I bit off more than I could chew again. I wanted to make my co-worker's daughter a 3-D volleyball for her 16th b-day. I wanted to make a real 3-D net that stands and put it on a 9X13 that was painted like a gym floor. Well, this cake has given me nothing but grief! 
I don't know what i did wrong, but the volleyball sunk (I doweled and boarded between - used Wilton ball pan) and the net pieces keep breaking. There's no way that net is standing either. I thought I could cover up the volleyball with the net, but the shape still looks weird -deflated.
So what now? I can fix the net so it's passable. And I could spend another 4 hours doing another volleyball with no guarantee it will turn out. Or tell my co-worker the news and just give her the cake anyway (I really only charge for ingredients). Then she can buy another cake from somewhere else. I have to work, I'm still sick and I have 2 little kids and don't really want to do another cake tomorrow night. But it's her 16th birthday and all her friends will be at practice when the cake comes! I'm also embarassed 
to give anyone that cake. If I could, I'd just chuck it. The gym floor looks okay, though. I could offer to make another ball cake on the weekend when I have a little more time too and HOPE it turns out!This is so disappointing...I really want to do the right thing...and find out what I possibly did wrong with the volleyball?! Thanks for your sympathies! Appreciate the advice...
Would it be possible to take the volleyball off the 9x13, pipe a net onto it, and then put half of the volleyball, assuming it could be separated, on top of the net? Then if there's any spots that have to be covered up, pipe lines that look like motion lines coming from where the volleyball hit the net? Kind of a 2-D version of what you were originally planning?
Thanks for the great idea Texas Rose. It's worth a try! 
The top of the volleyball looks better than the bottom. And it won't look so deformed/deflated. Then if it doesn't work, I can go to Plan B - bake a new cake tonight or offer a new cake for the weekend. She may be flexible on the day she gets it, as her real b-day is on the weekend! But I'd like to avoid re-doing...
I still dont' know what I did wrong? Maybe it's because I filled the ball - that may have been my problem. Maybe it's too small to fill (Wilton ball) Or it must have settled even more than I expected? I filled and froze, which I usually do without issues.
What do you think?
Thanks!
I don't try to fill the Wilton ball. I stick the 2 halves together with some buttercream and ice.
I don't dowel it because I think it's too small and the dowels degrade the structure. I cut a very small amount off of the bottom of the cake so that it sits flat and I have an area to apply a very small board under it so that I can put a dowel under it if it's going to sit on another cake.
HTH
Rae
Can you use rice krispie treats to make the ball instead?
Hi all,
Thanks for all the advice! Managed to salvage the cake. Cut the ball in 1/2, had to pitch the net and decided not to do another one - made the cake too busy.
I learned that I wont' fill the Wilton ball again, I'll use on 2 dowels and I wouldn't make a net so far in advance (it dried out more than I'd hoped). Live and learn! Not the cake I envisioned, but the gal I made it for liked it. Here is the before and after.
It came out great!
Your original idea was awesome though...what did you make the net out of?
It came out great!
Your original idea was awesome though...what did you make the net out of?
Thanks! But sometimes my ideas are much too ambitious for my skills or time! But that's how I learn...I used black choc fondant in the extruder (it was painstaking -glueing each piece together) and also used the larger fitting for the thicker material part that the net goes into. I used lollipop sticks covered in grey fondant/tylose for the poles and dry brushed them silver .
In retrospect, I would make the netting larger and closer to the due date, so it would be more pliable. And not even attempt to make it stand. I would wrap it around the cake or board and over the volleyball (I saw a similar one on here - simple but effective). That's usually what is the most attractive in the end, isn't it!
Thanks. The gym floor was a bit of trial and error. I used white MMF and painted on golden yellow with a wide brush ( the hardwood look), then it looked too yellow, so I removed some with vanilla on the brush. Then when it dried, I did a coat of ivory, then when that dried, a bit of brown (all with a wide brush). Then I took some off with vanilla to make some white show through and look more realistic. Then painted the colored lines using a ruler. Then when it was all dry, I rubbed crisco on to make it look shiny, like a gym floor. A bit of work!
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