A recent cake...

Here is a picture of a cake that I made recently and a few tips for fondant and cake for beginners, from a beginner:

now I know, its looks a little sloppy, but it's my first fondant-decorated cake...like a said beginners.
Here are some tips and lessons learned from this cake:

• If you're using a fancy cake book and it calls for like fancy tools like fondant smoothers and super things-unless you want to make a super perfect cake like professionally, improvise and it'll turn out great. 
• READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE RECIPE BEFORE DOING. Yeah, it helps...a lot.
• have everything set out before you do it, like don't run around to find plastic wrap for your fondant stripes to sit under to prevent drying out-they dry fast, have the materials. 
• Think about the occasion. Do you really need a huge 9 by 11" cake like the recipe says? no. you usually won't, we haven't even finished halfway through mine and its time for it to be thrown away :(
• Have a dish of water near when applying the fondant to your cake so it can stick, have it slightly brushed with water of "syrup" (not really syrup) before and have the dish for slight dabs of water on the cake for for-sure sticking. 
• Don't completely follow the recipe, my fondant measurements were completely estimated instead of having the perfect "9oz of white" "120 oz of purple" plus more and I didn't have nearly enough! Buy hey, my cake got covered! The recipe is only...an outline!