MONEY TREE (fake) CAKE

For any party that needs a money tree....well, instead of a tree, why not make a fake cake! Decorate it to match the party theme and the guests can drop their (money filled) cards into a slot on top of the cake where they safely stay until you are ready to remove the contents. It looks so much like a real cake and will look really pretty on the gift table.I made this one for my niece for her "Quinceanera" this upcoming weekend.
I used hat boxes that I had purchased at my local craft store. If you are interested in making one, you can find the instructions in my October 2009 blog post.

Here is the cake in action at the Quinceanera.


This is the before picture, I used Taping Compound (from hardware store) for the frosting. It's in powder form and when mixed with water it looks just like real frosting and spreads on just like the real thing too and it dries rock hard, at which point you can brush paint it or airbrush it. I simply gave it one coat of white Gesso.
Here is the top view of the cake, before and after.