I am making cupcake toppers for a womans sons baptism this coming Sunday. She wants the toppers to be black fondant with the constellation Orion on them. We have been brain storming together on how to get this created to her liking, but it hasn't been going well!

Her first idea was to splatter frosting on the fondant to make it look like the night sky and then use 7 pearl sprinkles to shape the constellation. Then she wanted mini pearl sprinkles scattered all over the fondant and then 7 large pearls as the constellation. I couldn't find any mini pearls, so I used clear sprinkles (the ones that look like salt) but to get those to stick, I had to wet the fondant and then sprinkle them so when it dried there is a light mark on there.

I also tried sprinkling powdered sugar over it and then using the 7 pearls which I think looked a lot more like the night sky. She lives a couple hours away so I have been sending pictures and she liked the "salt" sprinkles with the pearls the best even though they didn't look all that great in real life. She then asked if the fondant can be smoother and more crisp??? I used store bought black fondant... It can't get any smoother than that!

She didn't sound excited at all when I sent the pictures and just said to keep trying. I almost want to tell her to find someone else to do this for her, because I won't feel comfortable bringing 50 cupcakes to this party that I don't think look nice at all. UGH, this is giving me a major headache and I just want to relax during the Christmas week!

I think you would be better off making a domed cupcake covering it in solid black fondant - if you smooth the edges by gently rotating it upside down in the palm of your hand it removes the "cut out" look and it makes a nice neat finish.

Do you have the PME plunger mini star set - these would look great in white with a bit of the white hologram dusting powder.

Adhere them to the cupcakes with a bit of piping gel.

Think they will look so much better if you make the stars TWINKLE and leave the night sky plain black - perhaps that is what she is referring to when she says she wants it smoother and more crisp - often hard for customers to communicate what they are hoping to achieve.

Where abouts are you? Silver cachous (dragees) could be used as well (completely legal and OK here in Australia) - I adhere those with tiny dab of piping gel as well - if you overdo it - you will see the "wet spots" as well - so maybe a tiny dent in the fondant with the end of your paintbrush and then the tinsiest drop of gel in the cavity. Invest in GOOD tweezers if you don't have any!