Delight family and friends with exquisitely decorated cakes for birthdays, dinner parties, or just as a special treat. Through a simple question-and-answer format, with every procedure shown in color photographs, beginners will find out how to decorate without icing (just use a powdered sugar design); how to make chocolate curls and gumpaste flowers; how to prepare the drizzled chocolate icing known as ganache; and how to embellish tiered, bundt, and raspberry-filled cakes. See how to whip up fondant, ice petits fours, and use a pastry bag to write greetings and create adornments. The all-important wedding cake is here, too. And while the focus is on decoration, there are also basic cake and icing recipes, too.

Learning to make and decorate cakes that are as beautiful as they are delicious can be a challenge, but with the expert guidance of renowned confectionery artist Autumn Carpenter in First Time Cake Decorating, your goal is within reach. Like having your very own cake decorating instructor at your side, First Time Cake Decorating guides you expertly through the process, from baking and prepping your first cake through a range of decorating techniques, from essential piping techniques for creating borders, writing, and flowers to working with gum paste and fondant to make stunning daisies, roses, lilies, and more. There’s a first time for everything. Enjoy the journey and achieve success with First Time Cake Decorating!

Decorate dazzling cakes with this step-by-step guide for beginners! Decorating cakes at home is easy and fun, thanks to Rose Atwater's clear and detailed cake decorating guide. Rose started her "accidental cake business" in late 2009 with more than 20 practice cakes she made for her brother's wedding. By the following year, her prototypes had caught the attention of friends and family and turned into a steady stream of orders. Since then, she has turned her talents into a thriving business, decorating more than 1,500 cakes for her blog, Rose Bakes. Now, with Cake Decorating for Beginners, she turns her years of knowledge and experience into a comprehensive cake cookbook for any aspiring cake decorator! Get the ultimate cake decorating book for beginners: Getting started — Begin with basic recipes for baking the cakes you'll decorate and get an overview of the decorating tools and ingredients you'll need. Essential techniques — Learn how to decorate with frosting, piping, fondant, and chocolate so you can create cakes for any occasion, from baby showers to birthdays. Instructional cakes — Find 10 complete cake tutorials to help you put your new skills into practice, like a Shades of Blue Hexagon Cake, a Sweet Flowers Wedding Cake, and a Bright & Happy Sprinkles Cake. This cake decorating book for beginners contains everything you need to create your own gorgeous, photo-worthy confections!

With its luminous photography, question-and-answer format, and detailed instructions for putting a personal stamp on every room, this guidewritten by a media expertis simply a must-have.

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

Do you long to create picture-perfect rooms but can’t quite seem to achieve them? Do you want better functioning spaces for working, playing, or living? Do you clamor to express your personal style? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you’ve turned to the right source for real answers from the pros. Home Decorating For Dummies, 2nd Edition is for all kinds of people in all kinds of decorating situations, including: First-time buyers or renters. You have a whole new place to decorate. Where do you start? Second- or third-time home buyers. Whether you’ve gone up or down in size, stayed in the same region or moved to a whole new one, you need to know how to make your old furniture work in a new setting, how to add furnishings, and how to make your style seem fresh. Newly blended families. He has furniture, she has furniture, they have furniture. Can it all work together harmoniously? Indeed! And anyone else who loves decorating. Don’t forget: Imagination counts. Each part of Home Decorating For Dummies, deals with a broad area of decorating, and each chapter contains specific and detailed information. You'll discover tips on Basic planning – where to begin when you want to start decorating Creating surface interest – the effects of color, pattern, and texture, and the problems created by too much or too little of them Creating backgrounds – what you need to know about the special decorating requirements of your walls Tackling tough rooms – how to effectively decorate rooms that have special functional requirements Accessorizing with art and other stuff – adding the final flourishes to every space in your place Home Decorating For Dummies, 2nd Edition contains all the basics – including how to figure out what you can spend; how to spend it; and the latest and greatest in styles, trends, and technology. What do you do with your space next? The possibilities are endless.

Dorothy Rogers, wife of Broadway composer Richard Rogers, describes the country house that she and her husband had custom-built in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, Connecticut. She shares her theories of home design and entertaining,

In this fresh, fun, and unique book, design consultant and Today show lifestyle expert Elizabeth Mayhew shares essential insider tips for making any space stylish and timeless in a snap. Forget expensive fixes or labor-intensive endeavors, Flip! for Decorating can show you how to redecorate with what you have on hand, or with the simple purchases you’ll need to create the room of your dreams. Flip through the upper right hand pages, and watch four rooms receive an instant makeover! Inside you’ll discover: • step-by-step instructions for decorating the four most commonly used rooms: living room, dining room, family room, and bedroom • the fundamentals of color, including no-fail wall and trim colors, when to use wallpaper instead of paint, and the facts on different paint finishes • the ways to treat a window, from Venetian blinds and Roman shades to simple curtains–and the secrets to making a window appear taller or wider • the art of picking the perfect sofa, chairs, tables, and lighting • strategies on how to prioritize your decorating decisions Flip! for Decorating also features time-saving “reality checks,” handy shopping tips, and easy and informative sidebars that will give you instant solutions if you’re stumped, stymied, or need to add a quick jolt of style to virtually any room in your home. With this amazing, practical book, decorating is so easy you’ll flip!

35 step-by-step cookie and cake decorating projects for children aged 7-plus. 35 step-by-step cookie and cake decorating projects for children aged 7-plus. In My First Cookie & Cake Decorating Book you will discover that half the fun of baking is in the decorating! With 35 easy-to-follow step-by-step projects, you will soon be impressing family and friends with delicious decorated cookies and cakes. In Chapter 1, The Basics, there’s a range of cookie and cake recipes that will form the basis of your creations, such as a vanilla sponge and gingerbread cookies. In Chapter 2, Decorating Techniques, you will learn skills such as making and using a piping bag, creating and using templates, cutting shapes, making decorations, and getting creative with a range of colorful and fun toppings. In Chapter 3, Creative Cookies, the projects include Iced Christmas Trees, Snowflakes, Easter Bunnies, Sunflowers, and Gingerbread People. Once you’ve gained confidence and skills by decorating cookies, move on to Chapter 4, Creative Cakes. The recipes include a Snakes & Ladders Cake, Wise Owl, Teddy Bear, Blossom Cake and a Yule Log complete with Christmas decorations. The decorating part of the projects is designed for you to do without help, but you might need a grown-up to help you clean up the mess afterward!

Decorating cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, children's parties, christenings or weddings is a perennially popular subject. Nothing is nicer than receiving a cake that has that personal touch.First Steps in Cake Decorating contains over 100 step-by-step cake decorating techniques and recipes needed to make and decorate cakes that are simple to make yet look stunning. All the most popular methods of icing and decoration are covered, including buttercream, sugarpaste, chocolate, marzipan and flower paste. Detailed, easy-to-follow instructions explain the basics of preparing and using different types of icing, followed by recipes for imaginative cakes for each method, all illustrated with step-by-step photographs. There are fantastic cakes to suit adults and children alike. Beginners will pick up the basics fast and even experienced cake decorators will find some inspirational new ideas.