....let me start off by saying that you ladies have some BEAUTIFUL cakes posted on here. I spent hours looking through all of the pictures.
I wanted to try and make my son his first birthday cake. It isn't very fancy, since we had a very small celebration at home. I have never taken any classes or anything, so I was really going into it without much knowledge. I just bought a Wilton yearbook and tried to follow the instructions. Here was the end result...
I couldn't smooth it out as well as I would have liked. I tried heating my spatula. Not sure how to do the parchment paper method. My lettering could definitely use some work. I used the toothpick method. Was hard to do because my icing was melting due to the heat. The bottom border is supposed to be a shell border, but they ended up looking more like stars....I definitely need some practice! 
Very cute! Well done for your first attempt. You'll find that the more you do, the better you will become. I recommend saving the pic of your first cake and comparing it to your fifth cake. That way you can tell how much better you become. I did that with my third and I can see a MAJOR difference. Even when you compare with your second cake you will see marked improvement.
Joe
I think you did a good job! And remember - all of those gorgeous cakes were made by people who at one time were decorating their first cake. That's what I keep telling myself. The more I do, hopefully the better I'll get. And practice, practice, practice!
And come to the site often! I have learned so much from these forums!
You did great for your first try!!! And remember it can only get better with practice. My first cake looked pretty much the same, colours and all but it was for my brother's 21st B/day that was almost 20 years ago and I'm still learning new stuff everyday, CC has helped greatly. 
You did a great job for your first attempt. And your lettering is good too. I am no good at lettering. I have used all the methods for smoothing and have found the viva paper towel method the best so far. I found that tip here on CC. Keep up the good work!
Welcome to CC! I am a newbie too. I think your cake came out very well for a first try! The trick to smoothing the cakes and using the paper towel/parchment is to have an icing that "crusts". It "dries" so that you can touch it without getting frosting on your fingers. (Tho of course if you touch hard enough it is just cake lol!) There are some good recipes around here and I think they have a "how to" on using the paper towel. (I just use wax or parchment paper.)
Great job!!! If only my first cake looked that LOL no matter what I tried I could not get it smooth. They will only get better with time. Keep up the great work. Mc
Welcome to CC.
I think your cake turned out really great for your first time.
Just keep practicing and don't be so hard on yourself...it will come to you
Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions, everyone is great in answering questions and if we don't know the anwer, we try to find someone who do.
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