I am going to try royal icing flowers today, because I hear they are much easier than bc. I have only tried bc so far and I really stink at it. do I use the same tips and techniques as bc or is ri different? I would love to hear any tips and hints you have.
TIA

I use all the same tips for royal icing flowers. I feel like I stink at buttercream roses, so the only way I can do them is to pipe the bases, freeze them, then come back and make the petals. I freeze them again until I need to pull them off the wax paper for the cake.

hehehehe.......I stink at royal flowers I use air-dry b 'cream for most of my flowers.
Basically, it's royal icing w/2/3 cup of Crisco added. That way it dosen't dry cement hard.

I stink at buttercream roses! Thanks for the freezing tip LoriMc I'll gice that a go

Use the same tips for RI as you do BC, just make sure they are completely grease free and all the utensils you use making the RI. Grease will break it down. I had problems with this when I first started using RI then I realized that I was using a plastic measuring cup to put the hot water in and even though it was clean, the hot water caused residual grease on the cup to get into the RI . When I started using all metal the problem stopped.
Hope this helps!

Jibbies

I think Royal Icing is much eaiser to do flowers with, just as Jibbies said everything MUST be grease free, or it can break down your icing.

What recipe do you use for royal icing flowers? I usually refer to Martha Stewart's royal icing (1 egg white/1 c confectioners sugar) but it's super runny and not very pipable. I add some extra sugar to it and can use it for decorating gingerbread cookies or for gluing fondant decorations onto a fondant-covered cake, but I can't imagine the mess trying to make flowers with it! Even piping letters gets messy with this!

thanks everyone for your replies. I am so excited to give this a try. they can't be any worse than my buttercream roses. OMG they are horrible. they don't look like anything found in nature! LOL

I use Wiltons recipe Antgirl, if it's really humid (notice where I live ) I usually use less water.
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1 pound powdered sugar
up to 6 tablespoons warm water
Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes
make 3 cups

Jibbies