Royal Icing Eyeball Version 2

I'll be honest; the blog's going to be way down low on my list of things to do over the next few days while I get ready for The Eye Ball. I'll do my best to get something up here for you folks who have been following along for your daily sugar fix, though! To pipe these flat eyeballs, perfect as a cupcake topper, all you need are stiff consistency royal icing in white, a set of AmeriColor Gourmet Writers (or any food-safe marker), a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, round tip #12, a glue stick, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Pipe a ring…

 …and then pipe a dollop in the center.

 Generously dust a fingertip by tapping it against the dusting pouch, and tap the surface flat into a disc. Allow it to dry thoroughly.

Alternately, you can tape a large piece of parchment paper to a cookie sheet and pipe as many eyeballs as you like at once. 

Draw the iris first; it's basically a Lifesaver.

 When the iris is try, draw the outline and the pupil. I like to leave a little of the white visible to suggest a highlight in the pupil.

 Finally, draw in the red veins. Whether I'm painting paper lanterns, piping cupcakes, or decorating white pumpkins, I usually think about the letters I, V, and Y; mix them up to be suitably random (or just write "ivy" again and again).

 I'm hoping to make a cookie pizza; these will be the "pepperoni"!