I Love This Caddy!
Written: Jun 07 '07
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Pros: Variety of items to get you started with decorating
Cons: Large size takes up a lot of space
The Bottom Line: A good investment for anyone beginning cake decorating
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| aimeeb1224's Full Review: Wilton Filled Tool Caddy |
I love the Wilton 50 Piece Decorating Caddy! I have just started out in cake decorating as a hobby and part time business, and although I am new to the hobby, I work on cake decorating projects quite a bit now. The Wilton caddy has provided me with just about everything I need.
The caddy itself is relatively large, which is great for storage. I did, however, have a problem finding space for it in our kitchen because it is so large. The dimensions are approximately 16 inches long by 9 inches wide by 8 inches tall. Inside, there is a tray that is specifically molded into shapes that hold Wilton items such as tips, food coloring jars, and other small items. You can lift up the tray to reveal an open storage space underneath for your larger items. This space is great to store your spatulas, dowels, pastry bags, etc.
The caddy comes stocked with enough items to get you started in cake decorating. It has 17 tips, including 5 different sized round tips, 4 star tips, a basketweave tip, 2 leaf tips, 3 different petal tips, and 2 drop flower tips. My favorite tip is #233, which is a multi-opening tip commonly used for grass or hair. I have used this with Wilton’s 3D Stand Up Bear to create a realistic, furry bear, and I have also used it to make grass for an Easter cake.
Wilton also includes a flower nail, 18 disposable pastry bags (and also one non-disposable bag), 2 couplers for attaching tips to your pastry bag, a spatula for smoothing out your icing, brushes to clean your tips, 4 small gel food colorings (red, blue, yellow and green), a practice board, and a small book. Personally, I do not find much use for the practice board, as I prefer to practice on a sheet of wax paper (taped to my countertop) and then I just throw that away. The decorator’s guide book is small, but surprisingly packed with cute ideas and the Wilton basic recipes.
What may be missing from this kit, depending on your intentions, is anything to do with fondant. You may want a fondant roller or smoother, a mat, or tools to cut out fondant shapes. Wilton probably did this intentionally, because this 50 piece caddy is designed to cover Wilton’s Cake Decorating Course I, and Course I does not cover fondant. I have experimented with fondant and have purchased some supplies on my own, but have found in general a regular rolling pin dusted in confectioner’s sugar works just as well as a fondant roller, and wax paper (again, dusted in confectioner’s sugar) works just as well as a fondant mat. I have found that the bulk of my investment costs so far have been related to working with buttercream rather than fondant, so the 50 piece tool caddy has saved me a ton of money so far.
What also may be missing is more food colorings, but you can get any color from knowing how to mix the 4 basic colors Wilton already provides. Besides, food coloring jars are only $0.99 at the Michael’s craft store near me. I would rather buy them as needed than pay more to have colors put into a caddy which I will never use. You may occasionally find that a tip you need is missing, but so far I have not had that problem.
I have seen this caddy priced online for between $50 and $65. I would probably have a different opinion about the Wilton caddy if I paid that much. I would probably still like my caddy, but I certainly would see it as less of a bargain and I would be less excited about it. I looked online until Joann.com had it in stock and had a 50% off coupon, and I got this caddy for $24.98. At that price, this is a steal! Local craft stores like Michael’s and Joann regularly issue 40% off coupons, so you may be able to buy one locally without having to shop online, for about the same price.
For $25, you really can’t go wrong with this purchase. It may take awhile before I use every single tip in this kit, but it cost me less to buy this caddy than it would have cost if I went out and purchased only half of its contents individually. And that makes me very happy!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 24.98
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Epinions.com ID:
aimeeb1224
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Reviews written: 153
Trusted by: 7 members
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