I am making a 50's theme barbie doll cake for my daughters birthday. However, I have never had very good luck getting the top half decorated nicely. It always ends up looking so sloppy... I need suggestions/ tips on how to do it neatly.

have you ever tried using a piece of fondant??? Maybe you could get a piece of paper and fit it to the doll before it's in the cake and cut it and such until you have the shape and size you need and then use the paper as a template to cut the fondant??

Here's an old fashioned b/c doll tutorial:

http://tinyurl.com/2px3b5
(From sugarcraft.com)

HTH