HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY CAKE DECORATIONS

Note: I only make the decorations that went on top of this cake; I did not make the cake itself.

My friend wanted me to only make cake decorations for her husband's 60th birthday celebration.  She made her own cake which were two carrot cakes iced together and then she had me decorate the cake the day of the party.  Because they own an ophthalmology medical devices company, she wanted me to tie-in an eye theme along with a little bit of Christmas.  I decided to make a sculpture of the man of honor, a pair of gold spectacles, some Christmas ornaments, their beloved family cat, and several pairs of eyeballs without red blood vessels (I thought it would be too Halloween-like for a 60th birthday celebration).

 When I arrived at the house, below was what I was given to decorate...I was initially a bit troubled by the unevenness of the sheet cake, but it was really just a background for a winter wonderland, right?

Once I placed all the decorations on the cake, it turned out to be quite cute!

Candy canes braced the corners of the cake, and I even added some blue snowflakes to the top and side of the cake to add some color (and to cover up wrinkles).  I placed edible pearls on the snowflakes on top of the cake.

I came up with the idea of making an eye chart to contain the birthday message, but when I looked online for a sample eye chart, I realized I wasn't the only person with this great "eye-dea" (haha)!  I had to modify the chart to create an aesthetically pleasing birthday message, but all that mattered was that everyone immediately recognized it as an eye exam chart.  I worried that the chart would look too plain against a white cake so I gilded the edges of the eye exam chart which also contributed to the sophistication of a 60th birthday.  This would also make a great optometry or ophthalmology cake!

 Here is the cake displayed on the dessert table during the party. 

Happy 60th Birthday Scott!