Monday Made it #1: Apple Cupcakes and Centerpieces

This was one of my favorite linkys last summer because it actually got me off of my lazy butt to do some work!! 

I'm so excited to be linking back up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for my first Monday Made it of Summer 2013!!! 

For those of you who are following me on instagram, you know that I have been busy getting ready to host a retirement party for one of my coworkers who has luckily retired from our grade level this past year. SO some of these pictures are probably a repeat BUT I will go into detail on what I did and how..so stay tuned :) 

This week I made some yummy apple shaped cupcakes!!

These cupcakes were given out as favors at the retirement party..

I've posted the pictures on instagram and I had a lot of people asking how I made them. I figured this would be a perfect post for a Monday Made it!

SO..here are MOST of the things I used (my girlfriend had the frosting which is missing from the picture!) 

Things You Will Need:

• Box cake mix 
• Optional: 1 box vanilla pudding and an extra egg (this will make the cake mix extra moist and fluffy)
• red cupcake liners
• green chewy candies (jolly rancher or laffy taffy)
• tootsie rolls 
• 2 dozen donuts 
• frosting
• red paste food coloring 
• red decorating sugar

What To DO:

1. Bake the vanilla cupcakes as directed in the red cupcake liners. You will want to only fill the liners about half way full or a little less so that when they bake, they are about level with the liners. Once the cupcakes are done, let them cool.
2. You can begin by prepping your leaves and stems. All you need to is cut the tootsie rolls in half, lengthwise and you may need to shape them a little. I suggest putting them on a plate because we laid them down on a paper towel and after awhile they got stuck on the paper tower. We had to repeat this step all over again! 
3. You will want to microwave your green jolly rancher chewy candies for about 5 seconds. This is going to soften the candy and make it more moldable. You then want to take some kind of mallet and pound the candy down to about 1/8 of an inch thickness. 
4. I used kitchen scissors and just cut the shape of leaves out. I also used a knife to make the little leaf line and then just gently folded the leaf.
5. Once you're done with this, the cupcakes should be cooled down.  You will want to cut your doughnuts so you have a flat bottom. Frost the cupcake and stick the donut on top of it (picture in background). Once you've got all your cupcakes topped with donuts, stick them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This helps to set the frosting and will make your job easier when it comes to dipping. 

6. Once the cupcakes come out...you want to then mix your frosting with the red dye. You then go ahead and frost your donut/cupcake. Place your sprinkles into a bowl and dip the cupcakes into the red sugar. 

7. Once that's done you can go ahead and add your leaves and stems.

I loved how the packaging of these cupcakes turned out! I was planning on buying individual boxes for each cupcake..but I couldn't find any and assume that it would have been pretty costly. 

I got these 9 oz. cups at target for about $3. 

Wrap them in some clear cellophane bags and tie it up with a cute ribbon and they're good to go!

Along with the cupcakes we also decided to make these cute little centerpieces for the tables! The cute little pail and all of the candied flowers came from the one and only..Target dollar section!! 

We then just made some cutouts using the cricut and arranged them. I was really happy with how these turned out. I forgot to take a picture of the finished finished product. We actually also added some sparkly easter grass, which made it even cuter! We hid some candy in there as well :)

Here's a blurry picture of the tables...

I sure hope this tutorial wasn't too rambly and was semi-helpful for you! Let me know if you have any other questions about recreating the cupcakes or centerpieces!!