Nice-to-haves

The following tools are nice to have, however, you will be able to work without them. Some of these make things simpler as you advance with your decorating skills. They can be purchased in retail stores and on the Internet; however, the widest selection can be found at various online marketplaces such as Allegro, Amazon, Etsy etc.

Alcohol (grain alcohol or vodka)

Depending on the desired look, you can mix the alcohol with gel food coloring or luster dusts. Alcohol facilitates painting on your dried RI because it evaporates very quickly, which means that the liquid won’t dissolve the icing as you are applying the paint. The higher the proof, the faster the alcohol will evaporate - the best option is a high-proof, odorless, flavorless, colorless alcohol like rectified spirit or Everclear.

Cookie swivel (turntable)

A turntable is a great tool to assist with decorating since it allows you to turn your cookie without damaging the icing (freshly applied medium is extremely fragile and prone to cracking while crusting). What's more, it gives an easy access to all cookie sides, which is particularly helpful while painting or creating designs that require high accuracy and precision (like basket wave of wet-on-wet designs).

Edible markers

Edible markers can be used as regular markers and allow you to add details to decorated cookie - you can outline shapes, write messages or add delicate features like flowers, whiskers, pupils or scales. They are a good option for beginners since they don't require a steady hand and practice. One of the significant advantages of edible markers is the quick drying time: it allows you to work faster and more efficiently, eliminating the long waiting periods often associated with icing decorations. The only requirement is a solid smooth surface (dried Royal Icing) to write on.

Note:

Edible markers are available with different tips: the regular tip is better to draw thick lines or fill in gaps while the fine tip is used for adding fine details. The best option is to choose markers with dual tips since they offer greater versatility for decorators.

Flower nail

Flower nail is a metal or plastic tool in the shape of a disc with a nail sticking up from its center. It is used to create the icing or buttercream flowers - most of them have to be piped petal by petal while going around in a circle. Flower nail make it easy to continuously pipe layers of petals.

Watch the detailed video tutorial by Wilton on how to create RI flowers with a flower nail:

Piping tips and couplers

The tips are little cone-shaped metal pieces attached to the end of the piping bag. They're used for "writing" on cookies/cakes as well as creating borders with stiff-consistency icing. Many tips have different sizes and shapes that can be used to create intricate patterns, such as leaves, petals, ribbons or stars. If you choose to use piping tips, you should use a coupler as well (it's a two-part device that lets you attach different decorating tips to the same bag of icing, without having to change it).

Sprinkles

Sprinkles are one of the most additional ingredients listed here, but they allow you to achieve spectacular, eye-catching effects with relatively little effort, especially in case of Christmas-themed designs. You apply them on wet icing. Sprinkles are widely available in various shapes and sizes, from supermarkets to specialty stores for cookiers and bakers.