The idea was for the ball &chain to appear as if it had been dropped on the cake. It's all done with buttercream. I used a ball pan for the ball and the viva technique to frost it. Since I intended for the cake to look a little damaged, I didn't fuss with making the cake look perfect. That worked out great, since I was in a huge hurry to make this as a last minute favor. Thank you to everyone who has posted ball & chain cakes! :)