Directions

1. Bake and cool cookies fully before decorating. We recommend Ann’s Signature Sugar Cookie Recipe. This Lemon Cookie Recipe is also a great option—the refreshing lemon flavor is perfect for summertime. Prepare royal icing in the following colors and consistencies:  
   Learn more about royal icing consistencies here.  

   Outline/Piping Consistency:  
   Sky Blue 
   Ocean Teal 

   Flood Consistency: 
   Sky Blue 
   Bright White 

   Pro Tip: Do not over-saturate your Sky Blue flood icing. In the final design, it will be adjacent to the white icing. This makes it prone to color bleed, which is when a darker color icing bleeds into a lighter-colored adjacent section. By just using a small drop of Sky Blue food coloring the risk of color bleed is minimized. 

   

2. Outline the main section of the mermaid tail with teal outline consistency icing.

   

3. Don’t outline the fins until the next step. Outlining these two sections separately will create better definition between them. 

   

4. Outline the fins of the mermaid tail with teal outline consistency icing. Once complete, you should have two distinct areas outlined with teal icing. 

   

5. 

6. Using white flood consistency icing, flood the fins of the mermaid tail. Use a scribe tool or toothpick to gently move the icing around, coaxing it to the edges and popping any air bubbles. 
   

   

7. Wait for this area to dry until just crusted over. 30-60 minutes. You can speed up the drying time by placing your cookies under a fan. If you do not wait for this section to dry, you risk it bleeding into the main section of the tail, losing definition. 

   

8. Once the white fins are crusted over, flood the main part of the tail with light blue icing. Use a scribe tool or toothpick to gently coax the icing to ensure full coverage and to pop any air bubbles. 

   

9. Using ocean teal outline consistency icing, outline the white fins, and pipe additional details onto the fins.

   

10. To get precise lines, hold your piping bag over the cookie and let the icing fall into place. 

    

11. Using ocean teal outline consistency icing, pipe a scalloped pattern. Start at the widest part of the body of the cookie and repeat the pattern as you move down toward the fins.  
    

    

12. Be sure to alternate where the edges of the scalloped pattern falls, as it creates a more visually-pleasing design.  

    

13. Again, hold the piping bag slightly over the cookie and let the icing fall into place. This will create more even, consistent lines. 

    

14. Enjoy this sweet mermaid tail design!