so disappointed!

Dont toss it!! Make cake balls with it, tiny little golf ball ones! If THAT fails then it is time to get out some whipped cream and fruit (or candy) and make a triffle

Starting out decorating? Buy some older Wilton yearbooks and the Celebrate yearbooks on ebay, whatever you can find under $5 each.

You need some really basic tools like icing spatulas, and a plastic rolling pin for the fondant with rings to roll to various thickness.

Buy the magic cake strips and use them every time you bake cake layers. Buy a small pack of disposable bags and a few basic tips. Don't buy anything else until you are sure of what you like to do.

Then decorate a layer cake once or twice a month or whenever you need cake (or take it to work for other people to gobble up). Make some cakes with buttercream so that you learn to do that well.

For fondant covered cake, make ganache with real chocolate to fill and base coat and chill overnight. Cover each cake with fondant so that you get some practise doing this well. The Wilton books will show you how to make some simple borders to make neat edges.

Some party shops rent the Wilton shaped pans. Try to find such a place if you want to try a shape. I use stainless steel mixing bowls for round cakes, but the bowls are not always perfect--I fill in the gaps with icing instead of carving. Cake has to be chilled overnight to carve well.

You will see lots and lots of advice on this forum and you will see directly contradictory answers. Read the tutorials first, and use your commonsense when you read our discussions. But cake decorating is a lot of fun, especially after you start to see the results of practise.

Irene offers sage advice.
The only thing I can add is to start simple.
I found early on that I don't do 3D carved cake.
It is not fun for me so I just steer potential clients to a decorator that has a huge talent for them.
Hindsight is 20-20...you could have carved a sheet cake to resemble a golf ball (2D), but I am sure your dad would have been proud of your attempt and gobbled up your creation from a bowl with a spoon (and then tried to find a way to display the leftovers on the kitchen fridge door.

to even the roundness out on a bowl, fill it up with buttercream. Or use some of the batter to bake in a smaller bowl, then use the round part (great if it domes) to cut off and glue onto the top of the ball (using buttercream) to give you the round.

sorry yours didn't work, I know the feeling.

Good advice above! 3D cake making is an advanced skill! When making balls, there is a certain limit that can be achieved using cake alone, and then you need to begin thinking about internal cake supports and doweling.

I would simply recommend if you are beginning to attempt a carved 2D flat ball first (ie a round cake decorated like a ball, side on), and then a half-dome ball.

Good luck with your future cake projects!