Hi. I have read a few of the posts on royal icing/color flow. But I still have questions!!

I have to make two love birds for an anniversary cake that I am making.

Today is Thursday afternoon. I am delivering the cake to my mother's place on Friday night and the lady will pick up the cake on Saturday.

If I make the birds today (after I get home from work say 7:00pm) What is the best method to use?

a) I do not have any color flow mix and I cannot afford to go and buy any right now. Can I make it from meringue powder? If so how? Or should I use royal icing? What really dries faster.. royal or color?

b) Also there is a glaze recipe that says to use light corn syrup. I have never seen that sold in the stores here. I have corn syrup at home but it's dark and very sticky. Almost like pancake syrup. Is there another way to make color flow / royal decorations shine... like a clear coat of something after you decorate it and after it dries?

c) is there a quick full proof way to get these birds to dry and harden over night. I heard that freezing them is good but for how long? Over night? Will that make the colors bleed when it starts to thaw?

d) If I put the birds on the cake on Friday night, will the butter cream break it down by Saturday? Should I tell my mom to put the cake in the freezer or fridge when I drop it off?

Sorry for all the questions... I have only done the color flow once in course 2 and those birds I used on another cake months ago.

Dry overnight!!!!!! I let my colorflow dry for a few days to a week. I make it out of thinned royal icing. I have never used a colorflow mix. You might have to use a buttercream transfer. Good luck!!!!

i am thinking royal icing dries faster. royal icing is made with meringue powder, powd. sugar and water. you just thin it down like you do with color flow to make your piece. putting it under a heat lamp can help dry faster but, 24 hours should be good.i don't know about bc breaking it down. you could try to put wax paper between, or if it isn't too hard, have your mom put them on the cake saturday. i did royal icing roses last night at about 9:00 and they were pretty dry this a.m. and think of how thick a rose is, now of course, there wasn't as much water in them since you use stiff icing for that. but hope i've helped and haven't rambled too mucvh

Here is a link from one of the Wilton forums for how to do color flow with meringue powder.

http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=58146

My experience with color flow is that it does need a couple of days to really set up. BC has weakened it in the past, so if you could leave them off and show your mom where to just put them on before it is picked up on Saturday...

I haven't used the color flow mix either...I always just make my own royal..basically with meringue powder, water, and powdered sugar....I usually let mine dry overnight but if you're really worried, I've heard some people say they put theres in a super low oven for a few hours and it dried them out perfectly...or in a food dehydrator. I would NOT put it in the freezer...I've heard that it's really bad for royal decorations. Is your cake stable at room temp??? Because if it is, I would suggest sending it fully decorated with the birds and have them just leave it at room temp. if it's not...maybe you should send the birds along in a shoe box with tons of tissues to keep them from breaking....and make sure to include several extras for breakage!!

thanks for all the replys.. much appreciated.