Filling icing bags is always a mess for me. I tried something and it worked great! Put the coupler in the icing bag, wrap the end with plastic wrap and secure with the threaded circular thing-a-bob. Put the buttercream icing in a measuring cup or pourable bowl and heat it in the microwave 10 seconds. Stir and microwave at 5 second intervals until it is thin enough to pour. (Do not overheat or it will curdle.) Put the bag in a tall glass and turn the top opening over the glass. Pour the icing in the bag. It pours right down to the tip without any gaps. Then let it set until it comes back to room temp and it returns to it's natural state. You can cool the bags in the fridge. I left them too long and they were stiff. When they warmed up to room temp they were perfect. I'm lovin it!

I know that Wilton makes a tray that holds filled icing bags. It is really easy to make your own. Just cut holes in the top of a shoebox. Cover with foil and cut an x in the holes. Turn the foil in and tape down. Then place your filled bags in the holes for easy reach. And you can put the entire box with the bags in the fridge.

I make icing plugs. I lay a piece of plastic wrap on the table then put some icing in the middleclose to the edge. Then I roll the plastic wrap around the icing. You don't want the icing to be in one big pile. Make kind of a log with the icing. Tie one end off. Put the cupler in an icing bag, drop your icing plug right in. To change colors , just change plugs.

I found this trick on CC, years ago. Not sure where or who first posted it.

you can always put your bag in a tall drinking glass with the top folded over the edge of the glass so you arent having to hold and fill it at the same time.

For bigger bags I used to use a beer pitcher to hold it open.

Theresa

But the icing is not very nice - has a weird texture after it has been melted.
For years I have suggested melting b'cream to crumb coat cakes - it works like a charm - sooooo easy but keeping any leftover icing never worked for me.
Also it should not take more than 5 - 10 seconds to melt icing. Of course it does depend on how much you are trying to melt at a time. Usually I only would do about 1/4 cup to use for crumbcoating.

Use the plugs...you will never go back. If you're a visual person there is a tutorial

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-588591.html

I learned how to do the icing 'plugs' from our cake club in 1989, I demo'd it in Omaha in 1995, boy they've been a round a looonnngg time, sure wish I knew who thought this one up. It's a huge time saver. We call them 'cartridges', but are wonderful for kids, storing in the freezer, demos and of course for any cake you need to refill your bag a lot for.

Wow! I love this idea (plugs)! It makes me want to go decorate a cake in a bunch of colors just to give it a try =o) Thanks!

Thanks for the link that shows how to do the plugs. I will try it. And I also will try the prinkles can. Anything to make it easier.