How to Make Gag Gifts for 40th Birthdays

Gag gifts for 40th birthdays are something of a tradition in modern American culture. Despite living longer and longer lives, most Americans view the 40th birthday with a mixture of trepidation and wry humor. The birthday marks a time when many Americans feel they are "over the hill" and is often marked by black balloons and funeral arrangements. Gag gifts are a way of acknowledging the bleakness associated with aging with gentle, albeit sarcastic humor. The key to making great gag gifts for a 40th birthday is recognizing the type of person who will enjoy a gag gift and the type that won't.

Instructions

1. Create a cute T-shirt. T-shirts are very versatile gifts and you can find shirts with all kinds of sayings on them just about everywhere you go. "Sarcasm, just another gift I offer" or "Better over the hill than under it" with a gravestone on the shirt make great gag gifts for a 40th birthday.

2. Order a silk-screened birthday picture cake. Find many embarrassing photos of the birthday girl and have her silk-screened onto the birthday cake. Add the images to T-shirts, mugs and even mouse pads for fun.

3. Fill her office or cubicle with helium-filled Over the Hill balloons and black streamers. It's a great way to break up the monotony of office life and get a chuckle as well.

4. Pass out black armbands. Send out black armbands to the birthday girl's co-workers, students, family and friends. Write a playful obituary to her youth and tuck it into her morning paper on the front step or at her desk.

5. Use a social networking site to play a prank. Pranks, good-natured ones at least, can be a lot of fun. Use MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or some other form of social networking site to create a group called "In Loving Memory ... " of the birthday girl's youth and beauty. Then invite all her friends to the group and post messages about the birthday girl. Send an invite to them on her birthday.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your gag gifts good-natured Avoid gag gift giving to people who really don't like them Avoid embarrassing them publicly unless you're ready for retaliation on your own birthday