Wilton Carousel Cake Set {Review & Giveaway - 3 winners!}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, gnwg, Rebecca Graham and amweeks!}

Some of my most-appreciated childhood memories are those of my birthday parties. From traditional slumber parties to taking over the roller skating rink, I had parties that were small, large, and everywhere in between.

And even though some of the specifics have grown a little hazy in my mind, one aspect that I will always remember is the cake. Ahh, the cake.

At the time I didn't realize how much effort and work my mom must have put in to make a themed cake for me every year (my initials, a roller skate, a teddy bear, etc) but now I know that it surely took a whole lot. But, really? What's a birthday party without a great cake?

Fortunately for me, I'm lucky that when it comes time for my own kids' birthday parties that I can have a little help making sure that my girls will have cakes they will remember as well thanks to Wilton.

Helping families celebrate for the past 80 years, Wilton is undoubtedly the industry leader in cake decorating, quality bakeware and food crafting. Whether you are looking for a specific cake pan or just need some inspiration for your next occasion, you'll find everything you need all within a few easy clicks on their website.

But Wilton doesn't just send you on your way wondering what to do with your new candy mold, they are there to help you with any questions you might have while concocting your next creation. No wonder they are known as the number one resource for nationally-located decorating classes as well as providing step-by-step information online and thru their publications to help you make your celebration special with beautiful cakes, cookies, cupcakes and candy.

And for Big Sister E's recent Carnival Birthday Party, I can honestly say that it wouldn't have been as special without Wilton. Not when nearly every guest that came over, took one look and began raving about the cake:

Is that not the coolest Carousel Cake ever?!

Having never worked with fondant or created a multi-level cake before, putting this together started the night before the party with the baking of two traditional round cakes. The next morning my mom and I looked over Wilton's Carousel Cake Set, Rolled Fondant Primary Colors Multi-Pack, Piping Gel, and Star Cut-Outs.

Adding in two packages of Wilton's Ready-To-Use White Rolled Fondant that I picked up at the store, the directions found online and with the Set made it easy to get started. First, there was the covering and stacking (using the Separator Plate) of each round cake...

...followed by easily assembling and attaching the horses, pillars, and tent top. By connecting them together and then pushing the pillars right down into the cake, the whole thing was together and ready for decorating.

Having the Primary Colors Multi-Pack of fondant made the decorating much easier than having to mix or knead in colors in hopes of getting bright, vivid results - what a convenient item! Instead, we rolled it out and used a knife and the Star Cut-Outs to make crisp, clean strips, shapes and designs.

With time running low and the party about to begin, my mom did an amazing job getting this carousel put together and decorated. I'm not sure anyone but a professional baker could have created what was shown on the box and, really? We didn't need to. Big Sister E loved it!

There was comment after comment from adults as well as kids and absolutely everyone had to have a slice to see if it tasted as good as it looked.

The party wouldn't have been the same without this cake! Having never tried something like this before, both my mom and I learned quite a few things along the way in terms of how to work with fondant and just how long cake decorating truly takes. However, thanks to Wilton, our amateur skills still ended up looking pretty dang good!

Whether you are shopping for professional decorating bakeware, getting ideas for delicious autumn treats, looking to learn cake decorating or much, much more, Wilton has everything you need to make your next celebration special. I have high hopes that Big Sister E will always look back and remember the Carousel Cake at her 5th birthday with fondness!

With a retail price of $24.99 for the Carousel Cake Set, I'm looking forward to using this again in upcoming years, as Wilton has already given me great ideas for how it could be used for a princess or cowboy theme and more! And, thanks to their generosity, three people will be soon planning for their next party in style, because...

Three lucky people will win a Carousel Cake Set from Wilton!

To enter to win: Visit Wilton and tell me another of their unique items that you would like to try.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Wilton on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN a Carousel Cake Set from Wilton (3 winners!) for a memorable party treat! http://bit.ly/u5IK6c @thxmailcarrier #giveaway #win

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email, become a fan on Facebook, and/or add Thanks, Mail Carrier to your blogroll.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to this post. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on November 21st at 11:59pm CST. By entering this sweepstakes, you are agreeing to these official rules. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited by law. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and must be 18 years of age or older.

A big thank you to Wilton for providing the aforementioned products for me to review as well as a Carousel Cake Set for three lucky giveaway winners. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.