Isn't it fun to linger over cake magazines and dream up new designs for your future cakes? It's one of my favorite past times. But when you've been volunteered to make

your sister's wedding cake (because everyone just loves your creative cakes), conjuring up ideas isn't quite as easy, especially when she and her fiancé have just announced that they're moving their wedding date up - to this month.

Why is it when we need our creativity most, that side of the brain decides to delegate its task to the logical side of the brain, which gets busy right away poo-pooing every idea you come up with? We'll leave that to the psychologists to discuss for now because we've got some serious pleading to do – to the cake gods that is. Oh, wait. They can't help. They've got an angel food cake coming out of the oven.

So when you need cake decorating ideas and fast what can you do?

Go to Google.com, and click on Google Images. Here you can search for cakes using any number of terms. If you know your sister is partial to daisies, and the winter wedding is now to be a summer garden wedding, then search for summer wedding cakes, daisy wedding cake, or a combination of these.

Your sister isn't the flowery cake type and she and her fiancé are tying the knot in scuba gear underwater? No problem. Search Google Images for "Scuba Wedding Cake." Hey, why not? An unconventional wedding calls for an unconventional cake! You won't find many images with this term, but there are a few really cute ones!

Tip: Don't use the quotation marks when you search for odd terms like this.

Now, you may not see a cake that you want to make, but you're apt to see some elements you want to use and other things that spark your imagination. Maybe you don't want to use the bride and groom in flippers and masks cake topper (adorable as they are), but you like the cake's sugarcrafted shells. Another sea themed cake topper would go well - a jeweled crystal "treasure chest" musical box perhaps? (You didn't see this one, but all the other ones inspired your brainstorm.)

Or if your sister and her fiancé are kids at heart (the fact that they just moved their wedding up from six months away to this month tends to make you think so), a cake topper featuring a Little Mermaid bride and her prince might tickle their fancy.

Now see how easy that was? No matter what type of cake you have been called

upon to make (or volunteered yourself for in a less than sane moment), you don't need worry about coming up with a terrific idea. In fact worry will just make the task more difficult.

Have fun with it, and start by doing some browsing at Google Images. Before you know it, you will have put together the perfect idea whether it be for a child's character themed birthday party, Uncle Ed's retirement - or your scuba diving sister's impromptu wedding.

And if you need some fast help implementing your super cool and creative design,

(and the cake gods are busy sampling their latest angel food cake), there

are some helpful books and videos that can show you just how to construct that wedding cake so it stays upright, get the buttercream nice and smooth, mold and model with fondant and gum paste, and lots more. You can learn this all in one place using "Cake Decorating Made Easy!" Here's what one reader says about our Video Books:

"A great book with tips, techniques,

cake and icing recipes and fantastic

videos which make it all make sense.

Like having a specialty cooking class in

your own home with the back-up of you

guys to answer queries if needed."

K. Leigh

VI, Australia