Why not, no more off topic than dogs and errant bunnies! And it is a way of celebrating holidays..What holiday doesn't have cake associated with it?? I would be very interested in talking about it here, or if they would, another forum. Maybe entertaining?? No one usually posts over there anyway!. Ok, I will have to try a different fondant, and I will check those sites. The few fondants I had were on wedding cakes, and were very sweet! I like whipped cream, buttercream is too sweet for me also, and of course creamcheese, and a choc icing I make. When I was "selling" I was always amazed how much cream cheese I needed for the carrot cakes, and even buying in bulk it was a pricey item. Now I don't keep track of the cost. If someone asks me to make them a cake for an occasion, I just tell them what to buy, and I do it for them. I mean even Ash Wed has a sweet associated with it, HOT CROSS BUNS!

Don't overfill the bags. It is always a temptation but control is better when they aren't overfilled. I learned from the Wilton books - you can get the cheapest one and then experiment from there. For buttercream, shortning based handles best - it is less sensitive to temperature, but of course butter tastes best. I usually compromise and do half and half which gets the flavor but more stable consistancy. I like the plastic decorating bags that come in a roll so I can have lots of different colors set up. You can either buy extra couplings or if you don't need to change tips you cut the end off smaller and put the tip in the bag without a coupler. Folded out of parchment paper triangles is another option as Maryanne suggests. To fill the bags, it works best to hold the bag about half way down and fold the top of the bag over your hand. That way you can fill the bag without getting frosting on the top edge or outside. One of those long thin decorating spatulas works well for getting the frosting packed in - you can wipe the frosting off against the bag where your hand is holding it. You can use a spoon if you don't have the spatula. There are fun effects you can get by loading the bag with two colors of frosting. I put in mostly blue with a strip of white to make waves when I was doing a dolphin cake. You can also put stripes of food coloring in the bag and then load with white or light colored frosting for a multi-color effect. When the bag is filled (for plastic and cloth bags) take the top up and twist it. Then you cradle the twisted top between in the slot between your thumb and forefinger. Wrap you hand around the bag and use your whole hand (mainly palm) to squeeze. You can guide the tip a little with a finger of your other hand. When the bag starts to get empty, you can twist the top more. Do you have the paste colors? I like to use them because they don't change the consistancy of the frosting. Don't overbeat the frosting - if there is too much air in it, it will be hard to get stiff enough for things like roses. I find it is important to sift the powdered sugar so there are no lumps. You want a thinner frosting for spreading and thicker for decorating so it will hold the ridges. The thickest is needed for things like roses where you build up a structure. I still haven't mastered roses. Sweet peas are one of my favorites - pretty easy to make and a pleasing effect. Also round flowers made with the star tip rotating it as you squeeze.

I would place the desk and chair at an angle to the right of the fireplace, with the chair loosely in the corner in front of the window. Then you can add a lounger with an accent chair for your "ladies' den" seating arrangement in the rest of the room. Similar to this floor plan:

Pick out your countertop first. It'll be challenging because your floor is lively, and you don't want to also have to consider cabinet color. Your current color isn't bad at all so there shouldn't be a rush. (I love that style cabinet, especially when they are so crisply clean looking like yours!) You can go with moody greens or golds for Craftsman...just have to avoid harvest gold or avocado green in YOUR kitchen because it does have those midcentury roots you're trying to ignore. Look at some classic Craftsman tiles if you think you might use a tile backsplash. Inspiration. :)