For the Palm Tree see here. For the pirate see here.
I made the boat and chest at the same time with big similarities in the method, hence there is only one post for both items.
You will need:
White or light brown fondant
Bamboo skewer or 2
Paper 'sail' with printed skull and cross bones
a little oil
Dark Brown food paint (see here)
Greaseproof paper.
Square/rectangular cutter (optional).
Firstly use origami to make the shape of the boat's hull out of greaseproof paper. You could use something else as a mould if you wanted to. I used a boat as explained in: Martin's Origami Boat.
Turn the boat hull upside down, if using an origami boat give the shape support, using something like kitchen towel, bunched up inside. Roll out the fondant and drape it over the hull. Trim to size and add a nook for the anchor to come over the bow.
Using the remaining fondant, mould into a crease free ball and push into the cutter, or just shape into a treasure chest. Cut off the 'lid'.
Paint the icing with the brown food paint, building it up in layers, allow the paint to dry in between each layer. Personally I think it looks better is the brown paint gives an uneven coverage which is why I do it this way.
Once one side is painted and dry, turn them over and paint the other side.
The bamboo skewer can be gently pushed through the base of the boat (when the hull is sitting on the flat surface) to form a hole. Trim the skewer to the desired length of the mast using a sharp knife or pair of scissors. Allow 1-2cm of length for embedding into the cake or, if it will not sit on a cake add a cylinder of fondant, painted to match the boat, onto the skewer near the base, to give the skewer more lateral support.
The remainder of the skewer (or another one depending on the length of the mast. can be cut to provide top and bottom support for the square sail, lash them into place using brown cotton thread (search for west country lashing if you're unsure how to do this). The mast can also be painted with the brown food colouring if desired.
Check the size of the sail with respect to the skewers and trim if required, use a hole punch to add 4 holes for the bamboo skewers to pass through. Brush the paper with a little oil (both sides) then gently grill. This will turn the paper semi-translucent (so the skull shows on both sides) and then brown it slightly to give an aged effect. Leave to cool and remove excess oil from the paper using kitchen towel.
Wait till your boat is on the cake to assemble. If your boat is going to sit on the cake board (i.e. there won't be cake underneath it you'll need some edible glue to stick the cylinder of fondant to the rest of the boat. If not just insert the skewer through the hole in the bottom of the boat 1-2cm into the cake and you're done.
Edible Glue can be used on the top of the treasure chest's base to secure gold and silver sprinkles for the treasure effect. I brought my sprinkles from Sainsbury's they have pots with 4 divisions each containing different gold and silver style sprinkles, one of these looks like gold, silver and bronze nuggets - perfect!
Stick the lid of the chest on so it is ajar, add a thin strip of glue along the back, position the lid so it's propped up on the treasure.
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