Hey guys...new to cake decorating and this site (love it all so far). I am making a luau themed cake and I started working on some of the fondant details last night. I made a Hula girl and palm tree leaves. This morning when i picked them up (gently) to check on them-they broke apart. Her foot fell off and the leaves started craking and breaking off. What did i do wrong?? The Hula girl is a mixture of 2/3 wilton fondant and 1/3 wilton gumpaste, the palm leaves were all wilton fondant. Any help woud be appreciated!!

You have to let them dry completely before picking them up. I use either straight gumpaste or fondant with tylose added to help it dry faster. I don't think overnight was long enough drying time, especially if the pieces were very thick.

What are you using for your glue to attach the pieces? I use edible glue which is water with a little tylose powder dissolved in it. It works great. You want to use just a small amount of the edible glue. If you use too much it will stay wet much longer and your pieces will slide apart.

Thanks for the replies...how long does it usually take for think fondant figures and thin fondant leaves to dry? I am making some flowers tonight and I need them for sat....is that going to be enought time?

Making flowers and leaves today for a Saturday cake should be fine. I make loops for pom pom bows and use them the next day. Figures take longer to dry well because they are much thicker, but if handled carefully, they could be made today and used Saturday.

I use just gumpaste, not a partial fondant mix, for figures and I let them dry no less than 3 days before I touch them. I know it sounds like a long time, but it works if you have it to spare.
Also, when I have broken one of them, I used royal icing to "glue" them back together. I know it's tempted to mess with them but, don't until they're completely dry.

Thick fondant takes a long time to dry. I have blue bow in my photos and I let those loops dry for a week and still had some breakage. That's why I now use gum paste.

Thanks guys...i dont know why im so tempted to mess with them....two more quick questions...when you are letting figures dry, do you prop them up or lay them flat? Also, I am assuming this means that I have to leave all of my palm tree leaves to dry seperatly before i attach them together and to their trunk. Is this correct?

I used to use Wilton for figures, but had many issues with it. Now I either use CK gumpaste mix or satin ice fondant with tylose mixed in. I recently started using the fondant/tylose mix and prefer it to the gumpaste for figures.

Keep in mind that drying time will depend on the weather. If it's humid or rainy, it will take longer.

If I'm doing figures that are standing or sitting up, I prop them as they are drying, if they need more support. For the 3 monkeys I made last week, one needed to be propped while drying, the others didn't. weird.

For leaves or other cutouts, dry them flat. I like to dry them on a sheet of foam; it seems to get better air circulation and dry faster. This is how I made my palm trees. I attached the leaves with melted chocolate after they had dried for a few days. If you need curved pieces, start them drying over a form and after a day or so, remove and allow all sides to air dry.

Do you all use a wire form under figures? I have never made one, but I was thinking that a wire form plus gumpaste would be sturdy.

You can also dry them flat on a bed of corn starch to prevent markings or flat spots.