Shopping Bag Cake: Tutorial in Text

I had so much fun making this shopping bag cake for my Aunt's birthday! I started with two 9x13 cakes cut in half lengthwise and stacked 4 high. The great thing about this cake was that I was able to slather buttercream between the layers and over the entire structure without worrying about neatness.

I cut 4 sheets of fondant to fit the dimensions of the cake and wrote the store name in black food coloring. Then I tinted and rolled fondant and cut random shapes for my tissue paper. I let all of this dry overnight.

I applied my sheets to each side of my "bag" and used buttercream on the corner seams. I twirled 12 " strands of black fondant and folded them over the top of of my larger panels for my bag handles. My tissue paper laid on top of the cake.

On the side was a fondant gift tag with a Happy Birthday message paired with a "bracelet" made from black fondant "beads" strung on florist wire.

And there you have it! I would love to do this shopping bag cake again in a couture label or maybe a Victoria's Secret. It was such a simple design but would work for so many occasions!