Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, beating with each addition.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add this to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Dye the batter green.

Divide the batter into a lined muffin tin. Stick a lindor ball into the center of each cupcake. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, then cool completely.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and combine. Add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, then beat for 3-5 minutes, until fluffy.

Dye ¼ cup of buttercream black, ¼ cup of buttercream yellow, 2 cups buttercream red, leave ½ cup buttercream white and dye the remaining buttercream green.

Place the red and green buttercream in piping bags fitted with large, round piping tips, the yellow and white into bags with medium-sized round piping tips and the black into a bag with a small round piping tip.

Pipe a large dollop of green buttercream onto each cupcake, then pipe a slightly smaller red dollop on top. Create the trim and pompom of the hat with the white buttercream, the eyes with the yellow buttercream and the eyebrows and pupils with the black buttercream.