AWhen making a petal ruffled cake do I need to make the petals ahead of time and are they dried first? Wouldn't this create a crunchy cake on the outside? I saw a YouTube video on it and try dried theirs. Can you make it and the fondant be soft? Please help I've got this to do for a 17th bday Wednesday. Ugh...

I wouldn't think you would dry them before applying them to the cake, as you would need some flexibility still in them to make sure they all fit and complement each other.  I have done one petal ruffle cake, and I just ruffled four or five petals at a time and stuck them on as I went along.  That way I could adjust where the ruffled bits went to give the best effect.

Fondant (on its own, without any tylose etc added in) shouldn't dry crunchy...  It will harden somewhat, but I wouldn't say it gets crunchy.

AThank you so much. That makes more sense to me. I couldn't understand why one would dry them ahead of time. I appreciate your imput a lot.