Royal Icing Christmas Tree

It doesn't take much to make a thimble-sized Christmas tree; this would be almost the right scale for a gingerbread house made of graham crackers! You'll need a #21 star tip, stiff consistency green royal icing, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, and tiny "ornaments", such as colored sugar, pearls, snowflakes, etc. Start by sticking a parchment square to the glue stick. 

 Hold the tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Pipe a spiral that builds up on itself, getting smaller with each rotation. I spiraled the tip around about 2 times, then finished with a dollop that left a peak on top. Pull the tip straight up and away.

If you like, sprinkle colored sugar on the icing before it firms up.

 You can also stud it with various cake decorations for ornaments…

 …and a star on top. These would also be the right size as a decoration for miniature cupcakes, petits fours, cake pops, etc.

Piping Rosettes

Rosettes are starting to pop up everywhere; I've seen quite a few cakes completely covered with them (when an ombre color scheme is used, they're especially fetching). To pipe rosettes on a cake, you'll want to use medium consistency buttercream. Of course, I didn't have any of that lying around, so I'll show you with royal icing. Use a star tip in the size most appropriate to your project. I used a tip #21, because it's the first one that fell out of the drawer. Hold the tip just above the surface of your project (whether it's a cake, cookies, petits fours, whatever), and squeeze out a star.

 No need to pull the tip away; I just did that to take the photo. Pipe in a continuous circle around (and slightly overlapping) the star, while continuing to hold the tip at a 90 degree angle. I don't think it makes a difference if you pipe clockwise or counterclockwise; according to Wilton's directions, I'm piping the left-handed way (counterclockwise) with my right hand.

 When you're nearing the end of the spiral, stop pressure and pull the tip away in the same direction the spiral is moving…

 …so the remaining tail of icing will continue the motion and not simply stop.

 The rosette is a nice alternative to shell borders; the key, of course, is to make them uniform and edge-to-edge with each other. Practice rosettes on Nilla Wafers, so everyone can eat your mistakes!

Reverse Shell Border

The reverse shell border is one of my favorites. Oftentimes when I'm watching TV, I'll catch myself subconsciously practicing the hand motion of the forward and backward whorls. One of the essential tools for the successful execution of any border is a good turntable; I have the one made by Ateco. 

 First, place the nonstick rubber mat on it…

 …and then your cake.

 Fill a piping bag with medium consistency buttercream icing and fit it with a star tip (I used a #21). Hold the bag at a 45 degree angle just above the cake's surface, close to the bottom (keep about a tip's width between the tip and the cake's board).

 Squeeze firmly, and move the tip in a counterclockwise circle; basically from 3 to 12 to 9 to 6, and then decrease and stop pressure all together as you pull the tip away, forming a tail.

 Over the rough end of the tail, repeat the process, only this time in reverse: 3 to 6 to 9 to 12 and then sweep down while decreasing and then stopping pressure. Note: you could simply do the above piped shape over and over and leave out the reverse part; it would still turn out cute.

 I attempted to take photos while piping one of these shells; this sort of thing is never easy. Here I am going from 3 to 12…

 …and then finishing off from 6.

 Eventually when you reach the back of the cake, you'll probably be faced with a decision:  pipe one shell and have two going the same direction next to each other…

 …or cram in two rather close to each other. I pretty much always go with the latter option.

 Fortunately, most of the border will look nice and balanced.

 If you like, you can also pipe a star in the center of each whorl in the same or a contrasting color.