Notes: Because there are several different spiders to make, I will have a master list of supplies and under the subtitles for each spider I will have a list for that spider. I think it will be less confusing to those who wish to make one kind of spider.   All the spiders are made the same as far as poking the holes for the legs, eyes, and fangs. The embellishments will make the different varieties.   I will share different backgrounds but these are just ideas of ways to make your spider come alive and add creepiness. The nice thing about adding a background is it camouflages some of the imperfections.   I am sure there are more realistic things one might find at a specialty candy store for the fangs, legs, and for some of the markings.   Making the legs, fangs, and bodies the same color is a big plus.   I thought the eyes could have been smaller and rounder but could not find any smaller candy to accomplish this.   The brown spiders were the easiest to make and they looked the most realistic.   There are other things you can use for embellishing. I wanted to stick with edible items.   What makes the spiders look real are the bent legs.   If there were a way to color pretzels without making them soggy, they would make perfect spider legs!   The licorice made the legs look awesome but it is harder to work with.   I used Magic shell to color the pretzels but it is messy to work with as well as difficult. I don't have a lot of experience using it.   I don't recommend using Magic Shell even though it is in the picture of supplies. I have a picture of the one made with it in another step but I did not like it.

Here is the master list: Any flavor cupcakes ( not frosted.) Frosting ( depends on which spider you want to make.) I used chocolate and vanilla (a brown color would be super). Black Licorice Red Hots Fruit roll ups (flavor depends on the spider) this is used for the embellishing. Cotton candy, If it comes in a light brown that would be awesome! Shredded coconut Food coloring ( depends on the spider ) red, blue, yellow, and black White Pearl sprinkles Creamy Peanut butter I used it for the frosting Gum drops black and white Pretzel sticks M&M'skitchen utensils you normally have on hand plus: Cooking Scissors Jars optional Footed bowl for displaying the spider optional Covered glass bowl with lid optional Wendy's salad to go container with lid optional 1 Skewer marking the holes Tooth picks Black or brown cupcake liners depending on spider you are making. Led lights optional Halloween Stickers optional

Supplies for the Orange Tarantula: Any flavor plain cupcakes, White frosting, Gum Drops, Red Hots, Cotton Candy, Pearl Sprinkles, Red, Yellow, and Black food coloring, Licorice, Red Fruit Roll Ups, Coconut, kitchen scissors, Tooth picks, Black or orange cupcake liners, and a skewer.Instructions for making the Orange Tarantula : Place the white frosting in 2 bowls. Mix red and yellow food coloring to make one frosting orange. Mix black food coloring into the remaining bowl for the black frosting. Add coconut to each bowl of frosting. Frost the cupcakes as shown. Mark the holes using the skewer for the eyes, legs, and the fangs. For the legs cut the licorice using the scissors by trimming the ends of the licorice off and sticking the scissors through the end hole and carefully trimming in the center to form 2 pieces. Cut the red Fruit Roll Ups into strips for the red stripes on the legs. Wrap the red strips around the legs as shown. Cut the licorice into a fang shape. Place the fang into the hole. Place the Red Hots into the holes for the eyes. Place all 8 legs into each hole, see notes at the bottom of this page. Support with tooth picks as needed. Cut the white gum drops into tiny pieces to stick the feet to support the legs on the plate. Form a small nest out of the Cotton candy. Fill the nest with Pearl Sprinkles. Remove the tooth picks before serving. Add the nest to the plate.Please note: When using the licorice for the spider legs I tried cutting the licorice in half leaving a small portion together and then making only 4 leg holes and sticking the 1 split licorice into the leg holes. I then arranged the legs to look natural. I thought this method worked very well. You will have to decide how you want to do this. It helps to add the legs just before serving because if the legs get too warm they loose their shape. I chilled my cupcakes in a covered container with the legs on them but they take up a lot of space that way.

Supplies for the blue tarantula: Any flavor plain cupcakes, White frosting, Blue food coloring, Blue or black cupcake liners, Licorice, Black gum drops, Scissors, Skewer.Embellishing the Blue Tarantula: Add the blue food coloring to the frosting. Frost the cupcakes. Cut the licorice into eyes, fangs, and legs. Cut the Blue Fruit Roll Ups into strips for the stripes on the legs. Roll the Fruit Roll Ups around the legs to form the stripes. Mark the holes for the eyes, legs, and fangs. Place the eyes, fangs, and the legs in the holes. Cut small pieces of the gum drops to stick the feet to the plate for support. Place tooth picks for supporting the legs if needed. Chill until used or refer to note in step 3 at the bottom of the page. Remove tooth picks just before serving.

Black Widow Spider supplies: Any flavor cupcake not frosted, White frosting, Black food coloring, Licorice, Several black Gum Drops, Several Red Hots, Skewer, Tooth picks, Scissors, Halloween stickers, and Black cupcake liners.Instructions for the Black Widow spider: I made two Black Widow spiders. One had 2 red spots on its back with black gum drops on the feet. The other had 3 red dots on its back and white Gum Drops on the feet. I liked it the best. Add black food coloring to the frosting. Frost the cupcakes. Mark the holes for the eyes, fangs, and legs. Cut small licorice dots for the eyes. Cut the licorice into a fang. Place the fang into the hole. Place the eyes into the eye hole. Cut 8 small Gum Drop pieces for the feet. Stick the Gum Drops on the feet. Place the legs into the leg holes. Stick the feet to the plate for support. Add tooth picks for support. Chill until needed or refer to the note at the bottom of the page in step 3. Remove tooth picks before serving. Add Halloween stickers to the legs if desired.

Banana Spider Supplies: Any flavor cupcake, brown frosting or creamy peanut butter, Pretzel sticks, White Gum Drops, Yellow Fruit Roll Ups, Licorice, Brown cupcake liners, Skewers, and Cooking scissors.Embellishing the Spider: Frost the cupcakes. Mark the eye, fang, and leg holes using the skewer. Cut a fang out of the licorice. Cut yellow Fruit Roll Up Strips for the legs and the back stripes. Place the yellow strips to the back of the spider allowing room for the eyes and fangs. Wrap the pretzels with the yellow strips. Cut out 2 eyes from the licorice. Place the fangs and the eyes into the holes. Cut small pieces of the White Gum Drops and stick it on the ends of the Pretzels for attaching the legs together. Place the plain pretzel end into the leg holes. Stick another pretzel with the Gum Drops to the ends of the Pretzel leg.

Supplies for the Wolf Spider: Any flavor cupcake, brown frosting or creamy peanut butter, Pretzel sticks, White Gum Drops, M&M's, Cotton Candy, Pearl Sprinkles, Brown cupcake liners, Glass bowl with a lid or footed glass bowl or, Wendy's salad container with a lid, and a Skewer.How to make the Wolf Spider: Please note I used peanut butter to stick the legs together on one of them but Gum Drops works the best. Frost the cupcake. Mark the holes with the skewer for the eyes, fangs, and legs. Place the M&M's into the eye holes. Break a pretzel in half for the fangs and put them into the fang hole. Cut small pieces of the Gum Drops to attach the legs. Attach a small piece of gum drop to one end of the pretzel. Stick the plain end of the pretzels into the leg holes. Attach another pretzel stick to the end of the spider leg. Arrange the legs to look natural. Make a small nest out of the Cotton Candy. Fill with the Pearl Sprinkles. Place the cupcake into a glass dish, jar or Wendy's salad container if desired.

Here are pictures of different lighting that I used to create creepy looking pictures.

Here are the different backgrounds: This is just a rough idea of how it might look with greenery. Rocks, leaves, flowers, and felt could be used for backgrounds. If using greenery from the yard make sure they are well washed and dried. The benefits of this is it hides the imperfections making them more realistic. 

I live in a small town and was not able to purchase the right color of cupcake liners or a lighter brown frosting. I needed a darker cobalt blue for the blue tarantula. I think all of the spiders looked nice but I can imagine they would look totally awesome with their bodies matching the rest of the spider. They were great fun just the same. The kids will love them. My favorite spiders were the Black Widow and the orange Tarantula. Here are some links that might interest you about spiders:http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4621949_a-spider-bite.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_blue_tarantulahttp://nature.berkeley.edu/~stevelew/cbcstuff/common_spiders/big_spi_quilt.html .http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider/ .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FX_3v6N9_w&feature=related . Thanks for stopping by and please drop by again soon! Have a Happy Halloween! Sunshiine