Hello out there! Originally, I planned on starting this blog after my first Wilton lesson, which should have been this past Thursday. For reasons unknown, they pushed the first lesson in course one back a week. So I figured to be helpful, I would go over all the supplies that I decided to buy.

To backtrack a little, I decided to take these Wilton courses because (like most people), I love seeing beautiful decorations on desserts. Themed cakes, towering cupcake toppers, and dressed up cake-pops are amazing to me. I think they add something to an event. They can be amazing centerpieces, or even favors. A few years ago, I made some X-Rated cookies for a friends Bachelorette Party. They were sloppily done, since I really had no idea what I was doing. I like how much everyone enjoyed them, and all the girls are the party ate every cookie. It was after this that I decided to take the leap and make a cake for my niece's birthday (more on that later). Those X-Rated cookies have led me down a road to try and see how far I can take this decorating thing.

This week I will (hopefully) be starting Wilton's Cake Decorating Course 1 at a local Michaels store. The first course takes place over a month, with one class a week.  According to the Wilton website, this first course will cover "a broad set of buttercream decorating techniques." Or, the basics. Using a decorating bag, icing cakes, making buttercream flowers, letters, shapes and so on. When I showed the instructor a cake I'd made, she suggested I skip the first course and I declined. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I'm able to copy things relatively well from websites and YouTube videos, but I want to learn from the ground up. So why did I decide to blog about this experience? When I searched online, I found a couple of pages that briefly went over the first lesson or two of the Wilton course, but they didn't go further. I would like to document this journey lesson by lesson, and maybe further on.

To start off, I would like to cover what the required materials are for Course 1.

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After signing up for the class, I was given this to print out. Everything is clearly listed. I would suggest gathering these materials early. You never know if your local Michaels store will have everything that you need. I opted for the Wilton Ultimate Cake Decorating Set instead of the Course 1 kit. If you only plan on taking a course or two, I would suggest just buying the individual course kits. They have just what you need. If you plan on taking all four courses like me, or just like to attempt to make pretty desserts, go all out for the Ultimate kit. (Remember to coupon hunt! You can look in your local paper, or on the Michaels website for coupons to keep the cost down. I got a 50% off coupon for one item, and a 25% coupon off my entire order. What should have cost $265 in supplies, cost me only $130.)

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So here we go! The kit has 177 pieces (http://tinyurl.com/ltmxtxn). The pictures about show what the front of the box looks like, and the pictures of what was inside. The very last photo on the bottom right is the Wilton Carry-All Tote. I plan on bringing the Ultimate kit to each class, and it seemed like a hassle to carry around. This tote fits the entire Ultimate container (It was $40.00 so remember your coupons!). The only downside is that I will have to carry the additional supplies in another bag. I may look a bit crazy walking around the parking lot with all my decorating materials.

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Moving along, I went through the entire Kit to make sure everything was in there. This took much longer than I expected. Everything was neatly packed and sealed. The biggest complaint I have is none of the items are labeled in the kit. While some items were easy enough to figure out, others I had no concept of what they could be used for. I went through the list of items in the kit one by one, and whatever I couldn't figure out I looked up online. It look a long time, but it's worth it. You wouldn't want to be digging around through all the drawers when you need something quickly. Another downside is that this kit basically fits just what they give you. The top two drawers are empty, but do not hold much. I was able to put my gel colors in there, but in the future, I need to get something more organized.

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The above photo is the Wilton Decorator Icing that is required to bring for the first class, and the flat cookies we need to bring. I debated making some cookies from scratch, but since we're going to be practicing on these, I doubt I will be eating them. I would suggest picking up some cheap, large, and flat cookies at a local store. There is a list of the additional items you need to bring in (see first picture), and I'll gather those in a small shopping bag. After going through everything I need for the course, I suggest the following:

  1. Make sure you organize your kit and label everything!
  2. The kit contains a dish washing pouch for your piping tips. From experience, please don't use this. The tips do not get clean in this pouch in the dishwasher. Clean them by hand, and soak them if you have something on them you can't pry off.
  3. Get a crafting knife! I picked up an X-Acto knife to cut my piping bags and it works 100% better than a pair of scissors. I also use it to fix lines on my decorations.
  4. Print out the list from the Wilton website for what is in the Ultimate kit (if you decide to purchase it). Most likely you will forget what is in there if you aren't using it often, and you will be able to refer to your list quickly. You don't want to accidentally buy a duplicate!

This is about all I can cover on the Wilton preparation for now. See you on my next post!