I want to try an make some buttercream roses for a birthday cake, and i have a few questions...
Is the best way to do them using a piping nail?
How long do they keep for?
Any other tips and advice would be great
Thanks guys
I put a dab of frosting on the nail, then a little square of parchment paper on the dab so it stays in place. Then I pipe my roses onto the paper and I store them in the fridge, or freezer until I'm ready to put them on the cake. They last forever in the freezer.
They are much easier to make than you'd think, once you get the hang of it.
Good luck!
-Michelle
If you're low on freezer/fridge space, you can leave them out a couple of days to "air" dry and you'll be able to pick them up with your fingers.
Sometimes to help speed up the drying process I let mine sit on the parchment squares for a day and then remove them from the parchment and put them on a cooling rack to help dry the underneath parts.
I just purchased some from the local bakery department and they had them 6 to a package and placed inside these little plastic containers like they would for cookies or something... really nice and easy and small for smaller freezers 
If you're low on freezer/fridge space, you can leave them out a couple of days to "air" dry and you'll be able to pick them up with your fingers.
Agree. Air dry is the only way to go, in my ever-so-never-humble-opinion. Anything that is frozen will melt when removed from the freezer. (I was in my cake supply store and the owner - who has been doing this even WAY longer than me! - was telling one of her customers the same thing.)
With a good crusting BC, I'm able to cautiously pick up my roses within a couple of hours, and within 5-6 hours, I can have someone pitch me one from across the room, catch it, and put it on the cake just fine.
Any leftover roses, I put in a tupperware-type container and store on my shelves until the next cake.
Thanks guys
Done anyone have a good recipe for a crusting buttercream...
Your guys are the best 
Another silly question.. 
Does anyone know how this lady got the second colour in the piping bag??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRDIBwiwugM&mode=related&search=
Here is a great discussion on how to get 2 colors in one bag, without a mess...
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-38404.html
Otherwise there is another technique where you strip the bag with color. What you do is take the color you want extra in the bag(not the color of your icing), and "paint" a stripe in the bag. As the icing is piped out, the painted stripe will color the part of the icing on that side. HTH some, Jen
Here is a great discussion on how to get 2 colors in one bag, without a mess...
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-38404.html
Otherwise there is another technique where you strip the bag with color. What you do is take the color you want extra in the bag(not the color of your icing), and "paint" a stripe in the bag. As the icing is piped out, the painted stripe will color the part of the icing on that side. HTH some, Jen
yep, and this month's ACD mag has a really section on layer icing in a decorating syringe and getting some awesome color variations. Check it out if you can.
Somewhere on here someone had a great post about wrapping the frosting in saran wrap and then dropping the "tubes" into the pastry bags. That might work with multiple colors too!
Just a warning the syringes are really really hard to get used to if you are a pastry bag person. I personally just couldn't stand it. I know there are plenty of people who like them because I used to order them for my store.
Also, if you freeze an all butter Italian-Meringue buttercream it does not melt when at room temp. We do it all the time at school. I do think the recipes that are all butter and powdered sugar probably would.
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