This was my second cake ever. I did it as a practice because I wanted to try fondant. I took two of the Course 1 classes, and made that rainbow cake with the clouds. That's all. I've pretty much just been playing around myself. Anyways, I'm baking a cake for Saturday and wanted to practice tonight. I loved the lace thing and the basketweave wasn't too bad. However, the fondant that my entire design was based off of, was a MESS! I made the fondant bow strips, hearts, and flowers two days ago and let them sit out. They never stiffened!! This is fondant from the box by wilton. What went wrong?!
Also, I SUCK at borders. Top borders, bottom borders, I just CANT do them! I couldn't figure out that shell for the life of me. So I just squiggled a lousy pattern to finish. Any ideas or tips for me?! Thanks so much!
Here's a picture of my disaster. BTW-I just used all blue because it was practice and I'm lazy. The real cake will be different colors.
Thanks in advance!
This is my first time posting pictures, I hope they aren't too gigantic! Sorry if they turn out too big.

I think you're fondant was too thick. You have to roll it very thin. When making your bow, you can put tissue paper between the loops until they dry. Also, I add Wiltons Gumpaste to my fondant and this will help your fondant dry hard. Shell borders are all about practice. What you could do is pipe a pearl bead border or ball border instead? Your lace and basket weave look pretty good.
Jacqui

your fondant items look wet...why?

mostly, i use the wilton fondant. when making a bow or anything else that i was to be firm/stiff, i either use cornstarch(for stiff) or powdered sugar (for firm/semi-flexible)

I so sorry that you are having problems. I'm definitely no expert as I just started decorating as a hobby earlier this year but I have a couple of ideas regarding the fondant, I have a couple of ideas. I think that the fondant pieces may need to be rolled out thinner. Also, you can add some gumtext to the fondant to speed up the drying.

Good job on the practice cake. I really love the corenelli lace. Also, once you put all the elements together, the cake design really came together. Be sure to post a picture of the actual cake.

Good luck and have fun!!

Fondant never really goes hard unless you put something else in it, like a bit of gumpaste.

So I pretty much have to add gumtex or gumpaste to the fondant first. This is probably not going to work since I just made MMF last night and have to have all the stuff dried by Saturday for the cake. SO, I'll just scratch the bow idea this time. Good thing it's my own creative ideas and not a certain specific design.
I made the fillings for my two cakes. The banana custard one is delicious. The strawberry filling is just a bit thin. It has honey, syrup, strawberry preserves, fresh strawberries, vanilla, and lemon in it. Any ideas of what to add to thicken it up a bit? Thanks!
Hope this all works out for me. Wish me luck. I'll post picks of the finished product.

If you can get to JoAnnes, or Michaels...gumtex is a powder that you knead into your fondant.
As for a thickining agent I would try some cornstarch.
Jacqui