Do you know how to decorate a cake? How are your cake baking skills?

I love to bake unusual cakes. I grew up with an Aunt that was 'the family cake maker' lol. She made all of the wedding cakes, etc for all of our big family events. She often let me help her making roses, and sugar bells and all kinds of things. When my daughter got married, my dear Aunt had already passed on, so I summoned my courage and decided to make the 3 tiered cake. I was lucky that I inherited the large pans, tiers, and decorating supplies. It came out great! (If I do say so myself hahaha) Since then I've made other tiered wedding cakes for friends who couldn't afford a caterer for their kids weddings. (I usually donate the cake as part of their present) This summer I made a shower cake that was shaped like a kids bathtub duckie. I make all cakes from scratch and find I have better luck doing shaped cakes. Don't be so rough on yourself! Cake baking takes practice, and a lot of telling yourself 'I can do it!' Personally, I think scratch made cakes always come out better, and easier to remove from the pan, than cake mix cakes. If you get yourself a 3 tiered serving platter, you can make a beautiful display of cupcakes.

I have baked cakes from both mixes and from scratch (I have a great 1950s cookbook that has some yummy cake recipes in in it). But as far as decorating, I am lousy. I can get the icing on there and make it look okay, but I can't put names on it or anything. I have a friend who can do that sort of thing and she is the one we call when we need a shower cake or something special like that.