I am planning on making a cake for my Grandma's 80th birthday. It will look like hatboxes stacked on top of each other, and will have edible images of her in edible picture frames. However, I am not too sure about how to exactly go about making the pictures and frames, especially b/c I would like a couple of them to be standing upright on their own on the cake board. I tried to include a picture, but it would not work. Any advice would be very much appreciated, and a big thank you in advance!

I make plaques out of fondant with a lot of corn starch kneaded in and let them dry for a while--I also have a warming drawer so that's a real boon for drying molded items.

But that stuff will stand up for me like a picture and picture frames.

50/50 gum paste/fondant is another popular choice.

And for making pictures, you could get edible images made at the grocery store or Baskin Robbins, a cake deco shop etc. Assuming you're in the states that is.

You simply knead 2t tylose powder into 1 pound fondant. It works beautifully. If you can't find tylose locally you can get it online. It's not expensive. Usually it's dry enough the next day, but if you give it more time it will dry very, very hard.

Tylose is about $2 per ounce or $32 a pound give or take.
Cornstarch is about $.12 an ounce, less than $2 a pound give or take.

I had to make a nurse's cap with the turned back brim for a cake for an event. I had 20 minutes until serving time, from package to completed fondant cap sitting on the cake. No problem.

Most people use the tylose but it's not necessary for something like a flat plaque. I make plunger leaves and flowers out of it too.

Making orchids & other wired flowers I use the gum paste.

I don't understand. If it works so well why not just use it for flowers, too?

It works well for what it does.

I mean I use the fondant+cornstarch for one cut type flowers and leaves. But to get the product rolled out super thin and to ruffle orchid petals and get that great definition I use gum paste. Also because gum paste dries so quickly on the surface. So you can manipulate the petal and let it rest without it loosing it's shape as it continues to dry.

Fondant + cornstarch is great for bows and plaques and purse handles and tons of stuff. It's just a viable work horse where you're not needing that delicate factor.

Tylose is cool and it does great things in fondant but it's not the only tool in the shed.

Thank you for the advice! I actually just got some tylose, and figured I would use it for the frames to get my fondant to dry hard. Just one other thing though-how do I get the edible image to stiffen? I had read something about using piping gel on the back...

You can moisten the gumpaste plaque with a damp paper towel and apply the edible image. Once dry the whole thing will be hard. You can't harden just the image, you have to apply it to something.

-KBmemphis, would you tel me how much cornstarch do you use per lb of fondant? I'm interested in the combination. One of these days, when I don't have tylose, it will come in very handy. I can see it is something very close to pastillage without having to go through the trouble of making it.

I might add as much as a quarter to a third of a cup give or take.
I just knead a bunch in.

It's kinda pastillage-y but it's not brittle like pastillage, it's got some strenth and forgiveness. Great stuff you'll like it.
I think if you click on them they get bigger.

This big fat bow --it's in a half sheet size box:



This big chunky purse handle and chain:

Thank you so much for the pictures and for the tip, KBmemphis. I am definitely going to like it. Edible, sturdy, and a lot less expensive!