Elmo cake

Six months ago I made Silas an Elmo cake for his 2nd birthday.

To my surprise, the boy still hasn't gotten it out of his mind. Just yesterday he asked for another Elmo cake. This happens at least once a week. I didn't realize the memory of a 2 year old was capable of such a thing. But since I've discovered the wonderment that is an Elmo cake I wanted to share it with you. It's really easy and only cost me $5.

You need 4 things:
1. a box cake
2. little tub of vanilla icing
3. food coloring
4. a red can of icing like this:

Now do this:

1. Prepare the box cake according to directions
       (I used strawberry to make Elmo's insides red)
2. Pour batter into 3 holes in your cupcake pan and pour the rest into a
      11x7 pan (or something close to those dimensions)
3. Print out a picture of Elmo that takes up most of the paper (just Google 
         "Elmo" images and you'll find what ya need) Cut out Elmo's face once printed.
4. Lay Elmo's picture on the cake and use a knife to cut around it  
         (it's not hard - trust me)
5. Cut out the eyes and nose (leaving holes/slots for the cupcakes)
6. Eat the eyes and nose you just cut out
7. Stick the cupcakes in the eyes and nose holes (you can do a little 
         shaping with a knife if necessary - make them stick out just the right amount)
8. Use the red icing for his face, the vanilla icing for his eyes, then turn
      some of the vanilla icing orange with the food coloring and do the
      same for some brown icing. Unleash your inner artist! (I cut out the 
         mouth of the picture and used it like a stencil to get the shape right)

It doesn't make a very big cake but trust me, this little red head harnesses much power. Here it is whispering sweet nothings into Silas' ear: