Ok!! i think im FINALLY getting it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but.. one quesiton.. int he pictures, they show little dots where the dowesl will go.. how do the little dots get there? is there something you use as your impresson???

Those marks are usually made by placing a seperator plate pushed gently onto the top of the cake just enough to make those marks.

You will want to use cardboard for stacked construction. For a 6" cake, you'll want a 4" board.

They usually use seperator plates when showing tiered cakes as an example of what to do when using columns and whatnot.

However, you'll want to ice your teirs before you assemble them, then press a circle 2 inches smaller than the tier to be placed above it to make a circle outline (it's a nice way to be sure they're centered, too). Use a dowel rod to measure the lengths of the dowels you will need (inside the circle you marked out) by pushing it all the way through the bottom layer until it touches the cake board below. Use that dowel rod to measure out about 6 dowel rods to the same size. Push each rod into the cake as evenly spaced as possible. Be sure that they touch the base of your bottom teir. Put the circle you used to mark the cake earlier and set the next teir on top.

I totally forgot to say that when you're measuring out the length you'll cut the "master dowel" (as a blueprint for the others you'll be using), you should measure it from the lowest spot of the marked circle on your cake.