Hey everyone!
I was wondering how far in advance you can make a dummy cake.. and still have it look really good?
Thanks for your input!!

You can make a dummy whenever. I have dummies from last summer that look like I just made them. HTH

As long as you can keep them out of highly lit areas, I would say as far in advance as you'd like.
Flourescent lighting as well as direct or indirect sunlight can drain the colors from your pieces...some colors fade faster than others too. They can be revived by either airbrushing the faded areas (a steady hand and caution to overspray is very important) or by brushing powdered color to the faded items. Depending on what the dummies are covered with and decorated with, you might be able to remove the faded items and replace them with either the same type or something completely different for a new look.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but reading this reminded me of a quesiton I've been wondering about regarding dummy cakes. For those of you who reuse your styro dummies, do you just peel off the fondant and then rinse the dummies with water? Does getting them wet damage them at all? TIA!

I reuse mine. I wash them with hot (not too hot) soapy dishwater...rinse well...and allow them to dry (on cake rack for air flow) for about a week to make sure it's good and dry. I've used a scrub brush on them before with minimal damage...just filled in with a 'crumb' coat of royal icing.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all of the information! I'm going to be doing my first dummy cake soon..(as if you couldn't tell).

Thanks again!

I cover mine with clear packing tape. Makes the icing or mmf look really nice and smooth. Easy to clean off as well.

Jen, that's a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Clear tape is all I ever used. I'll recover them once the tape starts to come loose. I can usually use them about a dozen or more times before I have to change the tape.

I also have dummies that have passed their first birthday! Interesting observation .... my 6-tier dummy that is all white icing and sits in my window, turned slightly yellow when I first put it in the window ... but after a few weeks, the sunlight turned it back to all whte again! Weird!

As stated above, water will not harm a styrofoam cake. I mean, you put water and other liquid in those styrofoam cups and they hold up just fine, right?

I ice mine in BC and when I'm ready to change it, I just run a knife under the layer of icing and it pops off in big sheets. Damp rag over the outside of the styro and it's ready to roll again. The BC turns concrete hard ..... folks love it when I tell them, "Sure! You can touch it!"

Thank you all so much! This info has been great! I really like the tape idea as well. It sounds easy!!
Happy Cakin'!!