Flowers

• 1). Position a piece of wax paper on the work surface and insert a number 102 piping tip in a pastry bag.
  
  
• 2). Fill the pastry bag with 1/2 cup of royal icing. Grasp the rose nail with one hand and the pastry bag in the other.
  
  
• 3). Pipe a small amount of royal icing, about the size of a pea, on the top of the rose nail. Place a 2-inch square of wax paper on the rose nail, letting the royal icing hold it in place.
  
  
• 4). Hold the piping tip at a 45-degree angle to the center of rose nail. Make sure the wider end of the rose piping tip rests against the rose nail.
  
  
• 5). Squeeze the pastry bag gently for two seconds while rotating it counter-clockwise slowly. Rotate the rose nail clockwise slowly as you pipe out the icing. This will form one flower petal.
  
  
• 6). Continue squeezing out flower petals side by side in the same manner as above until they form a circle around the rose nail. The number of petals aren’t as important as their uniformity.
  
  
• 7). Insert a number 67 piping tip in a pastry bag and add 1/4 cup of different-colored icing. Squeeze out a small amount of icing in the center where the flower petals converge to form a pistil.
  
  
• 8). Remove the wax paper holding the flower away from the rose nail and place it in a cool, dry area to set for 24 hours. Gently remove the flower from the wax paper when dry and place it on the cake.
  
  

Leaves

• 1). Position a piece of wax paper on the work surface. Insert a number 67 piping tip in a pastry bag.
  
  
• 2). Fill the pastry bag with 1/2 cup of royal icing. Position the bag at a 45-degree angle and hold it 1/4 inch from the work surface.
  
  
• 3). Squeeze the bag firmly to provide the base of the leaf and draw the pastry bag slowly away from, lessening the pressure on the bag as you go, until it forms the leaf tip. Pull the pastry bag away from the work surface.
  
  
• 4). Allow the leaves 24 hours to set before lifting them from the wax paper.