sugarpaste figures

I always insert a toothpick or a piece of dry spaghetti to the body/head to give it support. I also wait until the gumpaste has hardened somewhat before putting the head on top of the body – if you put it on too soon, the weight of the top will make the body lean.

Weather – especially humidity – will also affect the outcome. If you are using strictly gumpaste, you will need to work quickly because it will dry on you – so when making figures, I usually use 50% gumpaste and 50% fondant – that buys me time to model the figure without worrying about dryness.

Hope this helps!

Funfetti Cakes

I had the same problems when I started making figures. Use either 50-50 as Funfetti suggests, or fondant with CMC or gumtex kneaded into it. Insert a lollipop stick into the main part of the figure, such that 1/2 the stick goes into the cake. Connect the head (dried separately) Ito the body with either a toothpick or a spaghetti noodle. There are some brilliant videos on YouTube that show you how to make animals and people.