If you're using one, tape your spider web template down to your work surface. Masking tape works fine for most surfaces.

Tape some parchment paper down over your template, being sure to leave a bit of space around the edges of your design. As a heads up: While most tapes work fine for most surfaces, parchment paper is a unique case, as most tape does NOT stick to it. As you tape your parchment paper down to the template and board, be sure to keep it smooth, straight, and with any excess air pushed out.

Following the recipe for either Traditional Royal Icing (with raw egg whites) or Easy Royal Icing (with meringue powder), make your royal icing.

If you'd like to pipe some little spiders to include on your cupcakes, tiny a bit of the royal icing black.

Holding the tip / end of your white icing bag about 1 cm away from the surface, carefully pipe spiderwebs.

Set the work surface somewhere safe and dry, and leave it to harden overnight at minimum (depending on how humid your house is), but 24 hours as an ideal.

Bake your cupcakes, allow them to cool to room temperature.

Set up a piping bag with a coupler and a wide round or star tip (optional), or cut the end off. Pipe a generous helping of frosting on each cupcake, starting around the edge of the cupcake, swirling up and over as you reach the center of the cupcake.

VERY carefully, lift each Spider web and cute little spider from the work surface. I like to slip a fingernail under an edge and just really gently lift.

Carefully stick each web into the frosting on top of each cupcake, then place spiders onto each cupcake.