Hey all!
I tried searching for this but couldn't get very far for some reason =[ I am planning on doing my boyfriend's birthday cake on the 4th of July but I am curious as to how long before doing the cake would you make the figures and different decorations from either fondant or gumpaste? I am thinking that during the 2 weeks I would start the figures so that I could get them done on time and I hopefully wont be too stressed!
Would 1-2 weeks be too far back for them to be edible? And how would I go about storing them? Would any box in a cool dry cupboard be okay?
Thanks for reading! =D

You could make your figures several weeks in advance but I would not plan on them being edible because they will harden. I never plan for anything made of gumpaste being edible even though it is made from edible ingredients. Also anything made in advance with fondant will probably be too hard to eat. If you want to make them in advance and still eat them, I would use modeling chocolate, also called candy clay. I made a camping cake for my sister's birthday using candy clay figures representing her girlfriends who were taking her camping for her 50th birthday; none of them were campers so it was a fun cake and they loved picking themselves out and eating their figures. Just my opinion and I'm not an expert.

They store really well so you can make them a few weeks ahead. Store them in an open container (trapping the moisture in there with them will cause problems, so no air-tight container), or in a cardboard box. Preferably in the dark, to prevent fading - so yes, a cupboard is perfect.

I prefer to make figurines well in advance to allow plenty of drying time...the drier they are, the stronger they'll be. But as has been mentioned, they may be technically 'edible' but I wouldn't want to eat them myself.