I'm pretty new to cookie decorating with royal icing. Sources online make it look straightforward - get the right consistency, keep the icing covered, etc. I find in practice, however, it's not nearly as simple as they make it sound. The icing bowls develop crusting on the edges no matter how religiously or quickly I cover them, no matter how much I stir and it's never enough to just cover them. Even just stirring them creates little crusts at the top where the icing thins. Literally the only thing that seems to work is pressing saran wrap onto the surface to seal it, which is messy to take off and I have to replace it every time I color, load into the bags, anything.
I'm also wondering how people do the consistencies. Let's say I'm working with 3 colors. Each of the colors may be the background on one cookie, wet on wet detailing on another or raised decorations on others. Do people just make and bag each color in 2-3 different consistencies, and then have like 7-9 bags going all at once? Is there a sequencing aspect I'm missing here? It seems like the things I see on the internet show the process as clean, organized, orderly and efficient, and when I do it it's a chaotic mess. I feel like they're leaving out some important details on efficiency in their decorating tutorials. Looking for any tips anyone might have or if people could share a process that works for them.