Making Your Own Cakes

Do you know how much a cheap, generic, birthday cake from Walmart is costing these days!?

When I last checked, it was close to $10!

$10 for a cake that has no special thought or meaning?!? You've got to be kidding me!

This year we have been trying to do only homemade gifts which are full of thought for gifts. Many times we have failed, but we continue to try.

One way that I have found to show someone I love them and care for them is to make them a cake and decorate it myself. I used to make homemade cards (spending hours!) and people would look at them, smile and toss! It was hard to watch all that thought and time just be pushed aside. It was time to come up with a new idea.

Cake decorating is it!!

I love it. It's thoughtful. It's fun and guess what.... I'm good at it!

If you make your own cake mix and icing the total cost is about $3.35. That's all for a cake that is full of thought and love!

Now I am going to be honest with you, my husband bought me a NICE cake decorating kit. It cost $100 but the way I see it, I am saving about $10 every time I do a cake (to have a nice themed cake is even more than a Walmart generic). So therefore, I need to make 10 cakes to get the money back. Since having the decorating set, I made my dad a birthday cake and I made a Halloween cake for my family (pictures coming next week!). That is at least $20 we saved. With the large family we have I will easily have the money saved that the kit cost in a couple of months.

Here are a few pictures of my dad's birthday cake. He is a photographer and loves cameras, therefore I decided to make him a simple camera cake.

Be watching next week for the awesome icing recipe a friend gave me. It is so easy, cheap, and 'oh so delicious!

This post is linked to Frugal Friday and the Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom .