Cake Decorating Class part one

Being a new mom, I wanted to add another badge to my Super Mom Cape: Cake Decorator! Yes, a very large task indeed. I LOVE to bake anything and everything. Baking is a nice stress reliever for me. Plus there is a tasty prize at the end!

A few of my co-workers are cake decorators for work events like showers and occasionally sell custom cakes on the side. So I figure if they can do it, then so can I. I signed up for a Wilton Cake Decorator class at my local Hobby Lobby. Got a few supplies, paid my fee, and happily dreamed of decoration my son's first birthday cake. I had most of the cake supplies already at hand because, lucky me I won a Wilton Cake Decorator 50 piece Caddy Giveaway. Yea, me!

First of a four part class was creating the basic icing and making various types of icing, Stiff, medium, and thin. I still have a hard time with the stiff and medium icing. Mine always come out too stiff when I think I make medium and thus I squeezing the life out of my icing bag. Frustrated I, empty the entire content of the bag back into the bowl and proceed to add water, stir, and refill the bag. Only to find out while piping that NOW it's too thin! Arrrr! (I need to practice more at home). Plus I find the book recipe too sweet. My dad is a diabetic and this not a good deal. I need to find a new Icing recipe. Any Ideas?

Any who, we decorated with a star tip and thus came out with all white star iced cookies. So my next class will be decorating a cake. I need to go out to buy more supplies and bring a naked cake to class.

Overall, I'm having fun, getting a sugar high, and emptying out my wallet. But this is the basic class so I only buy what I need. Note to self buy the Wilton Cake Decorating Yearbooks. They have so many cute ideas. But then again you have to buy the stencil book that goes with it. Again money out of my wallet. Hobby Lobby is gonna love me.