HELP!!!! daughters animal print cake

I am a VERY beginner cake decorator. As in I have only ever baked the cake and put icing on and thats it. But I really want an awesome cake for my daughters bday but dont have the money to buy what im wanting. I need help and tips on how to fix some issue. I made a practice cake (ill post a pic), top tier buttercream with store bought black decorating icing zebra stripes, bottom tier, a chocolate hot fudge buttercream with fondant giraffe stripes. My top tier isnt too bad but the bottom is all smoshy and not smooth looking at all. I dont know if its the hot fudge in the icing and i should use less, or if my fondant is too thick, or if I put the fondant on too soon, or what! I really like the flavor of the icing and really want a chocolate tier but if I have to I can do it in the white buttercream as well. But I want to see if anyone coudl give me some advice. Also I used just a store bought squeeze tube for the zebra stripes and a premade fondant for the spots, but i would like them to actually be made from the same kind of icing. So which would work best? And if I do the stripes and spots in regular icing (not fondant) would making it myself look better? Sorry if this is long or confusing, Ive just already made 2 practice cakes and I really want it to look good. The picture I post isnt exactly how I want it. The bottom tier will be higher (ran out of cake mix) and the spots will be red, also the pinkish icing will red as well, i only had food coloring, no gel on hand. Thanks in advance!!! ok well its not letting my attach the picture, ill try again later