Make fondant stars, graduate?s head and mortarboard one day in advance.

Knead 1 teaspoon of Gum-Tex into 12 oz. of fondant. Use fondant roller and pink guide rings to roll out fondant 1/16 in. thick. Use smallest cutter from set to cut eight stars.

Use gold Pearl Dust with lemon extract to make ?paint.? Use brush and Pearl dust/extract mixture to paint stars. Let dry 24 hours.

Tint fondant as follows: 6 1/2 oz. copper, 1 3/4 oz. blue, a 1 in. ball brown, a 3/4 in. ball yellow and a 1/2 in. ball black.

Use copper fondant to roll a 2 1/2 in. ball for head and 1/4 in. ball for nose. Use damp brush to attach nose to head.

For mortarboard base, use blue fondant to shape a dome, 1 1/2 in. dia. For mortarboard top, use fondant roller and pink guide rings to roll out blue fondant 1/16 in. Cut a square, 2 in. x 2 in.

Make hair and facial features one day in advance. For hair, use fondant roller and pink guide rings to roll out brown fondant 1/16 in. thick. Use largest round Cut-Out to cut circle. Use knife to cut triangles from edge of fondant for bangs. Use damp brush to attach hair to head.

For eyes, use fondant roller and pink guide rings to roll out white and black fondant separately, 1/16 in. thick. Use narrow end of tip 2A and white fondant to cut out whites of eyes. Use narrow end of tip 10 and black fondant to cut out pupils. Use narrow end of tip 4 and white fondant to cut out highlights. Use damp brush to attach eye pieces together. Attach eyes to head.

For mouth, use wide end of tip 4 and black fondant to cut circle. Move tip up 1/4 in. on circle to cut crescent shape for mouth. Use damp brush to attach mouth to head. Let dry 24 hours.

Make arms, hands and diploma one day in advance. For diploma, use fondant roller and pink guide rings to roll out white fondant 1/16 in. thick. Use knife to cut a rectangle, 1 1/2 in. long x 3/4 in. high. Roll up to form diploma scroll.

For hands, use knife to cut two squares, 3/4 in. x 3/4 in. Cut slits for fingers, 1/8 in. deep. Use knife to shape rounded ends. For arms, roll two logs of blue fondant, 3/4 in. dia. x 1 1/2 in. long. Use damp brush to attach hands to arms. Position diploma in hand and wrap fingers around, securing with damp brush.

Assemble mortarboard. Use damp brush to attach top to base. For tassel, roll a rope, 1/4 in. dia. x 1 1/2 in. long. Use knife to score fringe on bottom 1/2 in. of tassel. Use damp brush to attach.

Make cupcakes. Prepare cupcake batter following recipe directions. Bake and cool eight cupcakes and one large cupcake.

Prepare buttercream icing. Tint portions light blue and dark blue. Reserve some white.

Use 9 in. spatula and white icing to ice top of standard cupcakes in a mounded shape. Insert stars in cupcakes.

For large cupcake, use tip 12 and light and dark blue icing to pipe alternating vertical stripes on cake sides. Use 11 in. spatula and white icing to ice top of cupcake fluffy. Insert graduate head and arms. Use tip 3 and dark blue icing to print message.