Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Sure it may not be a resume builder, but it will earn bragging rights that lil ‘ol you turned thousands of readers on to your latest obsession and, really, who doesn’t want that?

Caribou Coffee Chocolate Drinks
Caribou Coffee is the reason why my new year’s resolution has already gone to hell. “Drink less coffee, spend less money and be healthier” were the words I uttered exactly one week ago today…and then those always-happy baristas introduced me to their latest and greatest mochas. Which explains why those guys behind the counter are always smiling.

These things aren’t just mochas, they are friends. Maybe even better than friends, unless your friends are made with REAL chocolate. Yes, ooey, gooey, sweet and delicious milk, white or dark chocolate is the base of this hot cup of happiness, not that powdered crap you get everywhere else. And OMG, can you taste a difference. It’s like drinking a candy bar. Honestly, besides the ring of dark choco my daily indulgence leaves around my mouth (and the red ring my now-tight jeans leave around my belly), Caribou’s mochas are 100% perfection. In moderation. Which I am still trying to learn.

Photo Text Catalog
This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while and I like to think I see lots of cool stuff. First photographers snap photos of places all over the world. Think: your college town, your hometown, where you went abroad, where you were born, where your grandfather lived in Europe. Then the brilliant people behind this little company use those amazing photographs to spell out a word: your name, last name, welcome, peace, wazzuppppp, the options are endless. Suddenly a statue on your campus becomes an “I” and that legendary fountain forms the “O.” What you end up with is a very personal, sentimental and unique piece of art for you or someone you love. I can’t think of a better graduation present. In fact, I think I may just get one for myself so I’ll never have to leave Madison behind.

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.

Yesterday we published this story about some high-profile individuals who lost their jobs because of some unruly Facebook activity. If you’re thinking to yourself, “uh-oh, I love partying and taking pictures to post on Facebook, but I kind of want to have a job one day,” relax. You can have your cake and eat it, too.  Just make sure you’re utilizing all the appropriate privacy settings.  There are several steps to take to ensure your safety online, so just follow these tips!

1. Make all of your photos “Friends Only”

Tempting as it may be to leave photos up, it’s much safer to make them “Friends Only.” That way you know for certain who has access to your pictures. To do this, go here and under the option “Photos tagged of you,” click the drop-down menu and select “Only Friends.”

You should also do the same for Videos of You and all of your own photo albums (just click “Edit Photo Albums Privacy Settings” next to the”Photos Tagged of You” option). Even if you don’t tag your own photos, they’re still visible to anyone who has access to your profile.  By making your photos “Friends Only,” you don’t run the risk of having potential employers stumbling upon that glorious shot of you flipping the bird while sucking down a 40. Which brings me to the next point…

2. Make your profile private (or at least disable some applications).

Everyone’s a Facebook stalker, no matter if they’re a potential employer or a potential boyfriend. So while it may seem appealing to allow Mr. Hot Stuff to view your profile and read from your wall posts that you had such a great time at the bars last weekend, you can’t trust that a future boss will have the same enthused reaction. And most Facebook users  have their profiles set so that other people in their networks can see them. So if you belong to a regional network (especially in big cities like New York, LA, DC, and Boston), remember that anyone can join and belong to them, too.  So to control what information people see when they search you, go here and under the options “Profile” and “Wall Posts” click the drop-down menu and select “Only Friends.” You should consider doing the same for your Basic Info, Personal Info, and Status Updates as well (particularly if you list under “Interests” all of your favorite rums…). Even if you have a tame profile for the most part, you never know when a friend might post a questionable comment or YouTube video on your wall. Better to be safe than sorry.

 3. Choose your default wisely!

All of these new privacy settings would mean nothing if the Big Kahuna, your default Facebook photo, isn’t family-friendly. Save the sexy memories of Halloween (yes you looked cute as a hot nurse)  for your newly-protected other photos, and choose a default that is flattering but not reputation-damaging. If the default-in-question features ANYONE (even if it’s not you) drinking, inappropriately dressed, making obscene gestures and/or alluding to racist/sexist materia, ditch it! Furthermore, make sure to go into your Profile Picture album and delete any questionable defaults from the past. If your settings enable anyone on Facebook to view your default when they search for you, it’s possible they can view any of your past default photos (since Facebook automatically saves them into that album).

 4. Remove personal information that can potentially enable identity theft.

Being wary of potential employers isn’t the only reason to keep your profile clean. Identity theft is a real and scary part of the world these days–and most of the information used by theives can be found on a typical Facebook profile! Never publish the year you were born (the month and day is okay, but not foolproof), your address, and your phone number all at once. This information makes it much easier for scammers to open credit cards in your name, or at least track you down and possibly go through your trash (ALWAYS cut up or shred discarded mail).

 5. Don’t make your Facebook searchable on Google!Nowadays, it’s possible for your Facebook to be viewed even by people who do not have Facebook. Don’t believe me? Type your name as it appears on Facebook into Google and see if your profile shows up. If it does (and even if it doesn’t) follow this link to disable Facebook from making your profile searchable on the internet (unclick the “Create a public search listing” box). Not only can potential employers find you this way, but so can mom and dad, nana and papa, and…yeah, the whole free world.

Additionally, if you visit the Facebook Help Page, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about anything on Facebook. I’ve been a Facebook user for years now and this site taught me quite a few things…particularly on the functions of Pokes.

Stern, the original photographer of the 1962 shoot, sought out Lohan because he wanted a “controversial” star for his recreation, yet the result couldn’t be further from the original work.

Nice try, Mr. Stern, but there really is no one in Hollywood that could have done this unnecessary reshoot justice. You can’t even compare the two women. The only good movie Linds has done since “The Parent Trap” was “Mean Girls” and that had a lot to do with the fact that Tina Fey wrote it.

I want to take it seriously because I take Marilyn Monroe seriously, but these new pictures are absolutely devoid of meaning. “The Last Sitting”, was shot six weeks before Monroe’s death and has become representative of her career; “in them, we see an actress whose comedic talents were overshadowed by her sex appeal, a woman who is cannily aware of her pinup status.”

With Lohan – all I see is a bad wig and breasts that shouldn’t sag that much on such a young girl.

Lohan’s poor imitation lacks authenticity. Stern might see parallels between his two subjects, but using Lohan just sullies the vulnerability and sex appeal depicted in Monroe’s film; Linds’ eyes are utterly expressionless.

The only thing remotely provocative or alluring about Lohan’s photo shoot is the fact that she’s exposing her breasts. Like we haven’t seen that before.

And also, can anyone explain why the hell the little Lohan sister in the room with a naked Linds?

She’s getting the press that she wants and I’m sure that she thinks this is tasteful because of the subject matter and the photographer, but all that she’s really going to end up with is being on what will become the sticky pages in New York Magazine for some guys and a whole lot of criticism from everyone else.

Monroe may have been visibly drunk in some of her photographs but the raw emotion was undeniable. Despite the skin, you are drawn to Monroe’s eyes and knowing that those pictures were her final photographs only makes you study her face that much more. The nudity is secondary.

Stern should have left Marilyn’s iconic photographs alone and Lindsay should find a movie to work on soon that isn’t “Herbie the Love Bug” or “I Know Who Killed Me.”

Doing stuff like this, this, and now this spread doesn’t make you relevant Linds; it just makes you look sad.

And who knew a bunch of girls could make a house look like the aftermath of a week-long frat party? Words are exchanged about “respect” and such, which inevitably means a huge blow-out fight is brewing about who left their cereal bowl in the sink or pubes in the shower.

Looks like the overall theme for this week is “try not to die,” with Tyra serving up one death-defying stunt after another. Is she PMSing? The girls start off this week learning to pose during movement—specifically, jumping on a trampoline and striking a pose, which proves to be difficult and mildly dangerous for some. And as if that wasn’t awkward enough, the second-hand embarrassment continues the next day, with the challenge being to pose in the air. On an ice-skating rink. I’m sorry, but if you’re having trouble jumping on a bouncy trampoline, I’m afraid that ice won’t help matters.

Each girl is assigned an emotion to convey during their in-air pose. Heather barely gets up off the ground, and Ebony‘s “sorrow” pose is described by Seventeen magazine’s editor-in-chief as “corny as a cornfield,” which is corny in and of itself. Lisa wins the challenge, which befuddles all the girls for some reason. They all chat about how they think she’ll be voted off next, and then pick on her when she gets home. Am I missing something? She’s definitely one of my favorites. C’mon girls, catty jealousy is so middle school.

The photoshoot, held on the roof of a very tall building, is one of those annoying “let’s get costumey and cheesy.” Yep, the girls are going to be “fashion gargoyles.” WTF? I’m not really seeing the gargoyle part—it looks like “fashion jazzercise S&M” more than anything, with neon tube dresses, capes, and goth makeup and accessories. I think I may have seen some pleather too. In the form of a high-cut one-piece bodysuit. I get the whole “pretty-ugly” high-fashion thing, but this is just plain ugly.

Tyra actually looks fantastic at judging (for once) in a strapless black dress, and Twiggy is started to look like my mother (hey, my mom’s kinda hot, what can I say?). The judges try to get Ebony to smile, who for some reason always comes to judging looking annoyed and confused at the same time. Lisa is first to get her picture, and Ambreal and Janet (no!) are in the bottom two. In the end, despite my praying and lusting after Janet’s hair, it’s she that has to pack her bags. Looks like I’ll have to pick another favorite to get me through the rest of the season. Perhaps this time I’ll choose based on talent instead of fiercest haircut.