My first trip to The Wilton School!

I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Wilton School in Darien, IL for the first time in February! They offered instructor-only classes over the last weekend that month, and I am so grateful that I only live 3 hours away. I was joined by instructors who traveled as far as Las Vegas!

The photo above shows a timeline of Wilton, detailing the 85+ year history of the company. The Wilton Wall of Fame was nearby.... I hope to have my name and picture on that wall some day!

My first class was Stringwork and Borders on Saturday afternoon. This was a fantastic class taught by by Sandy Folsom. We used boiled icing and practiced several cake embellishing techniques!

Above is a photo of my some of my stringwork. There was definitely a particular "technique" to achieving these looks!

My second class was Fondant Painting on Sunday morning. Emily Easterly helped us explore several techniques of painting on fondant with gel colors and edible marker. We use lemon extract in lieu of vodka to thin our gel colors in some instances. Can you imagine the smell in that room?!

Above is a photo of some off my "splatter" work. I have yet to try this technique on a cake, but I think it's super neat!