Questions, questions. I am making pearl strands for a pearl swag for a wedding cake this weekend. They are doing pretty good, but I do have a little "extra" fondant attached when I pull them out of the mold. The back side I think will be fine; that extra needs to be there to hold the pearls together, right?
Or do you trim the strands up even after you take them out of the beadmaker?
On the front sides, sometimes there is ever so slightly some extra fondant between the pearls. Any tips/tricks for shaping these up or do you even try?
LAST, I decided I needed to go ahead and do these strands so I won't be having to fool with them last minute. I am drying them on the curve of a 3" pvc pipe. Think that'll work? I sure hope so!
Hi Lisa,
When I make the pearls I trim some of the paste off the back side. I use my pallete knife to io it. I lay the pearls on my board and slice it off..I've also used an exacto knife to do it and it works a little easier. You kind of get the hang of it after awhile. I also clean up the paste between the pearls. For that I use my exacto knife or this pick (sp?) tool I have...I gently swipe the exacto knife between each pearl and that pulls the paste off...It's a little time consuming, but I think it's worth it. It looks nicer!!
I would make sure your pearls are going to fit on your cake if your drying them ahead of time. It would be a bummer to do all that work and then they dried in a different shape!! 
Thanks Tami. Yeah, you are right about it being a bummer if it doesn't work! I *think* I've got the curve right, as I'll be using my 3" round cookie cutter to make the scalloped shape. Works in my *mind*...we'll see if it works on the cake!
So does that mean when you do your pearl strands, you don't do them ahead of time? I wondered about that. Was my plan to just do them as I go but then I decided I'd feel better if I got as much done as possible ahead of time.
Thanks for the tip on cleaning them up. I'm wondering also if I can give them another coat of pearl dust after they've dried (Do you use the pearl dust inside the mold like I'm doing? Just following the directions that came with the mold!)
Thanks for all your help. Makes me feel better to know what someone more experienced is doing.
I do the pearls for my gumpaste bowes mostly (there's one in my pix)- but I can give you my thoughts on this. The little piece thats at each end - I would cut on an angle with the closest cut at the edge of the last pearl. This way when you place them on the cake you can put a dab of sugar glue on the ends of each strand and attach them to each other for more security. I don't bother with that "little" extra between the pearls - no one but you is even going to notice (we're our own worst critics). You can trim the backside if you like but like you stated - it's mostly there to hold the pearls together. There is room for a little trim but again - is it going to be seen.... Good luck.
BJ, your bow has been in my favorites for awhile. 
That thing is perfection.
Tami, you know what? I took into account the curve of the swag, but not the curve of the cake! :-O So all this may be for practice! :-O Oh well, no doubt I needed the practice. Maybe by Friday I'll be an expert pearl strand maker. lol
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