This was my very 1st venture into 3D modelling as well & it took me quite a while to get used to the interface & all the very many buttons etc. However, I'm happy with my result
The way around the cone issue I found was to make it very small, position it on he snowman's face, deselect it, then select just the tip with a right click & uses the vertical & horizontal arrows to make it a bit more carrot like & pointy.
I found the lighting ok to do, but the camera was a real pain at the end....somehow I got it all out of line by accident & then I couldn't get it back to where I wanted it
I'm ready for more tho'