So when I was a kid we always got to pick our b'day cake out of the womans weekly book and they always looked fantastic!!! And I really really want to keep the tradition going with my DS cos it was just so much fun So Ive bought the new AWW kids cake book and looked around online....but I have a few questions still....

Do you freeze the cake before decorating??
When its time to decorate do you let it thaw first or just go for it??
Once its got all the pretty stuff on it, how should I store it and how long should it stay good???

Im thinking just plain buttercake with butter cream icing (pretty sure thats what its called lol) but whats best to use for all the cut out pretty bits???