I need to know the easiest way to make a graduation cap. I have never covered a cake in fondant, I've only used it as an accent. Also I do not have a pasta attachment to make the tassels either. I guess my resources are limited, hopefully it is possible. I am going to be making a 12 inch cake, then place the cap on top. I would appriciate any suggestions.

How to make a graduation cap cake or fondant cake topper:

(Also has directions for fondant tassles.)

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-290373-.html

How to make fondant diploma:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-309303-.html

HTH

I don't know if this will help you or not but wiltons does make a cake pan that is a graduation cap. I picked it up at a local party supply store for $7. You can see a picture of it in my photos.

i used my wonder mold pan and made tassels from mmf...

The way I did it was very easy - check out my photos.

I don't have a pasta thingy either. All i did was cut a rectangle out of fondant, about 2 inches high and oh, 6" long, and then I formed it around a cup. I greased that with Crisco first though. You'll need a couple of days to let that dry out. You can probably take it off after overnight and it would dry faster. I then just cut like a 4x4" square out of fondant for the top. For the tassle, I just made 2 long 'worms' and twisted them together. I then cut a dozen or so TINY strips of fondant and stuck them to the end of my worms.

It worked out nicely. I was really scared to do it at first, and I really didn't think the end of the tassel was at all possible... but it was pretty easy. Let me know if you want any additional information, I'd be glad to help!

This is my first reply to a post to bear with me while I get used to this.

I used 2 rounds stacked and then carved round on the top. almost like you were doing a bee hive.

i cut a square piece of cardboard, covered it in fondant and then wrote on the top of it.

For the tassle I rolled out a piece of fondant about the same size as a string cheese stick. I pinched one end of it and then with a knife i started making real thin long cuts through the fondant. I laid it on the cake and then covered the pinched end with a small round piece of fondant to create the button.

i will try to see if it will let me attach my version.

I used my wonder pan also but only used about 3/4 of the cake mix instead of a full mix . Then I used my 8 inch square pan and lined it with wax paper , melted a bag of candy melts and poured them into the pan , for the top of the cap.it tuned out great I used 1 left over candy melt for the top to hold the tassle on. It was very hot that day so i dint want to use royal so i bought some embroydery (sp) thread . it worked out great.

try a garlic press or tip 233 for your tassle, it will work fine

Wow! You all are so awesome to reply with so many good suggestions. Thank you so much!!!!

Okay, I am having a huge set back! My tassels keep breaking!!!!! What do I do? And what am I doing wrong?

I am working on a graduation cake right now... I have read so many comments other people did for theirs. I have seen Wilton's "Ball pan" which some people use for the base of the Grad. cap... but I didn't have that at the time I baked the cake... SO, what I did was to use a small metal bowl that I had in the cupboard and even better, it had a flat bottom so the top of the cap will sit on it better. I just had to leave it in the oven a bit longer when baking it. BUT, now I am off to cover it in fondant and as much as I want to make a completely edible cake, I think I am going to go with the idea of covering a cardboard square with fondant for the mortar board. I am going to do the tassel in MMF too. Well, off I go! Hope it works out the way I planned it in my head. LOL!

If you have a playdough fun factory you can use your fondant in that for the tassles. It works great. I just used it for hair on my gumball baby

I made a grad cap using two 4" round cakes. I couldn't find pans that small so I used the Wilton springform pans. Then I covered in black fondant. Had a hard time doing this as it kept wanting to drap since it was such a small cake. The morter board I made out of gumpaste. It only needed to dry one day. It was thin. The tassle I used my clay gun, but you could use a playdough fun factory press to do one. The trick was to lay the threads on the top of the cap then cut. Pinch together.

HTH.

How did you make your mortar board from gumpaste.  Simply roll out and let dry? I've never used it before so I hesitate.  If so, is gumpaste easier to deal with than fondant?

AI have used colored candy melts to make a graduation cap. Just use a bowl as a mold for the cap and a square cake pan as a mold for the mortar board. Then attach them together with a little bit of melted candy melts.

If using Gumpaste or fondant, Gumpaste will dry faster and harder than fondant. You can turn fondant into Gumpaste by kneading in a little tylose powder.

HTH