Here at the shop, we have tons of yummy treats for dogs. One of the new products we have is a Bake at Home Dog Bone Birthday Cake Kit. It's like the ones you buy at the supermarket for humans, but it's sugar and gluten free-- and in the shape of a dog bone.

So I decided to bake one to experience first hand how they work. Naturally, I wanted to share the results with my customers, but not surprisingly the cake did not last very long (dogs had at it).

So in order to show people what the cake looks like I decided to make a fake cake display. And you can make one too! It's super easy and you can change it up to make a faux human cake or whatever shape you want. This is also great to preserve wedding cakes.

Step 1: Print Your Shapes

Decide what shapes you will need for your cake. If you are making the dog cake, print the bone shape. You can also do a round shape or any shape you want. For a tiered cake, print out several circles of smaller and smaller sizes.

Step 2: Cut Foam Board

Place the print out on the project board and cut out two identical shapes.

Step 3: Make the Sides

Cut out two 2 inch strips of foam core (vary the width for different effects). Cut lines about 1/4 inch apart all the way down the strips of project board. Don't cut all the way through, just cut the top layer and the foam. This makes the strips flexible and able to make the sides of the cake.

Step 4: Put the Form Together

Glue the long strips onto one of the cake bases. Go all the way around and make sure you bend the strips to fit the contours of the cake. Glue to other half of the base on top to make a complete cake shape.

If you are making a tiered cake, you don't need bottoms to all the layers, just the bottom-most layer.

Step 5: Ice the Cake

Use the caulking gun to spread the caulk on the cake. I prefer to put all the caulking on the top at once and then use a plastic knife or spatula to spread the caulking like real icing. I call this the 'Blob and Spread' method. I used only one tube, but you may need more depending on the size of the cake. Make sure you cover the sides and the top evenly and that you make it look like icing by lightly going over the cake at the end with a clean spatula.

Resist the urge to lick the spatula or your fingers. You can treat yourself to real icing later.

Step 6: Let Dry

Let the cake dry. The caulking smells really bad so make sure you leave it outside in a covered area away from hungry dogs or kids.

Step 7: Decorate

You can leave the cake white as is or paint it using spray paint or craft paints. I used a light buttercup spray paint to give it a natural look. You can then use paper cutouts to add sprinkles or use real candles to accent. You can also take some leftover caulking, tint it different colors and use a disposable piping bag to decorate the cake further. The creativity is up to you and there is so much you can do.