Newbie needing advice

Oh my gosh, that is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I don't think any one element is too difficult but lots of elements. Mostly cutouts. The flowers are just folded fondant gathered and curled. I would make the animals from fondant/gumpaste.
Hope you post your completed cake. Good luck.

I am only a hobby baker and have learned a lot trough this site ,I hope the following will somehow help you:

1.- Make the number with plenty of time for drying, if you do not have the number cutter you would have to make a number template. To get the correct size in height put it on top of the pan for the top tier, this will give you an idea.

2.- The other day I saw in pinterest in "tutorials" a very good idea, make a print of the figure cut outs of the size that you would like to put on the cake,tape it down,put a wax paper on top of it, ( you might want to tape it also so that it does not move) and using the sugar medium that you like
( fondant only, 50/50 GP/F, or GP) you lay it on top following your print figure. Here is the link. needs time to dry also.

http://www.eat-the-evidence.com/tutorials/fondant-figure-modelling-101/

3.- For the stars and balloons, I cut out 2 stars, placed the stick in between and glue it together to make one of it, this way the stick does not show in the back, that way in case you turn the cake around it would look neat. You also need to let them dry a couple of days.

4.- You need to make edible glue, it is much better than just wetting the fondant.

5.-The banner looks kind of heavy, Being a newbie I would place it as is, but letting it rest on top of the first tier.

6.- the stripes will be a little hard to acomplish, maybe someone else might help you there. The stripes need to be even all the way around.

Good luck!

CIAO!

A quick and easy way to do the stripes is to get the first one very straight and then use another stripe as a spacer, removing it after you put the next stripe on. (meaning put down three stripes, then remove the middle, should be perfectly even and straight as long as the first one was straight!) Hope this makes sense. It is the same way I paint stripes and use painters tape to make everything even.

As a newbie myself that looks too ambitious for me to try. Good luck.

Might be stating the obvious, but, be really careful with the black fondant/gumpaste as the colour often bleeds if you use too much water/sugar glue when sticking it to the fondant. A very cute cake. Good lck - look forward to seeing your pictures

It will take much longer than you think, so please give yourself lots of time.
Have some practice runs before starting on the real thing.
Your idea is really lovely; good luck and please do let us see the finished result.

Start reading lots of threads here, and do a couple of practice cakes. Then you'll have a better idea of what you don't know and can ask more specific questions, which will, hopefully, give you more specific answers.

That is an adorable cake and I think perfect to start with, although a lot of details, they are pretty simple details.

I did my first cake in March of this year for a friend's baby shower. Do some practice cakes so you can get the feel of how fondant handles, rolling, cutting out, etc. There is so much wonderful information on this site so do lots of reading too.

Good luck and can't wait to see the finished pics.

Fondant lasts a very long time if tightly wrapped. I wrap in several layers of plastic wrap, then a ziplock with the air pressed out, and then in the plastic container it came in. I have used it months after purchase with no problems at all. If it is a little hard, microwave it on defrost for just a few seconds at a time until pliable and then knead until smooth. I have seven or eight types of fondant in my cupboard, but could only find an expiration date on 2 of them. They were both over a year after the purchase date (Satin Ice and FondX). I have heard it can be frozen as well. Be sure to allow it to come fully to room temp before using. I have never needed to freeze it, but frosting freezes well, so I would think Fondant would freeze well too. HTH

You could invest in a silicone fondant pearl mold...makes uniform balls that you can put around your border.

You also don't have to use fondant all the way around if you don't want...you could ice with buttercream and add fondant accent pieces.

Good luck, this will be a special cake!