I have terrible handwriting on paper, let alone with icing. I've been practicing like crazy, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips to help with writing. I've been thinking that I could print out messages in a pretty font, trace them onto parchment paper, freeze them, then put them on the cake. I have to write "Happy Birthday" on my mother in law's cake this weekend and I'd really like it to be pretty instead of blocky. Any and all tips are super appreciated!

printing it out would definitely work. kind of like a frozen buttercream transfer. make sure when you print it out that you reverse the image or when you trace over it with icing, then put it on the cake, it will be backwards. lol of course, i think there are some stencils that would work the same way...especially if you are doing it onto fondant. the paint stencils that you can get in the crafts department at walmart would work

I am with you on this one. I have awful handwriting. I would love to see what tips you get.

There are some videos here. Elaine MacGregor is great. See if you can do something like this, or look in the same channel for piping videos.