Hello, I am a newish hobby baker and after some advice..........I'd like to make a hunger games cake for my eldest daughter's birthday in October and have seen a youtube tutorial where  Ann Reardon makes a mocking jay for the top of a cake - there is a link to a template to use for the mocking jay on her site but I cant work out what sort of material she has made the template from - can anyone help?  I do find I struggle with transferring images I want to copy to fondant as I have used tracing paper and photographic paper but neither seems to work well for cutting round - is there a decorator's secret I am not aware of??!!

Here's a link (hopefully) to the tutorial and the bit I'm referring to is about 3 mins 50 seconds in -

Oh, cool cake. Am sure she'll love it. Okay, I won't use fondant to start with. Way to soft in my opinion. For things like that topper, I would mix some gumtex/ cmc with the fondant (about 1 tsp per pound) or make a 50:50  fondant gum paste mix. 

I've made and used looks of templates. I use paper or parchment. Trace the outlines and cut. Then I place the template on the rolled out fondant  (*mix*) and trace/cut the outlines again with a scalpel knife. Peel the paper off an let fondant dry.

But in your case you have to slightly work on it before drying since I can see relief like feathers etc.

Good luck and post a picture of your finished cake please. 

Thank you.  Her birthday is in October so I have some time to work on the mocking jay!!  not sure what gumtex is but would i be ok mixing 50/50 modelling paste with the fondant? 

p.s. Dont know what I did wrong to get 3 pictures included!!

You can use modelling paste or mix it with fondant 50-50. From watching the video, it does not seem hard to do, though I'd put the medallion on the cake before setting the caramel flames! :) Another thing I'd do differently is not use black fondant. It's pointless and hard to see details on it. The antique colour dust will work on any colour fondant, so why waste more money to colour it or buy it coloured? Also, it is easier to mix the paste with rejuvenator and paint it on rather than dust it on and that is because the dust can draw out the fat from the fondant and clump in places - so it won't be even looking. It all depends how particular you are. I prefer using acetate sheets to build up designs  - they give me a clearer picture of what I am doing. If you are building up a picture, remember to use colour shapers to blend in the different parts or use a damp brush on the seams. And always have two copies of the design: one under the acetate, and one stood up in front of you. Good luck!

Thank you.  I'm not a fan of black fondant - I used it to make a graduation cake for the same daughter but it was a so and so to work with! i actually dont like the colour of the bird - to me it seems a little gaudy, I have seen some nicer coloured more golden birds so would probably aim for that sort of colour.  I'm not going to do the caramel flames but make them from fondant and put berries and leaves amongst them as i've seen on other HG cakes (never read the books or seen the films myself!).  I'm also not using ganache - never braved it yet - so will be using fondant - again!

You can easily make the medal in advance and cut several of them so you can colour them a different shade to find out which one is your favourite. You know you don't even have to cut the things separately as Ann has done. Just use acetate on the printout, cut out the parts that won't be fondant and then place it on your 50-50 and use your exacto knife to cut out the shape. Do this on a well floured surface (corn flour) and leave to rest a bit, then transfer onto a sponge using your palette knife or a very wide knife. Leave to dry completely. Before it dries, you have a bit of leeway with smoothing the edges/corners... colour shapers will be a big help or lots of patience and a steady hand. Once it is dried all the way, then you can gently begin the building up of the shape.

Don't mean to sound thick but what are colour shapers.....

@hep275  they are like brushes but they have a solid edge made out of a soft yet firm material like silicone. Here is a pic: http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Color-Shapers-Brushes-2/dp/B002XKF8DE/ref=pd_sim_201_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0DA7W3ZHANBAK4VJ46PX