I made my dh a birthday card, I cut a big rectangle of card for a large cake, stuck it on and added a long piece cut out of silver card for a board, another long piece across the centre for a ribbon, and long pieces cut with curvy scissors to look like icing on top and on the base.
Then you can stick on small cut-outs for rosettes of icing, and small pieces cut for candles and flames. Looks good.