Okay, so my FIL is turning 50 on Jan 28 & we are throwing him a big 'ole party that following weekend. I want to make the most fantastic cake he's ever seen, but I honestly don't have a single clue what to do for a guy. It has to be happy & upbeat (no over the hill stuff) cause he is dealing with a lot of health issues & we want everything to be very uplifting. I want to do a stacked cake cause I think they present better, but I just don't have a clue right now. I plan on incorporating gold into the design since it's 50 & maybe a monogram on top? I don't want it to be too feminine or too wedding like. HELP! I'm stumped. I'm really good at novelty cakes & custom carves if that gives anyone any ideas.

He is an ex-Marine, loves WWE wrestiling, westerns & fooball. typical guy stuff. I am making him a wrestling ring cake for his actual B-day (the party is a surprise) so I don't know if I want to do that twice...sigh.

bump

i love the idea of cowboy cake! if you do it stacked, you could have a couple of cowbowys and their horses sitting on top, and round the edges paint (or fondant, whatever) cactuses, rocks, maybe even have the ranch. cowboys were often after gold, i guess you could fiure out how to incorporate it - my only thought in a similar kind of vein would be gold mines, you could have carts going round with piles of gold in!
maybe do something patchwork tyle with his football colours, the 'stitches' could be in gold then, and i think that would suit the monogram idea.
good luck coming up with something, its hard when he is already getting one themed cake!
xx

I just want give kudos for having an upbeat theme! I HATE over-the-hill stuff at 40 or 50 years old! Good lord, that's barely middle age anymore! THe "over-the-hill" joke is now over-the-hill itself. I have never understood why it was funny to tell someone they were dead and dying.

I'm turning 50 next week and it's Mardi Gras time! Feathers and boas with purple and gold! Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY getting better, baby!

Brincess B - thak you for all the ideas, you totally got my brain gears turning. I think I might do each layer of cake in a different theme, like cactus's (sp?) & western on the bottom, Chiefs football in the middle & Marines on top. Maybe.

I think I am definately going to have to do a cactus as part of an inside joke, cause my MIL & FIL were in the southwest about 2 years ago & he thought it would be funny to take a picture where it looked like he was sitting on a cactus, & he lost his balance & actually sat on it!
it was too funny. You just can't make that sort of thing up! My MIL had to pick catcus needles out of his a$$ on the side of the road before he could get back into the truck.

Indydebi - Happy early Birthday! I agree that over-the-hill stuff is outdated & in my opinion in very poor taste. I can't wait to see your Mardi Gras cake! Enjoy every minute of your B-day, you deserve it!