I am sooooooooooooo frustrated right now!!!!! ALL I am trying to do is cover a three to four inch tall dummy cake with fondant!!! I CANT DO IT!!! I really have never worked with fondant before but I figured I could do at LEAST this much!! AND I CANT!! If I FINALLY get enough fondant rolled out to cover it, IT TEARS!!!! what am I doing wrong????? 
I really want to do this but I just see myself giving up on what seems to be a very BASIC idea!!?? I rounded down the edges with sandpaper, theres nothing sharp on it .. I feel so stupid
YOU CAN DO IT!! You know that old saying, "practice makes perfect"!
Rolling it out on the mat and laying the whole thing over the cake and peeling the mat back works for me as well. Maybe try rolling out your fondant a little thicker too. 1/4 of an inch I think it is....
I brush my styrofoam dummies lightly with clear piping gel that has been thinned with a bit of water. It gives the fondant something to cling to and seems to keep gravities weight from pulling down too much on the sides and causing tearing. I also set my cake dummy directly on a flat surface when covering, I don't elevate it because, again, the weight of the fondant pulls on the sides. The other thing may be that you are rolling your fondant too thin, don't go less than 1/4" thick. When the dummy is on a flat surface the excess fondant will pool or puddle around the base, lift one section at a time and gently pull it out as though you were straightening out a full skirt, then press the fondant with your hand against the bottom base and side and move your hand from the bottom up rather than from the top down. It lessens the tension on the top edge this way. Do that all the way around the cake and then smooth with a fondant smoother.
I also roll my fondant on a large Roulpat mat, like a Silpat but larger, when the fondant is the size I need I slide a large cardboard cake board (16 to 18") under the Roulpat, lay another large cardboard circle on top of the fondant, support it with the palms of your hands and flip the whole thing over. You now have a cardboard under the fondant itself. Peel away the Roulpat, dust the second cake cardboard with a little powdered sugar, lay it sugar side down on top of the fondant and flip it over again. Then center the cardboard over your cake or dummy and tilt it to allow your fondant to slide off over the cake. Make sure when you do this that you have allowed for enough fondant to cover the far side and puddle down on the table, tilt and pull away the cake board so the fondant covers the top of the cake and then slide again as you pull the cardboard away so it comes down the opposite side of the cake and again puddles at the base.
The reason I don't just flip the Roulpat over the cake and peel away is that when you roll the fondant you end up with a shiny side under the fondant, if you flip and peel the mat away the shiny side will be up on the cake and I prefer the matte or dull side up, so that is why I do the double flipping.
A less expensive option to the two mats listed is a thin sheet of clear vinyl- you can get it at the fabric store. Plus you can see through it and see where you're going with the fondant.
You CAN DO IT!
Try rolling the fondant out a bit thicker, also maybe rubbing some shortening on to keep it soft.
they are right about the practice, practice makes perfect.
how i put my fondant on my cakes is with a piece of pvc plastic pipe. after i roll it out i gently roll the fondant on the pvc pipe and lift unrolling it over the cake.
i find if you get it too thin it will tear.
thanks you guys but in the end I just simply gave up .. sigh .. I frustrate easily and after giving my rolling pin a loud talking to I thought it was for the best .. maybe when my hubby is here he can help me .. he tends to calm my nerves .. If nothing else fails I will just frost in buttercream .. again .. but thank you for the support, it does feel nice to come back here and read all the encouraging words!! 
Sometimes fondant gets too warm from the friction of the rolling pin against it, especially when you are a newbie to using it. Then when your fondant hits the heat of your hand, it gets even softer and harder to work with.
Let it set for 2 minutes, covered with a towel or plastic to keep it from drying out. It will be easier to work with if it is cooled back to room temperature, first.
Please let me know if this helps you.
Theresa 
I am so glad you asked this question TheCakerator. I was in the same position a few days ago. Made the fondant and it looked really good but tore every time I put it on the dummy. I was at it for five hours and was getting worse not better by the end because I was so frustrated. I ended up giving up as well. But, after the gracious people here have given their tips I might give it another go (boy I am still depressed just thinking about it).
Good luck TheCakerator, hope we can both master it!!
I think I read somewhere here that people sand the edge of the dummy and that helps with the problem of ripping. Hope that helps a bit. Keep trying! It is worth it in the end!
I think the most common mistake is making it too thin! If you look at a Debbie Brown book, she rolls her fondant quite thick to cover her cakes. Mine isn't quite that thick, but it is at least 1/4" thick....that way it doesn't tear so easily. Also its easier to manage....I find that if I am using a non stick Roul Pat and my fondant is that thick, I can actually pick it up using my hands and forearms and transfer it to the cake that way (fondant laying over my entire forearms to position it) and it works pretty good! The only time I have trouble now is when I attempt to cover crazy shapes...
I remember wondering "how in the world do I do this" though when I started with fondant.... but be patient and it will come!
Well I really do appreciate all of your concerns and especially the great hints ... I did sand the edges down to get a rounded top, maybe I was rolling it to thin? And I do have hot hand syndrome maybe just maybe if I attempt this again I will leave it at room temp before I try picking it up again .. I do have a silplat (?) that I was using which seemed ok but not nearly big enough .. I ended up rolling my fondant onto my countertop, then got lines in it, that tore, sigh ... maryak, it might be a long time before I am brave enough to try again, but if you go for it, gooooooooooood luck!!!!!
I don't know what kind of fondant you are using but I have always had bad luck with Wilton. I like to use MMf on my dummy's! I roll is out so its thicker and I don't feel nearly as bad becuase it doesn't cost that much. I also find my MMF to be more stretchy! I also roll it out on a mat and then lay it over the cake and peel it off and that WORKS WONDERS!!! I used to have the same problems but I know that you will get it. Also don't forget to lay a light layer of crisco on whatever your rolling it out on! May sound silly but when I started that was my problem!!! 
Most importantly DON"T GIVE UP!!! I know you can do it!!! Your cakes are all so beautiful!!
well I attempted one more time .. Its not perfect by any means, but I think it will work .. you cant really see it, but there are a TON of mini cracks .. I tried shirleyw's suggestion of piping gel and that made all the difference in the world!! Finally my fondant didnt just tear apart .. so THANK YOU
I have never covered a cake with fondant, but I read on here once that the smaller cakes are MUCH more difficult to cover because the curve is so much tighter. Could you try a bigger cake?
I am sooooooooooooo frustrated right now!!!!! ALL I am trying to do is cover a three to four inch tall dummy cake with fondant!!! I CANT DO IT!!! I really have never worked with fondant before but I figured I could do at LEAST this much!! AND I CANT!! If I FINALLY get enough fondant rolled out to cover it, IT TEARS!!!! what am I doing wrong?????
I really want to do this but I just see myself giving up on what seems to be a very BASIC idea!!?? I rounded down the edges with sandpaper, theres nothing sharp on it .. I feel so stupid
hugs to you. don't give up. get away from the fondant for a little while, analyze the situation and try again. Did you cover your cake dummy with royal icing? I did a real cake on the last class of course three and was about to give up and not go because my fondant was tearing. Soo...I made another batch and roled it out and it went on nicely. I was late to class,told them i was fighting fondant. 
Great job! I'm glad you didn't give up!! Sometimes you just have to walk away for a little while It took me awhile to figure that out but now I usually have to walk away from each cake I'm doing at least once. Then when I go back to it, I can usually always fix the problem! Or hide it
I am sooooooooooooo frustrated right now!!!!! ALL I am trying to do is cover a three to four inch tall dummy cake with fondant!!! I CANT DO IT!!! I really have never worked with fondant before but I figured I could do at LEAST this much!! AND I CANT!! If I FINALLY get enough fondant rolled out to cover it, IT TEARS!!!! what am I doing wrong?????
I really want to do this but I just see myself giving up on what seems to be a very BASIC idea!!?? I rounded down the edges with sandpaper, theres nothing sharp on it .. I feel so stupid hugs to you. don't give up. get away from the fondant for a little while, analyze the situation and try again. Did you cover your cake dummy with royal icing? I did a real cake on the last class of course three and was about to give up and not go because my fondant was tearing. Soo...I made another batch and roled it out and it went on nicely. I was late to class,told them i was fighting fondant.
An another thing , you are not stupid, hon, we all learn and in our learning we mess up. Remember these words, even if you have to grit your teeth saying it. If, at first you don't succeed, tey try try again until you have mastered it!
thanks everyone for being so helpful and encouraging! I did have to walk away from that cake .. for about two hours! I was so angry, I was actually yelling at my rolling pin LOL I think I had two major problems, one, my fondant was definately tooo thin, and two, I had nothing on the dummy for the fondant to stick to .. once I put on piping gel, everything started to go a lot smoother .. It still wasn't perfect by a long shot, but I am happy that I didn't give up, and again, practice will hopefully one day make perfect ... now one more big question, This cake is for my brother, hes goofy and is always making everyone laugh .. in fact, at his party its requested that everyone tells a funny story about him .... do you think the wording "happy birthday to the big cheese" sounds ok? It will be a sheet cake with that cheese in the corner with some mice around it ... what do you all think?
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