I am a VERY beginner cake decorator. As in I have only ever baked the cake and put icing on and thats it. But I really want an awesome cake for my daughters bday but dont have the money to buy what im wanting. I need help and tips on how to fix some issue. I made a practice cake (ill post a pic), top tier buttercream with store bought black decorating icing zebra stripes, bottom tier, a chocolate hot fudge buttercream with fondant giraffe stripes. My top tier isnt too bad but the bottom is all smoshy and not smooth looking at all. I dont know if its the hot fudge in the icing and i should use less, or if my fondant is too thick, or if I put the fondant on too soon, or what! I really like the flavor of the icing and really want a chocolate tier but if I have to I can do it in the white buttercream as well. But I want to see if anyone coudl give me some advice. Also I used just a store bought squeeze tube for the zebra stripes and a premade fondant for the spots, but i would like them to actually be made from the same kind of icing. So which would work best? And if I do the stripes and spots in regular icing (not fondant) would making it myself look better? Sorry if this is long or confusing, Ive just already made 2 practice cakes and I really want it to look good. The picture I post isnt exactly how I want it. The bottom tier will be higher (ran out of cake mix) and the spots will be red, also the pinkish icing will red as well, i only had food coloring, no gel on hand. Thanks in advance!!! ok well its not letting my attach the picture, ill try again later

You can upload a photo into your gallery so we can see it.

Sorry, but your post is quiet difficult to read. Could you put some paragraph breaks in it, and possibly put your questions in a list?