Okay, I have already done a royal icing tiara and the first one turned out fine (it at least held together). Anyway, I am trying to make another one and when I pipe it on the can with the parchment paper and let it dry for a couple of hours, when I come back to it, it has broken and fallen completely off of the can. Is there something I can do to the icing to make it stick? What am I doing wrong? Help!
Not 100% sure, but here is what I would try:
1. too much air in RI: cover the bowl with wet cloth, let it sit for 1/2 hour after mixing. All the small bubbles come to the top.
2. too much RI and drying too fast:
Pipe 1 layer only, let it completely dry. Overpipe, let it dry again.
What you can add to RI:
1 teaspoon white vinegar per 1 egg white or ca. 1 cup RI
1 teaspoon potato starch per 1 egg white or ca. 1 cup RI
White vinegar adds strength, starch too and helps with consistency.
I suspect that your problem is too much air in RI. Don't whip it (as if you want whipped cream) but beat it (as when you cream butter) Hope you can understand what I mean.
Thanks for the help 
. Looking back I think I measured the sugar wrong. The Wilton recipe called for 1 lb. or 4 cups. I had a 2 lb. bag and last time I just kinda eyeballed half of the bag, this time I measured 4 cups and it came out crumbley (is that a word?). Anyway, if I add more meringue will it help? or should I just add the vinegar?
I always used wilton royal icing until I found this... 3 egg whites beat with 1/2 tsp lemon juice til foamy then add 1 pound powdered sugar and beat about 5 min -til it looses the shine...
Sooo much better than wilton's recipe, it is so strong and dries like a rock but is sort of elastic when you pipe- good for stringwork. i bet this will work!
If you are completely set on using RI this won't help you, but I used ropes of fondant. I layed these on my pattern and it turned out well. Sturdier (is this a word?). I then piped on RI accents. This is a photo of the tiara that I am using this weekend for my daughter's 8th b-day. I made it out of white fodant and then painted it pink. Next time I would make pink fodant. A lot less painting. Hope this helps.
OK sorry. The photo didn't attach. Let's try again. The royal icing piping is the best, so ignore this.
Once again --- It should say "the royal icing piping is NOT the best" I stink at piping, but I'm working on it.
... 3 egg whites beat with 1/2 tsp lemon juice til foamy then add 1 pound powdered sugar and beat about 5 min -til it looses the shine...
This is about the same recipe I use - some say that instead the lemon juice you should add the white vinegar, because then it dries stronger.
I don't think you had to much sugar in RI - you would see it immediately - your hand would hurt and you will get points at the ends of your piping.
Here in Czech republic are the recipes all about eyeballing it - for piping consistency it is - mix egg white with about 1 cup of sugar, add lemon juice / vinegar, mix it well. Put toothpick in your RI, make few points on a plate. If it hardens in few minutes and doesn't loose the shape and there aren't any peeking points visible - you got it right.
It is art, not exact science.
If your RI was to thick ( to much sugar ), you may get alot of breaking because your RI hasn't melded together, there isn't a cohesiveness within the Icing.
Also, If you beat it to long, RI can "dry" out and cause breaking like you describe.
Good luck it's really trial and error with RI.
I love making things with it.My last project was a cake topper for son's GF Valentines Cake. I made two joined hearts with lattice work in centers and smaller red hearts in the very center of each one. Was amazingly fun.
Thanks everyone for all the tips! That helps out alot and I will try the new recipe you gave me for RI. SheilaBelle your tiara is awsome! So cute! Do you have an extruder or did you roll the fondant by hand? Oh and by the way, your piping is great (much better than mine) 
I ended up going with fondant because I am on a timeline and the RI was not working out. Couldnt get a pic to attach. Something about must be less than 800 pixels. Anyway, should be in my pictures now. Not great, but I am doing it for a friends daughter as a surprise, so not even expecting it. She won the local beauty pageant, just a congrats from me.
Yes, I did use an extruder (my kids playdough squisher, cleaned in bleach water). Since this was made a bought a professional extruder. LOVE IT! 
These tips are all very interesting. Just a note on using raw egg white, I used them for years but haven't for about 15-20 years now. The reason newer recipes for royal icing call for meringue powder is because of the possibility of salmonella food poisoning from raw egg whites. The egg when in the shell is not contaminated but when you crack an egg there is no way of it not touching even a minute bit of the outer shell, this is where the bacteria may be lurking. Safest bet is to use meringue powder which has gone through a process that kills any live bacteria.
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