Hello,
I am new to all of this, and have made a few cakes, covered in fondant, with fondant decorations, and have had problems with the decorations not being hard enough to stand up, or position the way I want them too.
So, I was wondering, how long before making, crumb-coating, fondanting a cake, do you make all your flowers/decorations???
Every website seems to have their own way of doing things.
Maybe the pro's here can give me some advice...?

Oh, I am about to make a tiered/stacked cake for my daughter's 3rd birthday, and I want the cake ready for May 19th...

Thank you!!!

Gillian

The more time they have to dry the better. If you can make them this week, then you know they'll be dry enough to put on the cake properly.

Fondant figures will not dry as hard/stable as gumpaste or a 50/50 mixture. If you want figures to stand you need to use gp or 50/50. It does depend a bit on your weather. The more humidity the longer it takes for them to dry. You can make most decos weeks in advance. If you want them to curve around a round cake then dry them on the cake pan or put them on fresh.

Can I add a question about this? How should they be stored? I did some fondant cut outs last weekend for a cake I'm making on Friday (for Saturday the 14th). I currently have them in a plastic container - should they be out in the air? Thanks!

I agree with cakeladi. You will have to use a gp or a 50/50 mixture if you are wanting them to stand.
You will want to leave them out to dry, not in a container. They will not dry and be stiff like you want them if you keep them contained. If you use gp you can make them a day in advance and they will be pretty stiff. Gp dries pretty quick. I don't have the space to make decorations more than a few days in advance.
If you are using MMF for your fondant, I would recommend 50/50 mixture. That way you still get the taste of MMF with the stiffness of the gp. You will have to make your decorations more than a day in advance to be stiff BUT the taste may be important to you. I like to know that everything on my cakes is yummy and edible. I hate to see my work just get thrown away because of the taste!!

HTH

if u want them to dry put keep them out side .. but again as most of u said it will not be dry completly at least not enough to stand... for that u will need to have a 50/50 or just gumpaste

Also, if you make the fondant decorations ahead of time, the colors will tend to fade (learned this the hard way) unless you cover them lightly. I use a thin, clean, white cloth. Seems to work really well for me. You can also add gumtex to your fondant and it will dry and firm up quickly.

I have tiny flowers to do, maybe like 10 and also a possible bow for the top of the cake. Will the fondant dry firm with the pre made fondant box, where all you have to do is shape it? And how do I get the glittery look on the bow?

I dont work in fondant and only the bow and these flowers will be in fondant. not sure on the zebra stripes...sigh...nervous.

I made fondant deco for a cake Im doing for May 28th..I placed them in a cardboard shoe box with the lid closed. They dried perfectly. The color is still good due to being out of light. I had done roses before and they were in plastic air tight bowls but they never dried comoletely and did fade!! Shoe box works best for me

So I dont have to add tylose or gum paste for my deocrations to get hard?

For the simple deco that I can sit on the cake with minimal support I did not add gumpaste, for the things that I need to stand I did the 50/50 gumpaste/fondant and it dries super hard. It depends on what exactly you are doing with it. Example-bird house that will sit on board with RK landscaping-fondant only, posts for a porch- 50/50 mix because they need to stand...hope that helps

Thank you so much everyone for all the advice/info.

I am so HAPPY I found this website! Everyone is so helpful. You definitely answered my question and it was interesting to read what everyone wrote.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Gillian

Ok for the "glittery" look you will need to get Shimmer Dust if you want to use Wilton brand. It comes in different colors.

If you want it really glittery you could use disco dust. It all depends on the look you are wanting

hope its ok to throw my own question about this,

Would I be able to put them in container directly after making them and then put them in cardboard box a day or 2 before needed?

We just don't have enough information from your ?.

What are you making?  Are you using 50/50 or gp?  And what type of container are you thinking of using?  Tin, cardboard (such as cereal box?)   How large are these items ?  Are they to stand up on the finished cake or cupcakes?