by  Cristy Smith

You don't have to be an expert cake decorator in order to make
fantastic looking birthday cakes. Here are some cake decorating
ideas to help you to make your cakes extra special that do not
require exceptional cake decorating skills.

First, determine a theme for your cake. If the cake is for an
adult, what are the likes, hobbies or interests of the birthday
person? For example, if the person likes to fish, make a fishing
theme cake. If the person likes to golf, make a golf theme cake.
If they like to play the guitar, make a guitar cake.

You could also make the cake theme match their profession as
well. For example, for a mail carrier make a mail theme cake or
for a carpenter, make a carpenter theme cake.

If you are making a cake for a child, have it match the theme of
the party or the child's favorite character, interest or even
sport.

You get the idea, just try to make the cake extra special for
the birthday person by making it match their hobbies or
interests.

A really easy cake decorating idea for making these theme cakes
is to purchase cake toppers that match your theme to place on
top of your cake. These come in many different varieties.
However, if you happen to want to make a certain theme cake for
which you cannot find a cake topper to match, try the miniature
section of any hobby or craft store.

For the examples above, you can purchase things such as a
miniature fishing rod and net for the fishing cake, a miniature
golf bag and golf clubs for the golf theme cake and a miniature
guitar for the guitar cake. You can then place them on top of
your cake. For a mail theme cake, purchase miniature mail boxes
and make little letters out of card stock that you laminate and
place them on the top and sides of your cake. For the carpenter
theme cake, put miniature saws and other tools on the top of or
on the sides of the cake.

These are just a few examples. The ideas really are endless, but
hopefully this has helped to get you started thinking of
different and unique cake decorating ideas that will make the
next cake that you make extra special.

About the author:
Cristy Smith is co-creator of a birthday cake decorating website
that is packed full of creative and fantastic looking cakes and
explains how each one was made. Visit
http://www.easy-birthday-cakes.com for lots of
great cake decorating ideas
http://www.easy-birthday-cakes.com/cake-decorating-ideas.html