If I ice a birthday cake with buttercream is it okay to use small fondant shapes on top? Or do you recommend just covering a cake with fondant and then using your fondant deocrations?

You can do buttercream with fondant shapes on top. Either way works just fine.

I just did a cake, covered with chocolate ganache, then iced with chocolate buttercream, and decorated with fondant "planks."

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1845018

Before cutting, I lifted off the fondant planks, leaving delicious servings of cake with ganache and buttercream - no fondant. It worked really well and I'll probably do this again. I love the look of fondant, but am not a big fan of the taste. On the otherhand, I can eat buttercream with a spoon :>)

I just did a cake, covered with chocolate ganache, then iced with chocolate buttercream, and decorated with fondant "planks."

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1845018

Before cutting, I lifted off the fondant planks, leaving delicious servings of cake with ganache and buttercream - no fondant. It worked really well and I'll probably do this again. I love the look of fondant, but am not a big fan of the taste. On the otherhand, I can eat buttercream with a spoon :>)

Thanks for your help!

I'm going to attempt to make my daugther's cake for her 2nd birthday, I can't find anyone during the Holidays available to do it so I have a design worked out, it will be simple Round 8inch with white buttercream icing, then I'm going to make a batch of fondant (for the first time EEek) divide it up and color it 4 different colors and then cut out K for the top of the cake and then use a daisy cookie cutter and cout out different colored flowers to stick all over. And I may pipe on it Happy Birthday which I'm sure will ruin it haha. I love to bake but just starting out being creative in this way.