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Unroll your Fruit by the Foot, and then cut it into two wavy lines. It’s much easier to do this with the fruit roll still attached to its paper. Learned that one the hard way.

Once you’ve cut out your wavy lines, roll up one of the ends (about two inches of it) into a tight little rosebud.

Place the rosebud onto the center of the cupcake icing. Then slowly wrap the remaining Fruit by the Foot around the rosebud to form a rose. Try to keep the layers somewhat close together. It will end up looking like a rose-shaped labrynth if there is too much space between each layer.

Once your rose has been formed, press down on some of the “petals” so that they curve away from the center bud. This helps to make the rose look a bit more real (and to hide the visible icing between the layers).

If you’re feeling super keen (and like you have to show your love for your child through the manufacture of faux-rose cupcakes), then you can cut out a couple of leaves for your rose from another green-colored fruit roll. We used “Color by the Foot” and cut out of the green section. An entirely green Fruit Roll-Up would be more economical, but I couldn’t find any in the store! Where did my childhood go? Fruit Roll-Ups wrapped around my finger – which then became my strange Edward Scissorhands-like lollipop – are a huge part of my memories of recesses gone by.

Now here comes the part where you holler at your husband (or wife or dog or whomever) to come and look at your maginificent creation! And, of course, this rose may be more impressive if it is entirely red, but sometimes, you just have to channel your inner Teddy Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Bam! You are now practically a pastry chef, ready to be hired out for kids’ parties.

Kind of.

I usually spend most of my “party prep” time making the favours. In the past, I’ve made superhero capes and reusable snack bags, but this year, I opted to purchase the favours. We gave each child a rhythmic gymnastic ribbon and a small box of jellybeans. I like the favours to be one substantial item, paired with an edible treat to keep the kids quiet in the car on the way home. I considered making these ribbons out of dowels and fishing swivels, etc, but when I found these pre-made beauties on Amazon.com, I decided, “Why on earth do I want to fiddle around with dowels and swivels? I’m clicking “Add to Cart” this second!”

And so I did.

The ribbons seemed to be a hit, and I liked that they matched the “gymnastics” theme. The party went smoothly (as setting children loose into a giant gym for an hour removes the stress of activity planning) and after stuffing everyone with food and sugar, we went home with lots of great memories.

Do you ever go a bit crazy over the details of party planning? Or is that just me? And perhaps those guilt-inducing ladies on Pinterest who hold parties of 20 children in their homes and then take pictures of the “no-mess” everywhere.
Side rant: Those have got to be photo shoots with child models. Seriously… you should see the damage that 15 kids can do to a gymnastics club party room. There’s a reason why we opt to have most birthday parties out-of-house.