Cake Craft Shoppe

I signed up for a professional piping class here and it was so stupid. Everything we learned, I could've learned for FREE from books, YouTube, even Martha Stewart! Sheila Brooks was such a bad teacher. When she was showing us how to pipe blossoms, she kept messing up. And she messed up for all the other stuff we learned too, but she'd just make excuses like how she was in a car accident or how she hadn't done this in months. Then please don't teach and take money away from eager students who actually want to learn how to decorate cakes!\r \r That's the thing that I disliked the most. I didn't get the feeling that the instructor cared about us or cake decorating. She gave off this vibe that she was so money hungry. You pay her for her teaching skills AND you buy supplies from her store. It's all about money for Sheila and is that the kind of teacher you really want??\r \r If you own a bakery already, you will only waste time here. She won't teach you anything you don't already know. Heck, you're probably better than her anyway! If you're a beginner thinking that this class will be lots of fun (like me), OMG...please avoid. Save your money or spend it on a lots of icing ingredients and books so you can practice on your own...and that's what cake decorating really is anyway! Just lots of practice and creativity.\r \r This class was absolutely the biggest waste of my time and money. I've got nothing against the store (though I think the supplies they sell are overpriced) or Sheila or Cynthia, but really, you are not getting your money's worth with these classes. Don't say I didn't warn you....\r Pros: made friends with other classmates, learned that instructor loves Angus beef and nicknames her daughter ""kamikaze"" Cons: bad teaching, didni't learn anything, huge waste of money, expensive supplies, rude instructor, unfriendly ambience more

I signed up for a professional piping class here and it was so stupid. Everything we learned, I could've learned for FREE from books, YouTube, even Martha Stewart! Sheila Brooks was such a bad teacher. When she was showing us how to pipe blossoms, she kept messing up. And she messed up for all the other stuff we learned too, but she'd just make excuses like how she was in a car accident or how she hadn't done this in months. Then please don't teach and take money away from eager students who actually want to learn how to decorate cakes!\r \r That's the thing that I disliked the most. I didn't get the feeling that the instructor cared about us or cake decorating. She gave off this vibe that she was so money hungry. You pay her for her teaching skills AND you buy supplies from her store. It's all about money for Sheila and is that the kind of teacher you really want??\r \r If you own a bakery already, you will only waste time here. She won't teach you anything you don't already know. Heck, you're probably better than her anyway! If you're a beginner thinking that this class will be lots of fun (like me), OMG...please avoid. Save your money or spend it on a lots of icing ingredients and books so you can practice on your own...and that's what cake decorating really is anyway! Just lots of practice and creativity.\r \r This class was absolutely the biggest waste of my time and money. I've got nothing against the store (though I think the supplies they sell are overpriced) or Sheila or Cynthia, but really, you are not getting your money's worth with these classes. Don't say I didn't warn you....\r Pros: made friends with other classmates, learned that instructor loves Angus beef and nicknames her daughter ""kamikaze"" Cons: bad teaching, didni't learn anything, huge waste of money, expensive supplies, rude instructor, unfriendly ambience more

Please don't sign up for any classes here. Whatever you "learn" in class, you can easily teach yourself from books or videos on the Internet. \r \r I paid $200 for a "professional" course, but what a joke. We barely learned anything in each of the 6 hour long classes I was there. I mean, it's laughable that this kind of class is even labeled "professional". \r \r You pretty much learn on your own anyway because the instructor shows you how to do something and then just sits there. She doesn't even walk around to check out your work or personally teach you the right way to do things. And isn't that what you're paying for? You're paying for someone to actually TEACH you the things you can't get from watching a video or reading a book! But, since the instructor didn't do any of this stuff, it is SUCH a total waste of money.\r \r You also have a list of supplies to buy (PS go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and use the 40% coupon) and half the stuff you will probably end up buying from her store. So more

If you are looking for specialty cake supplies, this will be it. HOWEVER, if you're interested in cake decorating classes, don't waste your time and money! Seriously, I'm only writing this review b/c I took a class and don't want anyone to make my mistake. \r Shiela Brooks is the owner and the main instructor and as an instructor, she's very unprepared and unorganized. She was constantly rummaging through her notes to see what she had to teach us. But, shouldn't that be something she should already know?? She's also simply NOT a good teacher. She doesn't care about you and her work is also far from impressive. Ea. time she demonstrated a technique, she'd mess up and brush it off by saying ""that's what you SHOULDN'T do."" Or, she'd blame it on her bad back or the fact that she hasn't piped in months. Um, is this someone who you really want to be teaching you then? If I'm going to pay $200 for a cake decorating class, I want my instructor to BE COMPETENT. Showing me the wrong way to do something does not teach me how to do it the right way.\r Instead of walking around, correcting our mistakes or giving us tips to do a better job, she just sat at the front working sending txt mssgs to her daughter ""kamekaze"". Remember, YOU are paying HER to teach you, but she makes it seem like she's doing YOU a favor. Instead of sharing business tricks and insider hints, she also spends half the time talking abt how great she is. The course I took was 6 hours long, but the two or three skills we learned each day could have easily been compacted into 3hr sessions. \r If you're going to spend money, you might as well invest in books, supplies, and YouTube everything. Her ""professional"" classes aren't ""professional"" quality and definitely not taught by someone anywhere near professional. If you are still interested, at least visit and talk to her BEFORE signing up. Follow Shiela's own advice: If you don't like the teacher/baker's work, then don't take the class or buy from them. GOOD LUCK!\r Pros: good stock of specialty cake supplies, friendly students who take the class Cons: very poor instruction, waste of time and money more

If you are looking for specialty cake supplies, this will be it. HOWEVER, if you're interested in cake decorating classes, don't waste your time and money! Seriously, I'm only writing this review b/c I took a class and don't want anyone to make my mistake. \r Shiela Brooks is the owner and the main instructor and as an instructor, she's very unprepared and unorganized. She was constantly rummaging through her notes to see what she had to teach us. But, shouldn't that be something she should already know?? She's also simply NOT a good teacher. She doesn't care about you and her work is also far from impressive. Ea. time she demonstrated a technique, she'd mess up and brush it off by saying ""that's what you SHOULDN'T do."" Or, she'd blame it on her bad back or the fact that she hasn't piped in months. Um, is this someone who you really want to be teaching you then? If I'm going to pay $200 for a cake decorating class, I want my instructor to BE COMPETENT. Showing me the wrong way to do something does not teach me how to do it the right way.\r Instead of walking around, correcting our mistakes or giving us tips to do a better job, she just sat at the front working sending txt mssgs to her daughter ""kamekaze"". Remember, YOU are paying HER to teach you, but she makes it seem like she's doing YOU a favor. Instead of sharing business tricks and insider hints, she also spends half the time talking abt how great she is. The course I took was 6 hours long, but the two or three skills we learned each day could have easily been compacted into 3hr sessions. \r If you're going to spend money, you might as well invest in books, supplies, and YouTube everything. Her ""professional"" classes aren't ""professional"" quality and definitely not taught by someone anywhere near professional. If you are still interested, at least visit and talk to her BEFORE signing up. Follow Shiela's own advice: If you don't like the teacher/baker's work, then don't take the class or buy from them. GOOD LUCK!\r Pros: good stock of specialty cake supplies, friendly students who take the class Cons: very poor instruction, waste of time and money more

I was so disappointed by this store. I loved the concept of a cake supply store/cake decorating class, but it was not a good experience. I took a class here and I paid $85 for something I could've taught myself out of a recipe book. I also felt like I was ripped off by buying the supplies from the store instead of looking for cheaper ones elsewhere. Then I found out AFTER buying supplies that refunds were not even allowed! =( \r \r The people who worked at the store had unfriendly vibes. Ugh, hopefully other people have had a better experience than me at this place. Would not recommend at all. more