I often have things that are made from fondant that arent available in cutters or not worth buying a cutter for 1 design. For instance i have a baby minnie mouse cake that requires small bows around the edge. Normally i use an xacto knife but lately ive noticed it tears or misforms my item from dragging. How do you cut out small objects without cutters?

It depends on how teeny they are. Sometimes I can use little scissors to cut pieces out. If they're too small, I roll my fondant out on a little cutting board and put it in the freezer for a few minutes to harden it up. That way it doesn't pull when I'm dragging the blade. Its helpful to have some cornstarch on hand though, because the fondant will start to sweat HTH!

I sometimes use my pastry tips as cutters. They work great for small circles

thanks i never thought of freezing... it doesnt crack? right now im working on small bows and numbers and they just misform i think it could be the heat as well my fondant has been a bit gummy lately. thanks for the sugguestions everyone

Has your exacto knife only just started doing that? Could it just need a new blade perhaps?

New blade always helps that problem for me.

Make sure to use a sharp blade and if it starts to drag then start cutting at another part and meet up with where you left off, hope that makes sense.

You could put some shortening on your blade for a smoother cut.

I roll the fondant/gumpaste thin, let it set up a bit and then use tiny curved manicure scissors to cut out my shapes.

I let it dry just a bit before cutting with the Xacto knife. That seems to help with the distortion.

Yeap, me too, new blade & let it sit.