My daughter wanted a Ariel theme cake for her birthday, and I saw a similar theme like this one a couple of years ago and I decided to try and make it, and by luck and patience I did it. Everything is edible except the mermaid and the fish. The sand, hand painted sea shells (no airbrush), starfish fish, rocks and octopus are edible. The cake is french vanilla and chocolate fudge with vanilla buttercream. Had so much fun making this cake.