Royal Icing Monarch Butterfly

The monarch butterfly is the official state butterfly of Vermont (as well as Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, and West Virginia; it gets around!). To pipe this butterfly (and probably many others; just switch the colors and the shape as needed), you'll need stiff consistency royal icing in orange and black, petal tip #104, oval tip #55, round tip #3, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar, and a black food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe a flat, rounded petal shape with the #104 tip. Lie the tip almost flat against the surface while you pipe. I held the tip with the wide end facing outward, which might not have been the smartest idea; no wing is that thick! However, the wings will be sturdier if the narrower edges are all touching and not on the outside. You may find it's helpful to rotate the nail while you pipe.

 Pipe another petal next to this one, as near to identical as you can make it.

 Pipe another, longer flat "petal" for the top part of the wing…

 …and another. When you pipe each one, move the tip in an upside down "U" motion while keeping the tip lying more or less flat.

 Touch your fingertips to the dusting pouch and gently tap the outer edges of the upper half of the wings into wedge-like shapes. They'll look more like a monarch butterfly's wings and less like a generic cookie cutter butterfly's wings. Don't drive yourself crazy with this step; there's only so much "tapping" royal icing will take.

When the icing has firmed up, paint in some black detail with the food-safe marker. You might want to follow these steps, more or less. Start by outlining…

 Thicken up the outer edges of the outline…

 Fill in the lower halves of the wings with some lines…

 …as well as the upper halves. You might want to look at a photo of an actual monarch butterfly for inspiration.

 Pipe a stripe of black icing using the #55 tip for the body.

 Switch to the #3 tip and pipe the antennae. Hold the tip against the end of the body, squeeze briefly, and pull the tip away. Feel free to use a smaller tip, but I've had bad luck with tiny antennae breaking off.

Royal Icing Maple Leaf

Today's project is a leaf off the official state tree of West Virginia (and Vermont, Wisconsin, and New York): the sugar maple. I piped it in green, because that's what they are most of the year, but check out this link; you'll see all the colors of leaves borne by the same sugar maple in the fall! You could pipe piles of these leaves well in advance in every color and have a lot of fun decorating a cake with them for fall (or for any Canadian celebration). All you'll need to pipe maple leaves are stiff consistency royal icing, leaf tip #104, round tip #3, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, round toothpicks, 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. 

Lie the #104 tip almost flat against the surface, and pipe two leaves in "V" formation. Note how the "ridge" in the middle of each leaf touches at the bottom to form that V. Dust your fingertips by touching them to the dusting pouch and pinch the ends of the leaves to taper them. 

 Pipe a third, larger leaf in the middle. With a dusted fingertip, tap the edges of it gently where it lies over the first two leaves to blend them all together somewhat.

 Work quickly so the icing won't have a chance to dry. Using a round toothpick, drag out a few points on each leaf. Lie just the pointy tip flat on the surface, press down to the parchment, and drag outwards.

 Wipe the toothpick clean on a paper towel after every few points.

 Switch to a round #3 tip and pipe the stem of the leaf. Allow the leaves to dry thoroughly (you might want to place them under a desk lamp to speed up this process) and then use them to decorate any dessert (particularly maple-flavored ones!).