The Great Cake Debate--Solved

There has been an on-going debate--err, discussion--going on between myself & the soon-to-be 6 year old member of the family. This discussion has focused on birthday cakes for the upcoming celebration. Originally, Caitlin wanted the theme to be polka dots & balloons (polka dots for her, balloons for Cara) which I thought was cute. Caitlin also voiced a preference for an ice cream cake. I began looking around and found the cutest polka dot ice cream cake at Baskin Robbins. Problem is, those things aren't cheap, even with a $3 off birthday coupon. So, I approached Caitlin with the idea that she & Cara could share the cake--we'd write both names on the cake--but each girl would get a cupcake with the appropriate number candle to blow out. Sharing the cake was a total deal breaker apparently. Why I decided to let my child run the show, I'll never know--I guess I'm a softie when it comes to allowing her to make her birthday her special day. Since we seemed to be at a stalemate, I decided to temporarily table the debate.
Fast forward a week or so to today. The party is now 10 days away, so having a game plan is becoming crucial. I was online, chatting with my mom and brainstorming other party details when I had a glorious vision. We could make our OWN cakes! What a totally marvelous and unique idea--not! When I mentioned it to Caitlin, she was so psyched and started thinking of how she would like to decorate her cake. So...I've decided to buy another round cake pan so that I can make each girl their own two layer cake and then we will go to Sweet Factory to get a variety of candies. I'm thinking round candies like M&Ms, Skittles, Necco wafers & candy buttons. A friend also told me that I can melt Starbursts to make colorful circles. I may get bold and try fondant for the 1st time too, since it gives a much flatter surface to decorate on. Can you tell that I'm excited?! It is my sincere hope that this will be both a fun & cost-saving alternative to purchasing bakery cakes. I will do a test run on both the cake & icing before the big day to work out any creative difficulties.
All in all, I'm excited to see how the cakes turn out! One debate solved and one cake crisis adverted!

It is my hope that the cake will look something like this when finished. At least in terms of being colorful...I don't know if I have to artistic ability to pull off the rest!