In advance: Make cookies. Prepare and roll out dough. Use patterns to cut hat, left and right sails; use cutters to cut bird and one round; use knife to cut three 1 1/2 in. square spacers. Bake and cool cookies.

Decorate cookies using royal icing. Ice sails and hat smooth. Use Piping Gel and pattern to transfer skull and crossbones to hat. Outline and fill in with tip 3 (pat smooth with finger dipped in cornstarch). For skull, pipe tip 1 outline smile. Outline Pirate?s head with tip 3; cover with tip 14 stars. Pipe tip 3 dot eye, pupil and nose. Pipe tip 3 outline hair and C-motion ears. Outline and fill in eye patch with tip 3; pat smooth. For parrot, outline colors with tip 3; fill in beak and pat smooth. Pipe tip 3 dot eye and pupil. Pipe tip 349 pull-out blue feathers; fill in with tip 13 stars.

Bake and cool cake. Trim sail and mast area level. Ice portholes, sides and background areas smooth. Outline ship with tip 4, portholes with tip 10, railing with tip 12. Cover ship with tip 16 stars. Position cookie sails. Attach head and hat with icing, using spacers to keep cookies level. Pipe tip 16 zigzag for arm base; outline with tip 4 and overpipe with tip 16 stars. Pipe tip 3 hand. Attach parrot with icing, using spacer to level. Pipe tip 3 outline legs and feet. Pipe tip 4 message. Pipe tip 21 swirls for bottom waves.

* Combine Christmas Red with Red-Red for red shown.
* Combine Brown with Red-Red for brown shades shown.