The above recipe describes what I did, based mostly on the one by Bakerella....www.bakerella.com. She's amazing, and her photos made me want to try one of each of her designs (I'm totally taken in by really good photos of things). I made a few changes in the coating, however, because out here in the sticks I have to rely on Walmart for my supplies and they only had candy melts in red, white, and brown. I totally lucked out with the red but I wanted to do some in apple green color so I had to come up with my own. Enter white Almond Bark -- I had to laugh at the brand I found, called Pilgrim's Pantry....did the pilgrims really have much need for candy coating, what with all the seasickness and colony-building? Anyway, I looked all over the web for instructions on how to effectively tint almond bark....I'd heard before that you can't use water-based food coloring drops because water "breaks" the candy coating like it does chocolate....but all I found was more people railing against water-based food coloring. Holding fast to the anthem, "There must be a better way!", I tried it anyway. Turns out, if you melt the bark, add a few drops of food coloring, add Crisco one tablespoon at a time, and stir A LOT, the bark will return to dipping consistancy and actually still tastes pretty good. I got the green apple color by using one drop of blue with 6 drops of neon green (it's like a perfect Shrek color -- I also used it last year for the alien cupcakes at Josiah's 3rd b'day).
Love 'em! I'll have to try different ones for the kids' b'days from time to time. I'm thinkin' a Cake Pop party is in order, too....one of every kind, please!
The cupcakes were red and blue gnomes "hiding" in the grass: 
I took sugar cones and coated them with melted Candy Melts, then sunk them into the frosting "grass" on top of chocolate cupcakes. 
The Travelocity Roaming Gnome made an appearance (found him at Target along with the fantastic mushrooms which I painted) as well as the stuffed crocheted version I made years ago. He (the crocheted one) lives in the center console of my car and has been photographed all over CA, WY, NM, CO, NV, UT, OR and even went with my parents and aunt & uncle to Hawaii two years ago . . . I have a whole scrapbook devoted to his excursions! 
The treats on the Red side were strawberries, dark chocolate Hershey candies (3 shades of red), cupcakes with Strawberry Fields ice cream and Coke and red Hawaiian Punch. The treats on the Blue side were blueberries, York peppermint candies (blue & white), cupcakes with Birthday Bash ice cream (confetti ice cream with blue frosting ribbons throughout) and Pepsi and blue Hawaiian Punch.
We had our own version of "Nanette the Frog" -- my mom's vintage cookie jar. That thing is older than I am and has been repainted several times but I love it! My dad would happily let it live at my house permanently but Mom wanted it back.
He had to eat the frosting first:
After the presents . . . the kid made out like a BANDIT, I tell you . . . and the treats, we all went back outside to launch the Gnome Paratroopers!
The paratroopers were a huge hit! 
And finally, we ended the night with Gnome tattoos. Those little guys were the HARDEST thing to remove -- they said "temporary" but 5 days and that many showers later I finally had to take the nail polish remover to mine and he still didn't budge. 
The swimsuit cover is made of lightweight fleece to absorb the water but not be too hot, and it was perfect for her to sew because it doesn't fray like terry cloth or knit. The front is held closed by stick-on strips of Velcro so she didn't burn out on button holes on her first project. The three buttons that are across the top are functioning but since the fleece doesn't fray it didn't need a fussy buttonhole. 
Now she's desperate to get to the lake and try it out. And she's got a notebook full of sewing projects to try before school begins again!
that I decided to make my own version.
I made my grapefruit slices a little smaller so there were more of them going around and they have 7 sections instead of her 6. I also prefer Ruby Red grapefruit to the plain kind so I chose my colors accordingly. When I was a kid, grapefruit eaten at my grandparents' house was always sprinkled with sugar on top so I sewed on irridescent beads for a sparkly finish. 
It's my new favorite scarf -- and I hope you like it too!
3. Once the holders were attached to the two upper plates - and DRY - I put glue around the bottom rim of the middle holder. Because E-6000 bonds better when both pieces to be attached have glue on them, I used the holder to "stamp" a ring of glue onto the center of the bottom plate. This also helped mark where the center was so it wouldn't be cocky-waller.
Reapply glue to the bottom of the middle holder and press onto the glue ring "stamp". Press hard to squeeze out any air bubbles.
4. When step 3 is completely DRY, repeat step 3 with the smaller top plate and holder. Allow to dry completely - usually at least 24 hours.
I found an old pair of navy pants at the thrift store, along with a blue broadcloth button-down shirt and a tiny navy blue beanie (we live in the cold most of the year and our mailman wears a ski cap). I printed out some post office insignia and a "letter carrier" name tag onto iron-on transfer sheets and sewed them on to the hat, the shirt and the bag. The bag was just a remnant of fabric I had around the house which I fashioned into a messenger bag and added the stars and stripes ribbon strip. 
And because the mailman needs letters to deliver, I made some felt postcards and envelopes to go in the bag. I used various ribbon strips for the addresses and return-addresses and cut hearts and diamonds for the stamps. 
Some of the envelopes open and close with velcro so he could write his own note and letters.
When the outfit was done, my son ran out to show our mailman -- and was rewarded with a ride in the mail truck! Love that little Mailman!