Roses are the most impressive, beautiful and popular of all icing flowers. A rose is created in a number of steps. To make buttercream roses you'll need: 

1. Prepare the Flower Nail:

Hold the nail in your left hand--if you're right-handed--between your thumb and forefinger so that you can turn it slowly in a counterclockwise (clockwise) direction.

Place a little dab of buttercream frosting centered on the top of the decorating nail. Then, center a parchment square over the dab and press to secure it to the nail. 

2. Rose Base: Tip #12 Hold the nail in your left hand, place the bottom, wider end of

Positions:
- Nail: in left (right) hand
- Bag: 90 angle (straight up)
- Tip: slightly above nail

Sequence:
1. Squeeze hard for base.
2. Relax, lift for cone.
3. Stop squeezing, lift tip away.

Using firm and steady pressure, squeeze a heavy base of icing, keeping the end of the tip buried in it as you squeeze. Start to lift the top higher and decrease the pressure when the base fills out the circle drawn on the nail. Stop pressure, pull up and lift away. This will form a small cone. (I have used a Hershey's Kiss on occasion). Rose base should be 1 1/2 times as high as the rose tip opening: 

3. Rose Center: Tip #104 Change tip by undoing the coupler ring, taking off Tip # 12 and replace with Tip #104. Then, proceed:

Positions:
- Nail: in left (right) hand
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base at midpoint, narrow end up and in slightly

Sequence:
1. While squeezing, turn nail to the end of your finger counterclockwise (clockwise); move tip up then down, overlapping starting point.
2. Stop, lift tip away.

Hold nail, containing base in left (right) hand and bag with rose tip 104 in right (left). Bag should be at a 45 angle to the flat surface of the nail and in the 4:30 (7:30) position. The wide end of the tip should touch the cone of the icing base at or slightly below the midpoint, and the narrow end of the tip should point up and slightly inward. Now, you must do three things at the same time: squeeze the bag, move the tip and rotate the nail. As you squeeze the bag, move the tip up from the base, forming a ribbon of icing. Slowly turn the nail counterclockwise (clockwise) to bring the ribbon of icing around to overlap at the top of the mound, then back down to starting point. Move your tip straight up and down only; do not loop it around the base. The motions forming the center of the rose are quite important and will be repeated as you put the petals on.

4. Top Row Petals: Tip #104 Make a second row of petals, staggering them so that the new petals are not directly behind the first ones. Keep going until your rose looks complete. Gently remove the parchment base and the flower from the nail.   

Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base at or slightly below midpoint, narrow end straight up.

Sequence:
1. While squeezing, turn nail to the end of your fingers counterclockwise (clockwise), move up and down, connect petal to base.
2. Stop, lift tip away.
3. Repeat for other two petals.

Hold the flower nail with the completed rose base and center in your left (right) hand and the bag in your right (left) hand at a 45 angle to the nail surface. The wide end of rose tip should touch the base at or slightly below the midway point, and the narrow end of tip should point straight up. As with the rose center, you now must do three things at one time: squeeze the bag, move the tip up and rotate the nail. While you squeeze the bag, move the tip and rotate the nail. While you squeeze the bag, move the tip up and down again. As you turn the nail, the up and down motion of the tip will make a half-circle shaped upright petal. Wide end of tip must touch rose base while making a petal at all times. Stop squeezing, then lift tip away. The procedure for the second and third petals is the same. Be sure your tip is clean before starting next petal. The second petal should overlap the end of the first. And the third petal should begin by overlapping the second and end by overlapping the first. Turn the nail one third of the nail circumference as you make each petal.

5. Middle Row Petals: Tip #104 Proceed exactly as you did in making the top row of petals except for these two changes: (1) start the middle row with the wide end of the tip touching the rose base directly beneath the center of one of the petals in the top row, and the narrow end of the tip leaning out slightly, and (2) make five petals instead of three, with the back edge of the fifth petal overlapping the front edge of the first petal. 

Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base below center of any petal, narrow end out slightly. End of tip at 1:00 position.

Sequence:
1. Make a petal as before.
2. Repeat for 4 more petals, with the last petal overlapping first petal.

The petals in this middle row should overlap the spaces between the petals in the first row. Remember turn the nail one-fifth of the nail circumference for each petal.

6. Bottom Row Petals: Tip #104 Continue as you did for the middle row, except that the narrow end of the tip should be leaning out further so the petals appear to be opening. 

 Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: Wide end touching base below previous row; narrow end out further, end of tip at 2:00 position.

Sequence:
1. Make 1 petal
2. Make 6 more petals.

And this time, you'll make seven petal instead of five, with the last overlapping the first and all of them overlapping the spaces between petals in the row above. Turn the nail one seventh of the circumference for each petal. Remove rose from the flower nail by lifting the wax paper square off.

Information from www.wilton.com.