Ok, where to begin? I'd decorated two cakes prior to this. I was asked by someone who'd seen the [simple] cake I'd made for my daughter's birthday to make a hat cake for the church's Mother's Day event. She gave me some books with pictures, and the only hat in there was a bonnet done in a very old-school Betty Crocker way. I was over ambitious and attempted a Regency bonnet without many of the proper supplies (i.e. support, piping tips, cutters for the flowers, etc.) and little know-how. The only real tool I had was my mum's old star tip and some 20-year-old decorating bags. Those I used for the base. I used a [cheap] sandwich bag for the bc lace, and the hole I made kept changing shape and widening. I didn't know about red dye fading, so a pink and purple bonnet turned a yucky brown and blue. I didn't use any real support for the second layer, so the layer underneath began to collapse. My fondant was overly dry and it cracked. Additionally, my proportions were completely off. What a mess!