Instructions

1. Prepare the icing for the petals. Add icing color, such as a deep red, to transform the plain icing into a colorful shade that's suited for poinsettia petals. Place the icing for the petals in a decorating bag with the leaf-shaped decorating tip 352.

2. Create a pale yellow icing for the center of the poinsettias. Add some pale yellow icing color to the buttercream, then put the icing in the other decorating bag. Use the round decorating tip 2.

3. Line the lily nail with foil, to help prevent the icing from sticking to it. Hold the nail in your left hand and the bag of icing for the petals in your right.

4. Hold the petal icing bag so that it tilts at a 45-degree angle up from the lily nail. Using the face of a clock as a reference, the petals should be formed at a 3 o'clock position. Begin at the nail center, squeezing hard to pipe a leaf-shaped petal that extends slightly over the edge of the nail. At the edge, relax the pressure to stop piping and pull away, creating a single poinsettia petal.

5. Create two more petals so that the three petals are evenly spaced along the nail.

6. Pipe three additional petals in the spaces between the three petals you made first.

7. Add six smaller petals on top of the six larger petals you already made. These petals should be located between the petals and below them.

8. Grab the bag of yellow icing for the center and hold it at a 90-degree angle, or straight up. Pipe five to seven dots in the center of the flower.