making my ball cakes instead of buying the ball pan and they have 3 sizes which is ideal if you need a bigger size
Also I use the Ikea platic cutting mat the one to cut up vegies and so on, this I use when I am rolling small pieces of gumpaste or fondant for flowers ect it's great and the gumpaste/ fondant never sticks to the board but of course make sure it's only used for cake decorating
As you sll can see I am a real Ikea fan lol, when I walk in Ikea or any place else I always try to think cake
HTH
So here are some of the "secrets" that I have learned over the past 6=7 years of decorating.
I never torte my cakes but bake two seperate cakes instead so have at least 2 of each size of pan
Allow your cakes to cool for a minimum of 1/2 hour before turing out
I use the vinyl from walmart to roll out my fondant/gumpaste - I buy it in a large roll and cut it to the size of my counter and tape it down. Once I am all done, I untape it, roll it up and toss it away - no big mess to clean on my counter and if I have a really big piece of fondant your can take the whole thing and turn over onto your cake and then peel away.
I always bake my cookies on parchment paper - no sticking and no mess to clean
that is all i can think of for now, I am sure I have more =)
What an awesome thread! Thanks everyone for all these ideas, this is great!!
I've only got to page 18 so far so I hope this one hasn't been said. For those who grease their pans with shortening like I do, I usually buy the brick of shortening (it's 2 cups all together so when I need 1 cup I just cut it in half, don't have to measure!) and when I take my shortening out of the package I keep the paper that wraps it up. It's like a parchment paper. Because it held the shortening there's shortening all over the paper. So when I grease my pans I just go in my fridge, grab on of those papers (I keep them all folded so there's no mess) and just rub it onto my pan! No using extra shortening or extra paper.
i love all these..i just wanted to comment so i can come back to this and finish reading..lol
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