As an a amature baker and decorator, I always find it interesting to read everyones hints and tips. So I thought it would be very educational to our beginners and pros alike to let us in on your helpful tips. Mine would be:

I find it very helpful to crumbcoat my cake and place it back in the fridge to harden before putting the finish icing on it.

Anyone else

I find it very helpful to use the search feature in the forums tab to search for helpful hints and tips, and that using the keyword feature there, and the search topic title only radio button, really narrows down the choices.

Theresa

Wow!! That tready really took off

I find it very helpful to color my extra bits of fondant left over from covering tiers and make roses and leaves to have for future decorating projects

I find it very helpful to spend less time chatting in forums and more time working on the cake.

Jeez, are people having a bad day or what? I think it's a great idea for a thread, and very helpful for newbies. Which is what I thought we are doing here, being helpful and learning.
Anyways, my tip, I find it very helpful and time saving to add color to fondant when it is in the melted marshmello stage, before powdered sugar.

The best tip I've seen is to store icing as "icing plugs". It has saved me so much time. When my piping bag is empty, I just pop out the icing plug and drop the next one in. Here's the original post with more pictures & instructions. MEGA thanks to the original poster!!!

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-588591-icing.html+plugs

I learned that combining all your colored fondant scraps is a great way to reuse fondant and make black.

You can also use foil shaped like a ball to make a ball tier instead of buying styrofoam balls.

You're probably not getting many responses because the last time this subject was posted was about 2 years ago, and it was done to death for about 3 months before that.

Theresa

I find it very helpful:
to clean as I go, then I'm not faced with a mountain of dishes when I'm done!
to have an extra KA bowl for my mixer
buy premade red and black fondant
use a level to make sure your cakes are level

Here's a tip that I learned when I went to see Nicholas Lodge recently here in Phx.

When you are done rolling out your fondant smooth it with your smoother BEFORE you lift it off the counter to put on your cake. You have a nice firm surface to smooth out any nicks and then you are doing minimal smoothing when you put it on the cake. I haven't had a chance to put this to practice yet but I will.

I like the washing the dirty tips in a bowl full of hot soapy water in the microwave (I know, I know but it made a believer out of me!)

Also my favorite tip I pass onto my students: Use an old pringles can to hold the pastry bag stable when filling it. No mess, no fuss (and they LOVE their homework -- eating chips!)

Oh yeah! THe Pringles can is great! Especially when filling them with melted chocolate. I read about using the cans here on CC. Hubby was ready to throw out a couple I was saving on the counter (to take down to the shop) and the look on his face was great when I said, "Don't throw those out! Those are cake decorating tools!"

I like to use cut up Pringles cans as flower formers.

I store left over buttercream in the piping bag and store in the fridge for next time.

The extra KA mixer bowl would be a lifesaver. I like this thread. It at least gives us a starting point to search if we want more information on a particular topic. I found it helpful to have more than one set of round or square pans AFTER I baked my first wedding cake. I find it helpful to have more than one Bundt pan. I find it helpful to save the Wilton Icing buckets and fill with my own icing. I find it helpful to have some Sam's BC on hand in a pinch.

The extra KA mixer bowl would be a lifesaver. I like this thread. It at least gives us a starting point to search if we want more information on a particular topic. I found it helpful to have more than one set of round or square pans AFTER I baked my first wedding cake. I find it helpful to have more than one Bundt pan. I find it helpful to save the Wilton Icing buckets and fill with my own icing. I find it helpful to have some Sam's BC on hand in a pinch.

I find it really helpful to come into CC and read posts like these....thanks great idea....I love the plug tip, and I just refrigerated my cake before applying the fondant and OMG it was a breeze and the best cake I ever made. Who knew haha....everyone, but me I guess

My tip, got here..cover the counters with freezer paper before making icing, cakes etc. It dramatically reduces cleanup time. Just fold up and throw away.
ALSO
Prior to rolling out fondant esp. white take a little peice of fondant and pass it over the countertop you plan to roll it out on, the rolling pin, your hands etc.. It picks up all those pesky lint peices you can't see normally with the eye.

I find it helpful to...

fill a sink with super hot soapy water to throw in items as I'm done. (makes clean up a breeze as any icing is melted off, same with batters.)

Fill a glass bowl with super hot soapy water to throw in my tips when done. Same principle as the sink- but the tips don't get lost and you can see through the glass to find a tip if you need one again.

to use no skid shelf liner in my van under cakes when transporting

use one of those small clip on fans on my counter to help dry items faster.

((love the pringles can tip))

Most helpful is my addiction to these forums Oh yeah, and using hot water to continually clean my spatulas and bench scraper as I'm smoothing icing. Thanks Sugarshack for that one!

A great tip that I got from here is to buy vinyl from the material store to roll out fondant on...great non stick surface...no shortening or ps/cornstarch needed!

I have a baby bottle/nipple basket for my dishwasher that I use for my tips and other small items (fondant cutters, couplers, etc) and it allows me to dishwash/sanitize them without having to do it by hand. Since the fit into the holes made for the rubber nipples, they stay put (instead of rattling all around) and get nice and clean. This is similar to the one I have: http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productid=6411