A Birthday Fit for a Metalhead

Every year, we usually throw a birthday party for my husband. Sure, he's almost 30, but our birthdays are really close together (28 days to be exact) and my birthday gets slightly-maybe-just-a-little-bit overshadowed (it's December 25). It's a nice reason to get everyone together and celebrate just for fun.

There are plenty of party supplies out there for guys, as long as they are into golf, NASCAR, or your basic party themes, but when your guest of honor is a metalhead and cares nothing for the traditional "guy stuff," you have to get creative.

This year, we threw a big metal-themed party. I made a variety of pizzas with both traditional and non-traditional toppings, as well as some special home-recipe wings and desserts. Each item was named for one of his favorite albums, with a little punny twist. I printed them off with the name, a picture of the album cover and a quick description of the food. Then, I simply glued the slips to pieces of skull-and-cross-bone cardstock and added a "festive" ribbon.

Here are some of the food labels I created:

Mercyful Fate's Come, Come to the Sabbath became Come, Come to the Salad

Opeth's My Arms, Your Hearse became My Arms, Your Veggies

Megadeth's Peace Sells, But Who's Buying? became Pepperoni Sells, But Who's Buying?

Pantera's Far Beyond Driven became Far Beyond Kielbasa

 Symphony X's Divine Wings of Tragedy kept its name for our grilled wings

Iced Earth's Burnt Offerings kept its name for our Jamaican jerk blackened chicken pizza

Sure, the names were goofy, but they sure got a lot of chuckles and photos from our metal-savvy guests.

Our desserts also got metal-derived names, but I also decorated them with some thrash-worthy flair. Back around Halloween time, I picked up some skull sugar candies and bone candy sprinkles and stashed them away for the party (after checking the expiration date, of course). The "Primal Concrete Fudge" brownie cupcakes got skulls and a few bone sprinkles on each. For our non-metalhead readers, Pantera also has a song called "Primal Concrete Sledge" for which the cupcakes were named.

My husband loves him some red velvet, and he also loves Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance. My "Screaming for Velvet" cupcakes each got a healthy topper of homemade cream cheese icing and a real guitar pick.

Crafting and party-planning is all about themes and our little metal fete proves that you can make a theme out of just about anything!