Spider Cupcakes for Halloween

My son wanted to bring cupcakes to school on Halloween.  He checked out a book, that had all sorts of holiday treats, from the school library.  He zeroed in on a spider web with a licorice spider.  We agreed that the spider looked cool but the kids wouldn't like the flavor.  Instead we used a 1/3 length of Tootsie Roll and Chocolate Twizzlers to fashion a spider.  

I went to Michael's in search of a Halloween Cupcake Papers and found Martha Stewart papers on sale.  When I got home I was psyched because they are foil lined!  That means the batter doesn't bleed through like the cheap papers.

I knew cutting the candy would be time consuming, so I did it in the afternoon, while the cupcakes baked.  I always use the Martha Stewart ~ One Bowl Chocolate Cake, found on this site. 

After dinner my son and I did all the decorating.  I spread the Orange Cream Cheese Butter Cream.  I showed him how to make the webs by drawing 3 hollow circles, then dragging a toothpick from the center to the outside so he worked on that part.  It was my turn again and I placed the spider in place.  It took about an hour and a half.  We had a great time, just chatting and hanging out together, something we both enjoy.

I love delivering treats to school in a white bakery style box with a window.  When we were done decorating, we filled the box so it was all ready for the next morning.

After school he told me I was a big hit!  He even had enough to take some to his previous teachers.