Parts is parts

I can't count how many times I hear someone say how much they love making cakes and how it would be so much "fun" to have a job "playing in sugar".What strikes me about this most is, at the end of a 14 hour day the word "playing" does not enter my lexicon.Working in the custom cake business, is something of a misnomer.Often, it might be days into my work week before I ever touch a cake. I work alone so I need a really big hat rack to store all the hats I have to wear on any given work week. I'm the administration staff, the supply clerk, the public relations person, the accountant , the baker , the delivery driver and finally the cake designer.After all that, sometimes actually getting to focus on actual production can feel like something of a break, at least I'm doing only ONE thing.
So many of my cakes are comprised of multiple components, components that might take me all week or more to craft.So given my already overflowing inbox,why in the world do I often actually introduce even more parts where they were not originally requested? You might call it divine inspiration or sugary masochism , but I'll just call it fun.Yes, fun.Now, don't think that all the "parts" crafting is a sushi picnic at the beach. Some jobs are just that: jobs, unavoidable tasks. However, sometimes I'll get an idea about some element I have positively convinced myself the cake absolutely needs! I'll admit, I usually put far more time into those bonus elements than I have to spare, but most often, it was that little extra that completed the presentation.
Here's a collection of "parts" that I spent waaaay too much time on and didn't care one bit. That leaning tower of dishes can wait just a little while longer.
this fully to scale Big Mac box took me two days alone
in the middle of the night I just "knew" that a Heineken bottle cake needed an oversized coaster and bottle opener!
Ok, I was actually commissioned to make a few figures for the launch of the new Death Jr. Video game, but I got carried away and made a whole slew.When my client ordered a cake replica of her boyfriend's PSP game system, she was perfectly content with just the system , but when all was said and done, it also had a controller, a game cartridge and a taco bell dinner because she mentioned he always has taco bell while gaming.
finally, I'm working on a Molar cake this week and inspiration plus my cursory graphic design skills led me to create the inscription in toothpaste and floss(but hopefully tastier)!