Wilton 2010 Yearbook {Review & Giveaway}

Wilton is a household name and known for its amazing baking products. I've mentioned numerous times on my blog that my mom is an fabulous cook and baker so it comes as no surprise that I am very familiar with the Wilton brand. My mom owns everything from the cupcake tower to their decorating kits to their baking sheets. And while she owns a lot of Wilton products, I owned nothing until I was contacted about their new Wilton 2010 Yearbook.
I was excited to check out the yearbook after I learned it was full of great decorating ideas, tips, instructions and Wilton products that allow you to create these amazing masterpieces. I certainly wasn't disappointed by the gorgeous pictures and vast selection of different and fun dessert creations. I instantly became both inspired and intimidated. I have never truly decorated much of anything before so many of the cakes were a little scary and I'm definitely a beginner. When I came across the candy molds I knew that would be a great way to start and I knew my family would go nuts over any candy I made.

Wilton was kind enough to send me some fun Disney Cars themed decorating items which I will post at a later date, after my son's birthday. They also sent me this race car pretzel mold, perfect for my son's Cars theme party. I headed off to buy candy melts, sticks and other supplies from my local craft store. I was astonished by all the different flavor options for candy melts, mold and gadgets from Wilton in which to create candy masterpieces. I decided to stick with simple and also bought a sea themed candy mold and these handy dandy squirt bottles which are made for more precision when adding melted candy to the mold, especially for multiple colors.
My first candy making session didn't go entirely smooth. The bottles weren't microwavable so I melted the candy melts in hot water. Because of this it was hard to get the candy hot enough and it would start to harden in the tube before I had a chance to use it for more than a minute. I made the mistake of thinking I should just squeeze a little harder.If you ever get that urge, stop immediately because I learned the hard way. I literally blasted the top off my squeeze bottle and ended up with candy all over my floor, shirt and in completely random places around my kitchen. (see below)
Once I ditched the bottles and melted the candy melts in the microwave and simply used a spoon to fill the molds, it went so much smoother and super fast. I highly recommend keeping it simple the first time and not trying to do too many fancy stuff with lots of colors until you get the hang of it. I was very surprised just how fast they hardened and how easy they were to remove. Next time I would include some milk chocolate as well instead of just the colored Wilton candy melts. I think they would have tasted extra good with both the vanilla and chocolate flavors. They were still super yummy and we loved them! I'm excited to make more and try out some other techniques!

Are you now inspired to try something fun and new? How would you like to win these fun silly-critter silicone baking cups

and these bright color flame candles

along with this dessert accent candy mold and

last but not least, these adorable baby themed cookie cutters?

Wilton would like to give one of my readers the a prize pack including the four products shown above along with a copy of the Wilton 2010 Yearbook so you can have fun in your kitchen as well!

Win it: Visit Wilton and tell me an item that you'd love to try!

Want more entries? (We are talking naughty indulgences here so of course!) After answering my question do any of the following and leave a comment telling me what you did. Each is worth one entry unless otherwise noted. Your comment is your entry so please leave the appropriate number of comments for each extra entry.
-Follow Wilton on twitter and tweet about the giveaway
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-Blog about this contest and link back here and to Wilton (3 entries)
-Make any purchase from Wilton and tell me what you bought! (5 entries)

This contest will end on 8/19/09 at 11:59 pm CST. U.S residents only. The winner will be drawn via random.org and contacted the next day. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you if it is not available in your profile. The winner will have 72 hours to respond before I draw another winner.