I couldn't get my pictures uploaded either so I am attaching them here. This cake was done for my daughters' school for the Mothers' Tea which was a school related theme. It took 2 weeks of 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. I'm unhappy with the zippers, but otherwise pleased with the results. The board is wood from home depot covered in chocolate fondant embossed and brushed with edible varnish. All school suuplies are either fondant or gumpaste and the cake itself is 3 9x13's cut and layered. Feedback is appreciated!

Thtat is AWSOME! You did a great job! How did you emboss the board?

Wow! Everything looks so real, I thought I was looking at a real bottle of glue! You did an amazing job!

That is amazing. I agree I thought the glue was real.

This cake is flawless. Everything is excellently done.
I am curious to know how you did the board also.

You aren't really going to let someone put a KNIFE to this masterpiece, are you ?!

Wow, you've got talent!

that is so cool,i would hate to cut that cake,i would want to show it off for as long as i could!!

Wow, amazing. Congrats on a fantastic job!!!

Here's another "Amazing!" comment. You really did do a fantastic job... everything looks great!

this cake is amazing What is wrong with the zippers? Are you looking at the same pic as I am? This is amazing I also want to know more about the board.

Wow super job! It looks very real and wow alot of work, you should be very proud. I thought the pencils and glue were real also. Congrats!

Very, very impressive...you should do a tutorial!!

Your backpack cake is awesome!!

And I agree with FlourPots. A tutorial would be great!!

Wow, thank you all so much for your feedback! I was a nervous wreck trying to plan this cake (I posted questions along the way in forums with very little responses! yikes!) So I forged ahead on my own! To answer your questions, the board was a piece of wood from home depot covered in chocolate fondant, embossed with woodgrain, lines and nail holes indented then painted with edible varnish to look like polyurethane. All school supplies were hand molded and painted either fondant or gumpaste. Edible images were used for the glue and crayons.

And yes, I did let them cut into it! The parents at the tea didn't have the heart but the principal kept it in her office to show it off then brought in down to the cafeteria the next day where she showed in to the elementary school. Then they cut it up and all of 300 girls got a teensy, weensy taste.

I'm especially proud of this cake as it was my first attempt at this design, and also I am a self-taught decorator. So thanks a bunch for your kind words.

I would do a tutorial but don't have the faintest idea how to make that happen!

congratulations on such and amazing and original design.

give yourself a big pat on the back

You did a great job

Great Job. I know that took you sometime.

Amazing Cake! I showed DH the pic:

Me: Honey, check this out
DH: (staring for about 15 seconds) is it gonna move or something
Me: It's a cake
DH: (mouth drops open) Nooooo! Really!!! Can't be!!! Look at that detail and the glue and the pencils and the erasers!! Can't be
Me: Ya, It's a cake

Great job

You've got natural talent!!! When I first looked at it, I thought the glue was real until I read that it was molded. Excellent job!!!

That is soooooo cool!! Wow! That's about all I can say. Wow!

Thank you so, so much for your very positive remarks. If you look at my portfolio (and I'm sure you can all say the same) the early pictures are OH SO EMBARRASSING! I'm slowly improving (I took a WIlton course in 2000 and literally fell into fondant and stayed stuck in sugarwonderland ever since!) but since I am not formally trained it's taken me trial and error to learn the trade which is both time consuming and EXPENSIVE! But loving the process. I get majorly excited when I learn a shortcut or a trick to make something look realistic. Your comments are really encouraging to me and helping me to be more confident in my work. I bake from home and am doing 99% family and friends 1 % commissioned work. And in between cakes I am a stay at home Mommy to seven little gold nuggets from ages 1 year to 12....so cakes can only be done piecemeal!
Thanks CC for the encouragement and GREAT advice!

Did you have a support system on the inside of the backpack? I love this!

Honestly, every single piece there would have fooled me...especially the glue!

this absolutely wonderfull, and considering you are so busy with your little ones i dont know how you had the time, evverything looks so real i would have been fooled, i wish i had this talent you could go a long way with cakes like that.