Super Mario Bros!

Wow!  Was this cake A LOT of work!  I lost count at about 15 hours or so!

I prepared the fondant a week in advance and spent the week before his birthday working on all of the figures.  The more complex ones took about 45 minutes to an hour a piece because of all the coloring and detail involved.  I also made the star ahead of time to give it time to harden.  I added Gumtex to all the fondant figures so they would hold their shape well.

This little guy on the right is my favorite I think (besides the cute little mushrooms next to him).  

I also made a bunch of the bricks to place on the cake.  I just cut the fondant into squares and then used a knife to make the grooves in the fondant.

This guy on the left was a bit tricky.  I had to roll out a thin line of black fondant and then carefully place it on his face for the goggles.  He also has a spiky Mohawk, which was super delicate.

Mario, on the right, was definitely the most time consuming.  I first made the pipe he's coming out of and then formed his body and then head.  I had to use toothpicks to keep his head stable on his body.

The mushroom was made out of formed Rice Krispie Treats covered in frosting and fondant.  

 Luigi wasn't as tricky, but that's only because it was a side view of him.

 This guy on the right is called a Goomba.  Doesn't look that complicated, but those teeny little teeth and eyebrows are so tricky to place onto such a small character.  I also made a couple of those turtle shells to place around the bottom and some coins as seen on the game.

The plant on the left is called a Piranha Plant.  I really liked how this turned out for some reason.  

The little fella on the right is a Toad.

I also included one of the flags that is found at the end of each level.  It doesn't have the graphic that's on the flag in the game, but this was the last detail I did and by this point I was thoroughly exhausted with this cake.  I decided to just let it go....not easy for me to do!

Here's a better view from the side.  I also made a Flying Turtle.  Originally, he was made to go on the side of the cake, but I ran out of room.  I decided to put him on the top since he flies in the game anyway.  I had to use toothpicks to hold him in place.

I decided to use my airbrush on this cake for the background.  It came out darker than intended, but I like how it turned out anyway.  My son went through the different "worlds" on the game to come up with an idea for the background.  This "world" is a tropical one with sand dunes and palm trees.  I think it all worked out well in the end and he was very excited to have his friends over to share his cake.