I only do cakes as a hobby. I have made some fondant animals in the past and have had a problem keeping them the size and shape I start with. This time I used Duff's fondant and Satin Ice Gum Paste. I mixed it 50/50. I shaped the animals the size I wanted but after a few hours I noticed they were, for lack of a better description, spreading. They were monkeys sitting up. They ended up shorter and wider. I tried to look for tutorials, but they showed how to form them not how to keep them from spreading. What am I doing wrong? I even used tiny dowels and spaghetti to put the head, arms and legs on. I tried making the body and letting it dry overnight before I put the heads on. It was better but not right. Do I need to add other things to the fondant/gumpaste?
TIA[/i]

duffs fondant doesnt dry. I mix mmf and gumpaste. if you don't want to make any fondant try wiltons or satin ice to mix with the gumpaste. The one time I used Duffs i needed black. I left the house in a hurry after finishing the cake. I came back about 6 hours later and the scraps where I had trimmed the cake were still just as soft as when I put them on the cake.

I would use all gumpaste rather than a 50/50 mix.....I've done lots of little animals and never had a problem, you can take a look at my pics and see if there are any on there like the ones you are doing, maybe I can give you a specific tip....

If you do not want to make them using just gumpaste, try adding Tylose powder to your fondant. A good pinch to a small baseball size should work. I really like Tylose gumpaste from Designmeacake.com recipe. I make MMF and add 50/50 MMF/Tylose gumpaste once mixed let rest at least 4hours or overnight in the frig. take out let come to room temp. and ready to color and create. Good luck, have fun!

Thank you, Thank you both for your suggestions.
I bought the Duff's fondant because I had a coupon and it was already dark brown, and BTW tastes like tootsie rolls. I think I will just work with gumpaste only from now on or the mmf. It was just so frustrating to have the monkeys just the way I wanted them and then POOF-they became morbidly obese guys!
Again I appreciate your responses. I felt a little bad asking because I am sure this was covered somewhere on the forum, but search as I could, I couldn't find it!
Many thanks!