Hot Air Balloon Birthday Cake

So it's already been over a month, but the Birthday cake was a hit.  I decided on a bubbles & balloons theme for the party.  It was simple and fun.  The weather was great and all the kids played in the yards while the adults sat on the patio and chatted.  We had 2 bubble machines going, and the kids loved playing in the bubbles.  A really fun and exhausting day!
To tie-in with the theme, I designed a 11x15 sheet cake.  The cake had 3 layers of white cake with buttercream filling and icing.  I used the Viva paper -towel method to smooth out the icing before decorating. 
I used Wilton's spray coloring in blue on the top of the cake to make the sky.  The clouds and writing were piped on with leftover buttercream.  The balloon is cereal treats.  I pressed the mixture in a pyrex bowl before it cooled, removed it from the bowl and formed it into a balloon shape.  I then iced it and wrapped in the fondant.  The basket is cereal treats with brown tinted butter cream piped on using a basket weave.  Ropes to the balloon basket are fruit roll-ups twisted into strips.

This cake was a big job- I spread the work over 3 days.  But it was perfect for the event and very yummy!