Just like that. A day slips by. One minute I’m twenty three, sipping wine. And the next minute I’m twenty four and…still sipping wine.

Do you remember when turning a year older was a huge, extravagant celebration? Do you remember when you would count down every single moment until midnight — and you could fall asleep, wake up and wait for your little friends to buy you Polly Pockets and scurry into your parents’ house for cupcakes and gift bags?

I remember those days. I also remember in high school when I could walk down the hallway anticipating if my friends had decorated my locker to look like Party America vomited all over it. Everyone would bring cookies to share with our friends at the lunch table and my parents would take me somewhere for free birthday ice cream and unconditional love and presents and unicorns.

And of course, in college — birthdays were on crack. They would last an entire week, ending one moment and waking up another on the bathroom floor. I’ve lost count of how many of my friends got drunk, shoved their face in a cake and demanded their birthday last “at least, please, one more week!” Birthdays were stretching along the lines of utmost…extravagance.

Are you ready for the sad trombone noise? Here it goes. They don’t feel so extravagant anymore. There it is, I dropped the bomb.

I’m the annoying girl who likes fabulous/over the top birthdays. I like to go out to dinner, go dancing, rent a yacht like Beyonce…really, whatever it takes! I won’t lie, I’m am the birthday warrior woman. Kind of like a bridezilla, but extremely single and getting older. But now, I don’t have the time to plan these lovely birthday celebrations. I don’t want to have a house party because I’m lazy and usually would rather be napping. I’m NOT old, but I’m transitioning into a stage where I am beginning to imagine…celebrated simplicity.

At first I was completely bothered by new birthday simplicity outlook. WHAT?  YOU MEAN I CAN’T HAVE MAGIC AND FIREWORKS THAT RAIN MONEY ON MY BIRTHDAY? No one is going to HUG me all day LONG just because they LOVE me!?!

No. Birthday’s don’t always have to be that way. They can be simple but they don’t need to be as extreme as they once were in college, stretching past lasting a week or two. They don’t need to have gift bags and lollipops. My birthday does not need to take an obnoxious heel click into the first second the clock hitting midnight. All I need now is close friends and family, my license to remind me how old I am (hehe only kidding, but seriously I have to think about it a little harder now), and maybe because I’m high maintenance – a sunny day.

What I’m saying is; birthday nostalgia doesn’t need to come from hours of planning an elaborate weekend and stressful hours fretting about whether or not your birthday is going to be one for the books. Birthday nostalgia can be simple and lovely birthday gestures and a nonchalant, happy celebration.

Please Note: That doesn’t mean I won’t plan a trip to Vegas next year.

You know, Groundhog Day. The movie. You’re with me? Right. Well in Groundhog Day Murray gets to relive the same day over and over again, Groundhog Day, which wasn’t so great for him because he kept messing everything up. But still, we’re a little bit jealous. There are plenty of days in college we’d love to live over and over and over again, and never change a thing. (Editor’s Note: Or the whole thing? Please?)

Here are our top 5:

1. Your 21st Birthday. This is it. The day you’ve been waiting for. The day you take your first legal drink. The day that’s all about you. An excuse to splurge on a fabulous new, totally 21 outfit. Silly hats. Sashes. Maybe even a tiara to go with that sparkly dress? Free shots. Lots and lots of liquor. And the perfect excuse to go up to a boy and ask him if he’ll buy you a drink. The perfect excuse to do whatever you want, whenever you want to. Because nothing is a better excuse for drunken bar top dancing than “It’s my 21st birthday!” It should be noted though, powers that be, that we want to relive our 21^st birthdays, not the morning after hangovers.

2. Your First Freshman Year Brunch Recap. The first few weeks of college have been hard. You don’t really have a group of friends yet, you’ve thrown up in the bathroom twice from drinking Bartons, and you failed your first college test. And then one Sunday afternoon, you don’t remember the exact date, you ended up sitting in the dining hall for hours cracking up about last night, telling jokes, saying things like “and then I fould Liz making out with her T.A in the bathroom.” And as you eat your third helping of waffles with whipped cream (yay for dining hall health!), you realize that you finally have friends that you really like and you fit in and you love college and there’s no place you would rather be right now.

3. Homecoming. Senior Year. Homecoming is a big deal. And I’m not exactly sure why. It’s not about the game. And it’s not about the tailgating. It’s about the entire process. It’s an experience only college students will ever really understand, and its different every year. But if you have to pick one homecoming to relive over and over again, it should be the your senior year homecoming. You’ve done this enough times by now that you have your routine down perfectly, but yet you’re nostalgic enough to truly appreciate the experience. In fact, you’ll probably even manage to catch a little bit of the game that year. (Sidenote: This probably only applies if your team wins. Because the team that loses probably isn’t going to want to relive that game everyday.)

4. Classes Canceled for the First Time. Maybe it was a snow day. Or a professional holiday you forgot you had off. Or maybe your professor just unexpectedly canceled class without warning. Whatever the reason it’s still an awesome feeling, hearing your alarm go off, waking up, expecting to spend a day listening to lectures as you try not to fall asleep, only to find an e-mail informing you that your classes have been canceled. Maybe you roll back over and spend the day half sleeping, half catching up on your favorite television shows as you lounge in your pajamas and order take-out. Maybe you and your friends build a snowman. Maybe your organize your entire room or head to the beach with your friends. What you do doesn’t matter, it’s just the fact that you got to do it that feels so great.

5. Your “only at my school” day. Whether it’s Hash Bash or Winter Carnival or Mayfest or whatever your schools does, it’s the best day of year. EVERYONE you’ve ever met in college is hanging around together, drinking, smoking, laughing, talking, bringing up old memories, making you mimosas, serving free hot dogs, doing kegs and eggs, and best of all, handing out t-shirts. You don’t have a worry in the world (besides Where are my shoes?) and you’re absolutely convinced that you go to the most fun school in the entire world.

Which days would you want to relive?

You know those hermits you hear about that live in caves, hunt wild animals, and never cut their beards? Well, whenever I come home during a break from school, I give them a run for their money (minus the wild animal and beard parts – I like my meat cooked and my face fuzz-free). When I’m home, I hang out with my family and might make it to lunch with some friends a few times, but that’s pretty much the extent of my human interaction. As an only child, constantly being around (drunk) people at school can drive me absolutely crazy, so I love coming home and locking myself away for however long I can manage to.

With that said, last night I ventured out for my high school best friend’s birthday dinner. My mind, which had been reacquainted with constantly being with sober people, was blown. The champagne guzzling started at the dinner table and turned to shots as we headed out to a sweaty, packed club where there was so much grinding I was tempted to go home and get an STD test. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun…until everyone got super sloppy and my role turned from dancing queen to babysitter-to-the-sloptarts.

It got me mad.
And it got me thinking….

Would You Rather have your best friend get so drunk on your birthday that you have to take care of her all night OR have every single last one of your friends be busy on your birthday, so you spend it alone?

Things to consider: Puke on your birthday shoes, annoying drunk people, eating cake alone on the couch while watching Teen Mom.

So far we’ve spent 2 birthdays each with one another, and with every year our relationship seems to get much more permanent. I know this shouldn’t just be dawning on me now, but if all goes to plan I’m going to be spending all of my birthdays with Matt. It’s a really comforting thought, but it’s also a bit scary.

On the one side, it’s really comforting because, well, let’s face it, nobody wants to die alone. I sleep better at night knowing that there’s somebody who’s going to love me when I’m old and wrinkly. On the other side, it’s kinda scary because, while I’m getting older, I still feel really young. Trust me when I say there are a lot of people who think I’m crazy for being committed to someone in my very early twenties. What if they’re right?

Well guess what, peoples of the internet: I don’t care what you think. I’m going to enjoy every single birthday I can with my boyfriend whom I love very much. From where I’m standing, there’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults falling in love. I don’t understand why people treat me like a doe-eyed 16-year-old girl when in fact, I’m a woman. I’ve had failed relationships, and I’ve learned from them. I know deep down that Matt’s the only person I want to spend the rest of my birthdays with. (And who I want holding my hair back on this particularly monumental one…)

If not this birthday, then which birthday will it be that people decide that it’s finally a-ok for me to be in a serious relationship? I get the feeling that the jury is out on that decision, so I’m going to go on with my life without caring what all the negative people think. or all those others who read this weekly dose of cuteness, thanks for being supportive; it’s really appreciated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get a drink that I’ve waited 21 years to buy.

(OK, I’m gonna order the drink I’ve been waiting 21 years to buy and have my loving BF pick up the tab…. it is my birthday, after all.)

So cute. So easy. So the perfect way to personalize that 10X10 cell.

I’m obsessed with taking pictures, absolutely obsessed. I have approximately 44 albums on Facebook and that’s after I consolidated and cut down about 300 pictures. I can’t help it.

The digital camera changed my life. I love taking pictures of everything and anything, and capturing every drunken moment of friends passed out over toilets or park benches, of every group pic in the sorority pose, and every picture of birthdays and holidays.

My room has always been covered with the pictures I’ve taken, a visual documentary of my life displayed around my room on a cork board and on the walls. But instead of tacking photos to the wall or searching for the perfect picture frames (which happen to be really pricey), here’s a creative, easy, and cheap way to make a hanging frame of your own.

Whether your room decor is classy or flashy, this custom DIY picture frame will be the perfect wall decor to decorate your life, display your photos, and showcase your memories with some style! It is also the perfect gift to give a friend for the holidays if you’re low on cash but got lots of love.

What You’ll Need:
Picture: Whatever moment or event you want to display!
Cardboard: Use cardboard from an old shoe box, packing box, or even an old pizza box (mmm Domino’s, yummmmmm)
Glue: Superglue and a glue stick. The most essential of all craft tools. You’ll need this a lot during the constructing process.
Ribbon: Any color and any design of your choice. The ribbon will be how you hang your photo frame and can also be used to add accents like bows.
Scrapbook Paper: You’ll need two sheets of different paper per frame (for 4×6 and 5×7 photos). You can use construction paper, but scrapbook paper is the best as it comes in a wide variety of colors, designs, and textures. Buy a stock of paper sheets or buy by the sheet. Usually you can buy 4 sheets per dollar.
Decorative Extras: Buttons, jewels, rhinestones, or bows! Any extras you may want to add to your frame for accents!

What You’ll Do:
1. Cut your cardboard, leaving a border of 2-3 inches of extra cardboard around the size of the picture itself. For example, for a 5×7 picture, cut a piece of cardboard that is 7×9. Use scissors or a razor cutter for a straight edge, but you don’t have to cut it perfectly as you won’t be able to see the cardboard itself anyway. This will be the base of your picture frame.

2. Save your scraps of cardboard! Cut 4 thin pieces (about an inch thick) of cardboard that are about a half inch shorter than the size of your picture. So, if you’re framing a 5X7, cut 2 4.5 inch long strips and 2 6.5 inch strips. Make sense? You’ll use these in step 5.

3. Use the glue stick to glue scrapbook paper to the cardboard base of your frame, completely covering the cardboard. Use a solid color design for classier frames, or a bright and crazy pattern to really add some spunk to your frame! Also, glue a different pattern/color of scrapbook paper to the four thin pieces of cardboard (you can glue these all onto one sheet and then cut off all the excess).
4. Using the glue stick, glue your picture in the center of the cardboard frame base.

5. Using superglue, glue the four border pieces of cardboard a few centimeters away from the actual picture, creating a 3-dimensional border to your frame. These pieces won’t surround your entire picture, but instead create an unconnected border and some pizazz.

6. Cut a strip of ribbon (depending on how long you want your frame to dangle) for the hanging portion of your frame and super glue the ribbon ends to the top left and top right sides of your frame (on the back!).

7. Superglue any extra buttons, jewels, fake flowers, or rhinestones to random spots on your new frame for that extra bit of glam. Or, to make your frame extra special, add additional layers of frames and attach them to your original frame using ribbon (so it looks like a laddder). Or make a frame within a big frame by using a larger piece of cardboard and displaying multiple pictures!

The possibilities are endless for this project, giving you the opportunity to let your creative side out. And after all that studying, there’s nothing you need more than a little creative outlet.

I DON'T WANNA GROW UPPPPP

While most people begin planning their birthday celebrations months in advance and turn the entire birthday month into a party all about them, the thought of my November birthday is making me ill. Instead of spending my back-to-school days partying with my friends at football tailgates and planning my Halloween costume, I’m having near-panic attacks about my impending b-day.

Why? Because I’m turning 20 and it is scaring the crap out of me.

I haven’t always been afraid of my birthday. When I was a wee tween, I was so excited to turn 14 I had a countdown on my wall. I was constantly reading books that made it seem like the age to be. The girls seemed so sophisticated and mature, usually because they were dealing with things like getting their first kiss (which I coincidentally got when I was 14…I knew it would be an awesome age). Getting older was exciting, too. There were so many great perks that came with a new year: higher allowance, driver’s license, R-rated movies. But then I turned 18 and all the scary changes that came with that age threw me for a loop.

I was filled with anticipation about going to college and starting a new part of my life, but I was also depressed that the life I had known was coming to an end. So, as a way of dealing with that, I half-jokingly, half-I’m-so-dead-serious-it’s-not-even-funny denied my birthday. I just pretended it wasn’t going to happen. People would ask me “What do you want for your bithday?” and I was all, “Uh, no thanks, it’s kind of just not coming around this year.”

And the big 2-0 is worse. Sure, I’m one step closer to legal drinking, but I’m also one year closer to having to fully take responsibility for every aspect of my life. And I’m scared that my adult life is just going to stop being fun.

I can’t see myself being fulfilled with just a job, husband, and kids. I know my idea of fun will mature – after all, there was a time when all I wanted to do was dress up in my Belle dress and recite the dialogue, verbatim, as I watched Beauty and the Beast on VHS. But knowing this doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare the bejeezus out of me.

I love who I am now, and I adore how my life is. I’m nervous it’s going to go by too quickly. Right now, the possibilities for my life seem endless. I’m just beginning to discover what I’m capable of, and what the world may have in store for me. It’s the most exhilarating feeling I’ve ever had, and I want to hold on to it for as long as possible.

We’ve all heard it before: “Enjoy college! Best years of my life, I tell ya, went by way too fast.” I can practically see the wistful longing for those days of debauchery in the speakers’ glazed-over eyes. Another year and another birthday means another step closer to being that person.

Even though it’s difficult, I’m trying to embrace the fact that I’m getting older. I’m sure some amazing things will come with age so I’m doing my best to look to the future, not the past.  More importantly, I’m trying to realize that getting older doesn’t mean I have to stop enjoying life. I don’t have to be some married lady with kids and a garden; I’m going to be one of those really active old women who climbs mountains and radiates joie di vivre. Either that or I’ll be some old creeper, hustling my way into college parties to take body shots with the freshmen.

What about you, fabulous readers? Are you excited to get older? Dreading it? Or are you experiencing a whirlwind of confusing emotions when it comes to aging?

Every week, CC and John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus. Join the Overheard revolution!Leave your own overheard convos in the comments or send ‘em over!

(Guy and a girl, talking at the grocery store.)

Guy: Did you put “gross sh*t and lipids” on the list?

Girl: Yeah, I figured we needed some.

(Girl, on the phone.)

Girl: Well, what am I supposed to say? “Sorry, dad, I filled the car with zinfandel and used it as a swimming pool?”

(Two guys, standing next to the radio at a party.)

Guy: Wait, isn’t Miley Cyrus that pedophile?

(Guy, turning 21!)

Guy 1: Yeah. It’s my birthday this weekend. I don’t know where I should go!

Girl: We should go to that gay bar in Providence!

Guy 2: Or we could go to a brewery.

Guy 3: Or it sounds like you forgot the D&D game this weekend.

(Girl, listening to music during a long car trip.)

Radio: So why can’t you see-ee-ee… you belong with mee-ee-ee…

Girl: He doesn’t like you because you’re fat.

(Two girls, talking earnestly.)

Girl: Well… I’d never stab you in the lady parts. Just sayin’.

(Girl and mom, yelling to each other at a pool party.)

Girl: Mom? Where’s that horse? The one that was in the living room?

Mom: I threw it away. It was an eyesore.

(Guy crying, late at night, on the curb outside an apartment.)

Guy: I don’t see why it’s so hard! I just love … dancing! And makeup!

(Guy, talking on the phone.)

Guy: It was like being in the same room as a snake and a mongoose.  Except, instead of a mongoose, she was a woman.

(Girls, around a table at a party.)

Girl 1: So when the fudge pool overflows, the chocolate mines collapse, and all the factory workers get trapped.

Girl 2: Their hair turns green from the concentrated chocolate gas!

Girl 3: And the candy rock minerals turn their skin orange!

Girl 1: Hey, wait, their skin is naturally orange. Let’s stick to reality, please.

And now, a year has nearly passed, and I am about to turn the big 2-1. It is the day I can not only legally buy alcohol, but the day that all college students look forward to as their last passage into adulthood on campus (at least before senior year). It is the day that I can no longer get sent to student conduct council for underage drinking. The day I can walk up to the bar and order a mojito, legally. I no longer will have to worry about being carded when trying to order a drink somewhere. The day that I turn into a real adult – whatever that means – as decided by the world.

But really, how do I spend this occasion?

In my dream world, I would hire Girl Talk to do live mash-ups of Elton John, Britney Spears, and Guns N Roses while I dance alongside my best friends in dresses that aren’t just from H&M and Forever 21 in some sparkly New York City bar where we throw back pink cocktails in between cupcakes. But I don’t live in a dream world. In fact, I live in Roanoke, Virginia – which is as far from my dream world as I can get for my birthday, especially since there isn’t even a Forever21 of H&M for 60+ miles.

Although the reality of my 21st birthday may not sparkle in a New York City kinda way (however, my nails probably will in a cheap-nailpolish-glittery-concoction type of way), I am not going to let that stop me from having one of the best nights of my college experience. The question of how to do it, though – and not just do it, but do it well – plagues me.

Where do I have my party? In the sketchy upstairs backstage area of my university’s recital hall where I got caught with not one, but two bottles of champagne enwrapped in my arms last year as my friends and I stomped around to Miley Cyrus? What about in my boyfriend’s cheerless off campus house with his awful roommates skipping around the scene? At the bar in a town where college hangs-outs don’t really exist? Or maybe I should just have my party on my computer, testing out Skype for the first time with my friend who went abroad to Argentina? Does location even matter anymore, or is the night just about getting drunk?

Who should come? My close friends or anyone who somehow decides my birthday is important enough via the joke of a Facebook event they received? Do I invite my 18 year old sister and her boyfriend up for the weekend to witness the madness and hope that I keep my dress down (or up) for the night? What if I just invite myself and call it a day? Spending a 21st birthday alone – now that would be interesting.

Should there be a theme? Perhaps College Trainwreck would be appropriate? Afterall, images of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears circa 2007 make great inspiration! Or should the theme simply be me making an ass out of myself, as if my last birthday wasn’t enough when I decided wearing hot pink tights with a black tunic that wasn’t long enough to stay down was a good idea?

But seriously, when it comes to the sport of turning 21, what is a girl supposed to do?

Should I run into the closest liquor store and declare that it is my birthday? Should I wear my driver’s license on my sleeve and shout out my birthdate: “02/24/1988″ over and over again? Do I wear a plastic tiara and carry in balloons with me just to pick up a bottle of rum or two (or three)?

Do I attempt taking 21 shots? Do I stick to one type of alcohol or jump around until the room spins and I call it a night? Do I invest in a blender to make cocktails, or should I just slap down the money on the bar and tell the bartender to pour me another?

Maybe I should keep it innocent and kick it old-school style. I’m sure I can find some clowns to come make balloon animals and paint butterflies and kittens on my friends’ faces for the same price I may spend on alcohol. Or maybe I could do an assortment of games, including pin the tail on the donkey and balloon races – bubbles and whoopee cushions can replace Jello shots as prizes! I’m sure that would make my mom proud!

I am the first of my friends to turn 21, and I feel that it is my contractual obligation as their friend to start the year off right, birthday-wise. 21 gives the impression of a college milestone, and another passage into adulthood. With so many options and so many high expectations, really … what am I supposed to do?

Now it’s your turn; tell me what you did to celebrate your 21st or how you plan to ring in your own birthday this year. I need ideas, people. Help!

And let us tell ya; with CC on your side, geek has never looked so chic.]

It’s holiday season. A time of chaos and disorder. Many of us are about to go through finals on top of the mad dash to the holidays. Packing up dorm rooms for break, making holiday travel plans, trying to get those last few extra assignments in so you can pass with a C – all very trying things. Things that can be conquered with organization! So use these easy tools to help you get a jump on your New Years resolution. They won’t help you lose ten pounds, but they will help you stop forgetting birthdays.

Deadlines and Scheduling

If you’re anything like me (and you know you are), you wait until the last minute to get things done. From making travel arrangements to finishing papers, I’m a procrastinator. But nine times out of ten it’s not because I mean to – it’s because I honestly forget!

I found the best way to stay organized was actually right at my fingertips. Gmail (which we all have) has an awesome Google Calendar feature. It’ll keep track of your deadlines and notify you when they’re coming up via your life-line (AKA cell phone).

Another must-have? A flash drive. During the holiday season (with all the visiting and running around) chances are you’ll be on the go. Load up the flash drive with everything you may need and you can bring your work with you wherever you go. Just pop it into whatever computer is available and you are good to go.

Clutter

If you’re like me (and we’ve established that you are!) then you have ten million things that need to be charged. I drive myself crazy gathering up chargers the morning of a trip. And I always forgot one…which always happens to be the most important. And don’t even get me started on the millions of cords all over my desk. It’s not pretty. A multi device charger will clear this right up. One like this.

Mental

It’s stressful this time of year. A little “you time” won’t hurt. Try Boomshine to destress. It’s addictive but really finite so you don’t end up playing it for hours. We all need a break sometime.

Enjoy the end of the semester and the holiday. Good luck and try not to get too overwhelmed!

I think we can all agree that Hallmark cards are lame. If the card doesn’t contain something that you would actually say out loud on it (“For You, Mother, on Your 50th Birthday,” anyone?), it’s not worth spending your hard-earned cash on. Especially considering they cost like $5!

So what’s a gal to do when the holidays and special occasions roll around?

Duh! Make your OWN cards.

If you normally run screaming at the thought of anything crafty, take a deep breath and hang with me for a second. I also hate crafts, but I love to make greeting cards. They’re so much fun, and you can personalize them any way you want. AND they can be as simple or as involved as you like—no need to spend an hour laboring over intricate cutouts and frilly decorations if you don’t want to.

Here’s the other good news—they’re easy. All you need to make a basic card is some paper that you can fold and some markers (or crayons, pens, colored pencils, paints, or even chalk). Try making a painting on the outside of your card and writing a message on the inside. If that doesn’t strike your fancy, do a stencil or make a collage. A mosaic is another fun idea.

And don’t limit yourself. Remember, you can use anything to spice up the design—ribbon, googly eyes, fabric, shells or leaves, beads, scrap paper… you get the idea. Here are a few materials you may want to gather:

Glue. If you’re really desperate, you can tape cut-out pictures to a card, but it looks kind of tacky (no pun intended) and it won’t be as permanent.

Scissors. You can tear the paper to fit your needed shape, but it’s easier (and cleaner) to cut. Plus, you can cut out any shapes you want.

Pipe cleaners. As in the cool picture above and the How Stuff Works tutorial from where it came, you can twist pipe cleaners into flowers, moons and stars, hearts, birthday cakes… you get the idea.

Scraps. If you’re a pack rat, you’re probably a natural for making greeting cards. Saving receipts, business cards, take-out menus, and old wrapping paper will really pay off when you want to make a cool patterned skirt for a greeting-card girl or a funny-lettered billboard that spells out a birthday message.

When you’re making your cards, keep a couple of things in mind:

- Reinforcement. When using a lot of glue, you don’t want marker pictures to smear or bleed, and you don’t want those annoying wriggly wet lines. If it looks as though your card is heading in that direction, dab some glue lightly on the edges of one or two more pieces of paper that are cut to the same size as your card, and glue them on the inside so that the card will look smoother.

- Personality. Keep your audience in mind when making your cards. Just as you wouldn’t buy a card with a Shakespearean love sonnet on it for your brother, you wouldn’t want to give a slapdash and amateurish-looking thank-you card to someone with whom you just had a job interview. That’s not to say you can’t give homemade thank-yous after job interviews–just that if you do, they have to look professional.

- Creases and folds. Decide whether you want a long and narrow card, a fat square one, or something in between. Fold the card in half, and cut. If you don’t have a scissors handy, you can crease it along the edges where you want the cuts. Fold one way sharply, then straighten the paper and fold the other way. Make each fold again a couple of times to reinforce it, then use one hand to hold the paper and the other to tear gently along the edges. It should tear away in a straight line.

If you’re not artsy and all of this talk about designs makes you wanna hurl, just fill your card with cool words. A simple list of words and phrases that remind you of the other person is a creative, personal and not-at-all artsy way of creating a special card. It might seem lame, but if you’ve ever received a homemade card, you know how great it feels.

Now all you need is an occasion. So log onto Facebook right now and find out when your next friend’s birthday is—and get cracking!

[Image courtesy of howstuffworks.com.]