Birthday Monster

Now that most people know that we are expecting another little one in May, I guess I can start blogging again. And just in time - Addison turned 2 on Monday.  I haven't a clue why, but most toddlers seem absolutely enamored with Elmo, and Addison is no exception. So, for her birthday party I decided to make her Elmo cupcakes. I think they turned out pretty good for a first try.

Since red frosting is next to impossible to make, I made homemade buttercream frosting and with a lot of red food coloring managed to get it to a dark pink. To make him look furry, I topped each cupcake with red sugar sprinkles. The eyes are marshmallows I cut in half, and stuck a chocolate chip to the sticky side. The nose is half of a marshmallow that I had previously rolled in yellow food coloring and let dry. To make sure everything stuck to the cupcake, I put the eyes, nose, and chocolate chip mouth on before the frosting had time to set, and then applied the sprinkles last.

Although there were a lot of steps, none of them were too difficult, and the finished products were a hit. Addison had a great time playing with her friends, although she got a bit shy when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

And now the holidays are over, birthday was a success, and we can relax into the normal routine again. Ha, whatever that means.