Cupcake a Week: Elmo

What better way to celebrate your birthday than with some Elmo cupcakes right? Well if you are an adult...not so much, but a 2 year old...heck yeah! Yesterday was our neighbor Olivia's 2nd birthday and according to her older sister Carley she loves Elmo! I figured I would re-create Olivia's favorite furry red friend in cupcakes and surprise her! These were super simple and fun to make and I already had all the ingredients needed in my pantry!

Here's what you need for Elmo cupcakes:

-a batch of your favorite flavor cupcakes

-large marshmallows

-brown plain M&Ms

-orange peanut M&Ms

-red icing
-Wilton decorating tip #233 & a piping bag

How to create Elmo:

1.Fill piping bag fitted with tip #233 with red icing. Squeeze icing out of tip to create fur-like sections. Start at the edge of your cupcake and go around in a circle. Continue going around in a circle until you cover the entire cupcake with red icing fur.

2.Take a large marshmallow and cut it in half. On the sticky side (the inside of the marshmallow) place a brown M&M to create Elmo's eyes! Place marshmallows ontop of cupcake.

3.Add an orange peanut M&M for Elmo's nose!

Easy as 1, 2, 3! How cute is Elmo with his big brown eyes staring at you? Now that I'm looking back at these cupcakes, I have realized...Elmo needs a mouth...ooops! Sorry Elmo...next time I will give you a big old mouth!

Olivia loved her Elmo cupcakes and had a bright red tongue to show for it! The bright red icing can really sneak up on you fast!

Hope you all have a great weekend!