Today is this fellas birthday! Yay!

But quite frankly, I've been dreading this weekend since I've taken the Spending Fast oath (you know, "I solemnly swear not to spend a dime...") Sigh.

I love birthdays! Mine AND others! I love picking out the perfect gifts or buying people dinner (or...getting them shmammered.)  So I've been scratching my head all week as to how I could make him feel special without buying him anything.

I started by handmaking him a card. That was a no-brainer. I dug around in my craft box to find some blank accordion style card stock left over from a book binding class. With some markers and sincere words, I came up with something (generic) Hallmark would be proud of :)

I also baked cupcakes for 2. Most recipes make 18+ treats! And seeing as he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, what a waste that would be. I found this Very Vanilla recipe that was perfect (because what's a birthday without cake?!)

Then I found my favorite book on my bookshelf. After some serious consideration as to the level of tackiness, I found a roll of leopard wrapping paper in the closet, and stuck a bow on it.

I think he was actually kind of annoyed when I pulled his gifts out of my bag, as he knows I'm not supposed to be spending money AND he mayyy have said he didn't want anything.

Until he realized what a clever, cheeky little girlfriend he has! Because as much as I want to share this book with him, he grinned when I mentioned that I would like it back when he's finished with it.

(The book is Just Kids by Patti Smith, by the way! :) )