i need to think of a design that reflects autumn i was thinking of doing a wooden barrel full up with leaves and a hedgehog poking out of the leaves but im not sure that that is autumn enough
Any suggestions or comments welcome

There are many really nice bushels of leaves on this site! Take a look for inspiration! I m actually making one right now....I used the giant cupcake base for my bushel base and I made different color cookie leaves and acorns (green, brown, copper). I am just at the "cake cooling" stage right now. Love the look of all fondant but not so delicious to eat a fondant leaf! I might use chocolate covered Graham crackers for the barrel slats and then brush on some wood grain color and also make some leaves out of tootsie rolls. Toasted coconut for hay maybe around the base or to fill in any spots on top. It's a work in progress that also involves a trip to the grocery store for the chococovered Grahams. I will post later. Please do the same! Good luck!

love that idea! for autumn I definitely think of leaves, apples, pumpkins, cute woodland creatures, scarecrows..

thanks, can i ask how you do your woodgrain effect is it just freehand???

I also made mini pumpkins a week or so ago which were 2mini bundt cakes bottom to bottom (or just the one half that looks like it's growing) that you can add around the bushel too. My pumpkins are in my gallery. That could be a nice touch!

Never tried the woodgrain but others have written about using a skewer or paintbrush freehand. Hoping that works for me!

check out my winebarrel cake, I love the look of woodgrain and it's super easy! start with brown fondant, and scratch it up with swirly lines to mimic wood, then paint with brown food color gel mixed with a little water. works great

really love the wine barrel thanks for the help

stupid question but if you use fondant how do you make it stand higher than the cake? could i add tylose powder to make the fondant stronger??

I just did a fall themed cake that I'm really happy with the look of and I posted it in my gallery. I made a 12 inch round that I iced in buttercream. Did brown basket weave on the side (still need practice) and used grass tip on the top. Then I made a small three layer 4 inch cake that I made look like a bushel of apples. I wrapped this in fondant, then painted in after giving wood grain effect. The apples are just RKT wrapped in red fondant then dusted with luster dust. Leaves are just brown fondant again dusted with mixture of luster dusts. The ladies at the group event I brought this to were floored by it and they fought over who would get the apples which, of course, made me smile

Love the idea of a hedgehog - with a nice shiny red apple on the back maybe.

theresaf, I can't wait to see your cake!!!!

Thanks, JGMB! Me too! Lol!

Very happy with my completed bushel of leaves. And so apparently was my more-than-willing cake tester - my dad who lives 30 miles away! "Cake is completely eaten", he called to let me know this morning! That's a pretty good compliment to me!

  http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2182876

Thank you, dianaaherne!

Here's a fall cake I just sent out. I thought it was lovely.