Royal Icing Ivy

It's been a while since I piped something plant-related (what can I say, I prefer critters and hats). It's also been a while since I piped a truly simple project involving only one tip: leaf tip #69 (or any size you prefer). You'll also need a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of cornstarch and powdered sugar, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, and a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the leaf tip almost flat against the surface, and squeeze out a leaf while jiggling the tip in a gentle in-and-out sawing motion to create "veins." If need be, touch the dusting pouch with your thumb and index fingertip and pinch the tip to perfect it. I sometimes use the surface of my fingernail to create that inward curve on each side of the tip.

 Pipe two smaller side leaves in a similar fashion.

 Angle the side leaves so the base of the entire shape looks like the top two curves of a heart (or a rounded "W", if you prefer).

 Make sure the leaves don't look identical to each other to add to the realism.

When you place them on a cake, you may want to pipe vines first, perhaps with a round #3 tip. This is a cake from an earlier project:

Of course, you could pipe ivy leaves in black or dark purple to be totally goth.