1. Readymade butter cream icing is easiest to decorate with.
2. Using buttercream icing, make colored icing and set aside. Do not refrigerate. You will need:

• 4 cups bag of yellow
• 1 cups bag of white
• 2 cups bag of light blue

Note: Use bags that can change tips for the white icing if possible. When using gel paste food coloring, you can make your icing slightly lighter than you want it, it will darken as it sits.

1. Start with a cold, fully iced cake and cut cake into the shape of Star according to template dimensions.
2. Measure your cake, marking the center and cutting points. Press the shape that you plan to cut into the icing before cutting, just to be sure it looks right.
3. Carefully remove the extra cake pieces and gently wipe off the cardboard base with a damp paper towel.  The cake will be easier to decorate if you chill again before continuing to decorate.
4. To ice the cake, start by putting on large globs of yellow icing with icing spatula, smoothing and removing excess. It is not necessary to ice the tip where Star's hat will be with yellow (until you switch to blue icing).
5. Dip your spatula into warm water and use the moisture to help make the icing nice and smooth.

Sprout Tip: The secret to a nice, smooth cake is to use a LOT of icing and spread with a warm, wet icing spatula to remove the excess. If you get a lumpy spot, add a glob of icing, dip your spatula in hot water and touch up. If you get any blemishes on the cake that you want to smooth, just chill the cake so the icing hardens a little, then tap and smooth with a clean finger. Pick any crumbs out with a toothpick and smooth with a damp spatula or tap flat after chilling.

1. Put the large round tip on the large yellow icing bag, or simply trim the end straight across.
2. Squiggle yellow generously all over the top of the cake and sides. Then use a damp spatula to smooth the icing, dipping into a mug of warm water frequently, and wiping the excess icing onto a paper plate. Use a damp paper pate to wipe any unwanted icing off of the cake base.
3. Use a large round icing tip, or the end trimmed off a plastic decorating bag, to squiggle blue icing onto the cake and base where Star's hat and blanket are. You will be squirting some of the icing directly on the cardboard base -a big triangle to the left of his hat and a big pile where the blanket is shown in the picture.
4. Smooth both into shape with a clean, damp finger and icing spatula.
5. Refrigerate the cake while you make stars for the cake with candy melts. These will go on star's cheeks, hat and blanket. (Note: The small stars should be yellow and the large stars should be white.)
6. Working with one color at a time, melt the candy according to package directions and put in decorating bag or plastic baggy with a tiny tip trimmed off. Squirt a little on a paper plate to test consistency.
7. Pipe into a star-shaped cookie cutter, filling in completely.
8. Refrigerate a few minutes until hardened, lift from cookie cutter, and scrape edges flat with a small knife. Set aside to press into the cake icing at the end. (Sprout Tip: Instead of making the candy melt stars, use cookies or small candy bits.)
9. Pipe Star's arms using a small, round icing tip and white icing.
10. Use the large round tip to dot circles along the bottom border of Star's sweet dreams cap.
11. Press the candy melt stars into the icing as pictured.
12. Add googly eyes and make a mouth by cutting a red fruit roll into the shape of Star's mouth and outlining with narrow strips of black licorice.  (Note: Two alternate ways to make Star's mouth are to make an outline with thin licorice strips and fill-in with small red candy bits, or if you are accustomed to decorating with icing, you can fill in the licorice with red icing, chill, and tap flat with a clean, dry finger. Remove Googly eyes from cake before serving, they could be a choking hazard)
13. Refrigerate until serving.