Royal Icing Starlight Mint

I know it seems odd to pipe Starlight Mints; it's not like they're hard to come by! However, if you use them to decorate gingerbread houses, cupcakes, or whatever, they'll get really sticky. All you'll need to pipe a rock-hard, non-sticky version of them is white stiff consistency royal icing, a round #12 tip, parchment paper squares, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar, and a red (or any color) food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer. Start by holding the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to a parchment square. Squeeze out a dollop of icing…

 …and tap it into a flat, rounded disc with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch. Allow it to harden completely.

 At this point you can do whatever you want with the food-safe markers; you might try using two or more colors. To pipe the classic striped design, draw backwards "S" shapes that are wider at the outer edge.

Royal Icing Christmas Light Bulb

This is a good case of piping what I know. I grew up on the classic C7 and C9 Christmas lights, and never warmed up to any other variety (especially those cool-burning environmentally-friendly lights that look like the inside of a refrigerator; they may save the earth, but they're the antithesis of festive!). All you'll need to pipe tiny little classic Christmas lights are stiff consistency royal icing in yellow, black, and whatever color you like, round tips #12, #8, and #2, a glue stick, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip almost flat alongside the surface and squeeze out a ball of icing. Move the tip along while decreasing pressure for a little more than half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Pipe the base with the #8 tip on the yellow icing. Hold the tip against the wide end of the bulb, squeeze briefly, move the tip along, then stop pressure and pull the tip away. I tried to create "threads" by pulsing the tip in and out but they sort of melted together.

 Pipe a tiny black dot with the #2 tip, then flatten it with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch. These would be cute peeking out from under the eaves on a gingerbread house!

Royal Icing Candy Cane

Perhaps you're wondering, why pipe candy canes? It's easy enough to buy them by the dozen ANYWHERE (during December, anyway). However, candy canes have an annoying knack of becoming sticky and gummy in short order as a decoration on gingerbread houses (in humid climates, anyway), and their flavor isn't always appropriate if you use them to decorate cupcakes. All you'll need to pipe candy canes are two round #8 tips, stiff consistency royal icing in red and white, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, 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. Alternately, you can tape a sheet of parchment paper to a baking sheet, especially if you're piping canes on a larger scale. 

 Start by piping a small "S." Hold the tip at about a 45 degree angle.

 The next few photos just show the process repeating…

 …and repeating…

 …and repeating.

 You'll need to alter the shape a bit as you curve the cane over to one side or the other.

 The shape you pipe, though, is still essentially going to be an "S."

 Here it is, almost done…

 …and here it is completed, finished off with a dab of contrasting color at both ends. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch to tap down any peaks of icing that remain. You could use this technique to pipe all sorts of candy cane-striped things; wreaths, hearts, straight sticks for fence posts for a gingerbread house, etc.