i'm ashamed to say some of mine haven't been redone in 3-5 years.

they are looking tired....i'm thinking a need to redo them all....i've got 5...could prolly use more huh?

I have over ten decorated tierd dummies ----at least! They are in my room where everything goes to die!

I have 5 fresh from last weekend's bridal festival, and one 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 set that aren't decorated yet. No idea where to store the dang things....until I build a shop of my own...bleh

I have 11 and I am in the process of doing updates. Tonight I finished 1 of 2 that we started today (slow day)I'm doing them for the show in February.
mpc

I also have stacked 6" through 24" uniced styro rounds that are out front to play/demonstrate the different set ups. It is very useful for me, I am very visual but this way I can show customers what I see in my head.
mpc

I just got my own personal set today woohoo. Gonna do my entry for the colorado sugar arts show on it

ok this might sound like a dumb question/....but what do ya'll ice them with?

at the bakeries i worked at we just iced them with icing....and they got hardened eventually.

i did this at my place too....

since i don't take em anywhere they didn't need to be super sturdy...

or is there some special recipe i don't know about?

i know some people use perma ice....

I would ice them in royal. Then again, I don't have any tiered dummies since I'm strictly out of home lol. I have a 10" dummy and that's it - I really need to pick up some more so I can do some practicing!

I have two that are done... One of which needs to go into the repair shop because it got run into a drop ceiling At least it's an easy fix, a little spackle and black paint...

As for how many dummies I have that aren't done yet... I'd say about 7-9 at least... I don't know what I'm doing here right now when I should be over at the other table working on getting the spackle layers down for the bridal show next weekend...

I'll get them done... Right....

Thank heaven for Sam's using a cupcake tower on their Christmas brochure, that'll take up a good chunk of table for samples

I always put fondant on the dummies. They stay fresh along time and you can use a feather duster when they start collecting dust. I always use Wilton fondant for dummies because it's cheap and I can save my 40% coupons to local hobby shops and buy it discounted and save some money.

Andrea

I forgot that I have one that is fondant coated too, but that one's life is short in that I'll keep it through the end of the bridal show, but that's about it because of the situation I've got for my space. I can't keep iced (fondant or otherwise) dummies around because of bugs and critters. It sucks, but it's one less thing to worry about even though it takes about twice the amount of time to make because of the dry time.

I use both fondant and everyday buttercream, just depends on the look I want.

Perma ice is pretty costly, I 've been told it smells bad forever.


Couturecake
are you icing your cakes with spackling?

mpc

I currently have 4... I'm brutal though, I scrape off the fondant after I'm done, and re-use them

I have 1, and It really hurts my feeling when I put all that work into decorating it and then when I'm doing decorating, I take a spatula and scrap the icing off into.

Where do you guys buy your cake dummies? Also, what do you ice them with if you're going to cover in fondant?

Don't feel bad about scraping it off! It's better than eating it all yourself! Plus as long as you get some good photos and enjoyed the practice that you got out of it, it served its purpose. You have to appreciate the fact that this is a temporary art. Cake decorating works out great for me because I'm A.D.D. and can't stick to the same thing for too long.... new project every cake!

Couture
I like this... How are you decorating the sides of your spackled cakes? What does the buttercream do to the cakes?
mpc

heres a dumb question...is spackle the same thing as drywall mud?

i was thinking the other day when i was putting mud on the joints of the drywall how much it was like icing.

I do have one done with drywall mud... It's a LOT heavier than the lightweight spackle is in terms of hauling the dummies anywhere.. But, the biggest difference I found is that the drywall mud actually cracks, whereas the spackle doesn't. It's nice to not have to fix cracks once the thing is drying because that's more dinkering around time.

CoutureCake,

Will you provide a brand name for the light weight spackle you use? I am going to have to try the spackle. As far as tips, CK Products has some plastic disposable tips I think will work very well with the spackle. I've been trying to find a reason to buy some of those.

I use a cheap marmalade jelly. Nuke it in the microwave until it's runny and thin and strain. Use a large paint brush and paint the jelly on the foam. Let lay the fondant over the dummy and do your thing.
Andrea

Whoops, meant to say "Lightweight"

Couture how do you color or paint the spackling?

Why do you use it instead of icing?
mpc

Dummies? Haha, I have been just making real cakes for practice. I mean, I can get a box of cake mix for as low as 80 cents on sale and whip up a cake and then either give it to friends/family, bring it to work, or let my boyfriend or I eat it ourselves. The trick with this last one is to go to the gym and burn it off. I generally burn at least 800+ calories/day... that way, if I DO want a piece of cake later, it will not end up on my theighs + butt. It's been working great too. Not only do I get to eat my cake (almost every day), get tons of decorating practice , I am actually LOSING weight too!

For future reference though, if I DID need to obtain dummies, where would you get them?