I'm making a cake for a picnic this weekend. It's going to be iced in buttercream with fondant accents to make it look like a checkered tablecloth. I'm just going to cute some squares out of red fondant and put them on the cake. Should I make them ahead of time and dry them or should I cut them right before I put them on the cake?

Anyone?

Makes no difference. Just know that when they're dry they're a little tougher to attach. If you have time, I would go with fresh.

I say that since they are going to lay flat on the cake, you can just do them fresh and cut them before putting on the cake.

I'm going to put them on the top and on the sides. I can't get my fondant red enought so I'm planning to use red pearl dust to pain them. I think it might be easier to cut them and let them dry before painting. Would it be too hard to get them to stay on the side of the cake?

If any of them are to hange over the edge -- rounded -- like a real table cloth then you need to use fresh. If nonoe of them hange over then you can dry them if that helps you time wise