Baker, Baker, Bake me a cake ...for less than $160!!!

OK, On a previous post I stated my shock over the cost $156 for this cake:

I had decided I could make a cake like that and swore to put my money where my mouth is and give it a go.  Half way through reading the instructions on how to make an "easy" marshmallow fondant (that's the smooth-looking icing that goes on the cake) I realized it was worth MORE than the $156 I paid!  But I gave it try anyway.  After cooking and mixing and kneading it for 10 minutes I had what resembled the recipe photos and what a freaking mess!!!:

That's powdered sugar everywhere.  I thought I'd be smart and use my kneading/dough attachments for my hand mixer, powdered sugar flew everywhere!!!!  A real genius!

So the recipe required the fondant to sit in the fridge overnight.  Today I took it out and let it sit on the counter all day to bring to room temperature.  When we got back from being out all day, I got the two year old down for a nap and started rolling out the fondant.  I was getting so excited as I rolled it out; it was actually looking like something!!!  It was perfectly beautiful, white and smooth like a wedding cake!  My creative mind was running wild with the decorations I could put on it!

Then I placed the sheet of fondant on top of the lightly iced cake (to make the fondant stick) and I managed to put my finger through the fondant, then it pulled and buckled after I got it on so it looked pinched in sections and overlapped.  Then, while I was cutting away the extra from the bottom it ripped in places...it's definitely something that requires practice and experience.  Here's what it looked like before I gave in and let my son finish decorating it:

There was a ton of fondant left over, I plan on practicing a bit more, and finding some more tips on line before trying again.