I'm getting ready for week 3 in my Wilton I class but I've been bitten with the desire to start learning the flowers in Wilton II class. My question is when you make the royal icing what amount of water do you put in it per cup or per recipe to thin it to medium consistancy? With the buttercream we thinned it 1 teaspoon per cup for medium and 2 teaspoons per cup for the thin. Also, how long can royal sit out on the countertop without going bad? 
Thanks so much Pam from Bama
No where does Wilton give an amount for how to make the 'stiff' to 'medium' icing. As an instructor that is one thing that totally annoys me about the lesson plans. It takes VERY little water to change the consitancy of Royal icing, so the measurements you use in Course 1 for the buttercream will give you soup icing.
If you do need to thin down your icing, I would add a couple of drops of icing at a time. On lesson 3 I usually tell my students to bring their icing and if we need to thin it or stiffen it for the roses we will do it in class.
Wish I had a better answer for you there.
As far as how long it will last, Wilton says you can store royal icing on the counter for 2 weeks. There are some here that say they store it for longer with out a problem. As well as those that say they keep it in the fridge.
Now your dried flowers will last forever. Well okay maybe not forever, but as long as you keep them in a cool dry enviroment, they will last for many, many months, if not longer.
You have to do royal icing by feel as the amount of water can really vary. Ican use the smae batch of meringue powder, the same batch of icing sugar and it will never take the same amount of water twice. I find the best thing is to mix it skightly thicker than I need than add water a couple of drops at a time until I get the correct thickness
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