Royal Icing Sweet Pea

Royal icing sweet peas definitely don't have the amazing smell of the real thing, but I think they look almost as good! All you'll need to pipe them are a glue stick, parchment squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, and a piping bag fitted with a #104 rose tip and filled with stiff consistency royal icing. In this case, I used the striped bag from the striped roses, again with the narrow end of the teardrop-shaped tip aligned with the stripe.

 Stick a parchment paper square to the flower nail with the glue stick, and pipe an elongated ring. The tip should be almost level with the surface (lying flat alongside it), with the narrow end pointed outward. Squeeze hard to make the icing ruffle; you might coax it along by moving the narrow end of the tip up and down as you move it along in the "horseshoe"-like shape.

 Here's a view of it from the side:

 Allow it to firm for a few minutes, then pipe the second, smaller petal directly on top of the first one.

 You might let that one firm for a few minutes before piping the final small petal. This is formed by moving the tip in a single, tight, upside-down horseshoe motion while holding the tip perpendicular to the flower.

Peel away the parchment when the sweet pea is dry. Sweet peas come in almost every imaginable color, so have fun with them. You'll want to pipe them with lots of vines and leaves to add to the realness.