I am doing my first  cake like this.  A umbrella is coming out of the trunk of elephant.   how do I do this ?  I finally think I have the umbrella done .  thinking a small piece drinking straw in elephants trunk. Then since the umbrella made iüs on a toothpick placing the tooth pick in trunk with royal icing ?  Help needed this week. ..please.

that sounds like a great idea -- there's a similar elephant topper around that had a balloon held by the trunk and it would tip over because the trunk and balloon threw off the equilibrium -- so i don't know if you're making a topper or a whole elephant cake but watch out for that too -- you'd want to insert a narrow straw or dowel into one of the back legs so it can go down into the cake to help balance --