Hi all!

I am a new member to the forum, but have been reading here for a while, ever since I started working with fondant.

I would like to make a cake for my good friend's birthday, and she loves nature and travel - does anyone have any ideas of what I can do (that isn't too complicated)? It would be one tier, so the really awesome ones that have a road going down the side won't really work.

I am fairly new to fondant, so not TOO complicated (though anything that has a tutorial or especially a template works). Any cakes that are in the theme are also welcome.

Thanks so much in advance!

For nature you could do a side design of cut-out trees and bushes - on this cake the trees were a mixture of using cutters and cut freehand, the bushes were clouds cutter from Patchwork Cutters aeroplane set:

You could also use the Patchwork Cutters aeroplane to represent the travel theme on the top of the cake - this cake was for a girl who loved Irish dancing and wanted to be an air stewardess but shows the cutters used:

To make pine trees....shape dark green gumpaste / fondant into a small cone shape.....using a small pair of cuticle scissors, make "snips" all around and up n down the cone.....wallah...a pine tree with a branch-like appearance. 

I recon a few good leaf cutters would help you make a great 'leaf litter cake'; scatter lots of fontant leaves about and have wee ladybugs, catterpillars..... you could maybe try a butterfly out of gum paste - there are ome good cutters about for butterflies?

For extra detail you could add some mushrooms and maybe a rock with green buttercream moss? ...although that would be a heck of a lump of fondant that nobody would eat! lol

Hope that helps :-)

Thanks! I don't have leaf cutters yet (not sure I will find some on such short notice), but I will see if my friend has some I can borrow. These are great ideas - please keep them coming :-)

I read a post earlier today as someone was thinking of using green modelling chocolate on cornflakes for the leaves on trees, and she was asking for a suitable (hopefully edible) base for the trunk and branches.  This really caught my imagination.

I've also seen pics of tress on here using upside down ice cream cornets iced with butter icing rosettes..(try searching the ski scene cakes on here)

I am thinking along these lines for my husband's 40th coming up  in June

Good luck

Thanks!! So I made the first 2 parts of the cake. I decided I will make the base green and have a waterfall, so I made a bridge (which is currently still drying, but I have a pic of it on an orange!) and a tree using this tutorial that I found: http://no-shortcuts.com/?attachment_id=338. I had to stop mid way and start over because it took me that long to figure out the angle, but it ended up being awesome. I think I may make another tree.

So then I just need some flowers, and maybe a few of those cute mushrooms. Any other cute stuff I can do there that's fairly basic?

Thanks again for everyone's help!!