I am. Have been decorating cakes for just over two years now after I got sick and tired of paying out a fortune for celebration cakes for the family which tasted dreadful. My 'hobby' is now paying dividends and bringing in welcome additional money to the pot!

CP xxx

Self taught here too. I took the last year off from taking orders but now that my youngest are in school part time I am slowly taking on more.

I'm also completly self taught! = ) Just a hobby I love so much I decided to go to school for pastry! lol

I'm self-taught also. Started "decorating" about 7 years ago. Amazed at the number of awesome artists here that were self-taught!

I am too.... Although, I will say I'm still learning. I've always dabbled with the Wilton cake pans. Then about a two years ago, I branched out to other techniques. I've even started making my own fondant.

I'm not sure if I can really call myself self taught as I watch a lot of online tutorials, read a lot of how too's and visit sites like this

I too am self-taught. I worked at a bakery for about a year but I didn't bake or decorate. I handled the front desk and appointments and did dishes and such. I watched, observed and asked questions. They did let me mix the colored fondant on occasion though and I would help pearl dust items some times.

It wasn't until about 5 months after I left that job that I got the urge to do my first cake...a tiffany box cake for my sister-in-law. I've been hooked ever since.
I look at tutorials, get advice on here and learn by doing. I would love to take lessons. I did take a 2 hour buttercream class that I wanted to take because my piping skills lacked. That one class helped a bunch! Just getting over the fear of piping letters was something for me!
I'm always looking to improve!

Self taught out of necessity of not being able to say No! "But of course I can make that"... mostly because I like the challenge of just figuring out how. I have to say it is a lot easier these days with this forum, oodles of on-line pics and DIY videos not to mention the TV shows.

I, however, started way before all of that when I would use the annual Wilton magazines and color books for my inspiration. I watched my Mom do so from the time I was 9, started playing with her tools at about 10 and was doing cakes for friends as early as Jr. High School.

Dare I say I will soon be 50 so I've been learning by experience for nearly 40 years... And it's still just a hobby, but am working on putting a commercial kitchen in my new garage/shop.

ive been baking cakes since i was about 15, 16 years later i have started to learn to decorate and make cupcakes. i made my daughters cupcakes for her birthday last year and will be doing the same again this year.

looking forward to more tips and looking about the posts

Me, me!

I never thought i was self taught, since i took wilton classes. But others on this thread say they are and took the classes, so i guess i am also. lol!!! I love cakecentral. Been decorating for 17 yrs. after taking the wilton classes.

yes me, i am self taught aswell! started about two years ago, and love it!

yes me, i am self taught aswell! started about two years ago, and love it!

Im self taught also, started back in 1989, always looking at pics and challenging myself to see if I can do it. Would never go into business with it though, its more a stress reliever for me, been nursing for 28 years and would never give that up.

I'm self taught! I've been baking since I was a kid, but started cake decorating about a year and a half ago! I was flabbergasted to have won a cake competition back in February, I entered beginner (only decorating for 9 months or so then) but they moved me up to expert!

Even though I've learned so much online and by trial and error I'd still love to take some classes with the pro's... they just aren't offered close enough to me!

I guess to some degree I am self-taught too. I have also baked since I was a kid and loved the look of it when I saw a friend's mother who did it professionally from her home for years and years. My parents bought me a little kit and I played with it as much as possible, but never could figure out how to get a rose. I even had my friends mom help me when she had a class for us young girls at church once and I couldn't get it then. I was determined that someday I would. I was in my mid -40's before I got to take classes, but even if I liked cakes from bakeries back when my kids were little I couldn't afford them and I made them birthday cakes and made other cakes for a few special occasions. After I took the classes I was much better prepared to do it for more people, but still can't do a wilton rose. Well buttercream anyway. SOmeday!! I am not giving up.