9 April Fools' Day Pranks to Play on Facebook, Because Fake Engagements Are So Over!

Some people go all out for April Fools' Day, staging the kind of elaborate pranks that require days, if not weeks, of planning. Then there are those of us who winds up searching for April Fools' Day pranks to play on Facebook the night of March 31, because planning ahead takes way too much effort. But your prankster procrastination doesn't mean you can't successfully pull the wool over your friends' virtual eyes.

The nature of social media is that we take things at face value — when has anyone ever lied on the internet? — so playing pranks on Facebook is almost too easy. A true prankster, however, won't settle for the usual fake pregnancy or relationship announcements. (Those were played out in 2007. Please stop.) This year is your chance to get creative, so even cynical Facebook veterans will believe your prank.

Some Facebook pranks are actually so successful they wind up on the news. A personal favorite is Ryan Roy's profile picture mimicry; back in 2013, he explained on Reddit that he would search for people with his same name, recreate their profile picture, and friend them on Facebook. Despite clearly being the work of a genius, people did not take it well.

So will your prank end up in the April Fools' Hall of Unofficial Fame this year? Only time will tell. Here are nine pranks to get you inspired.

1. Get A Fake Tattoo

People post about their tattoos all the time — honestly, it's pretty much required — so take April 1 as the opportunity to announce a "new" tattoo to your Facebook friends. You have a couple options here: If you're an artist or happen to know one, you can draw a deliberately poor-quality tattoo on yourself. Otherwise, you could head to the nearest purveyor of fake tattoos and pick out the tackiest you can find.
Next, slap a filter on a photo of the tattoo and share it to Facebook. Be sure to pretend you're super excited about the tattoo, and watch as the comment section fills up with awkward congratulations.

2. Photoshop Nicolas Cage Into Your Profile Picture

Photoshopping actor-turned-living-meme Nicolas Cage into things has become a time-honored tradition. For April Fools' Day this year, edit your profile picture to include

3. Move To Canada

Did you threaten to move to Canada after the results of the 2016 election? Create a life event saying you moved to the land of hockey and politeness, preferably blaming some recent political mishap. For added verisimilitude, round up a few moving boxes and Instagram your "packing" process. Keep up the charade as long as you feel like it, or until your mom calls in a panic.

4. Like Everything Someone's Ever Posted

For those truly dedicated to the art of annoyance, choose a victim and like as many of their photos and posts that you can stomach. If you want to be truly irritating, start from their first post or photo on Facebook, and be sure to comment on the more embarrassing stuff so it shows up in other people's news feeds. Just try and choose someone you know well, so you know your relationship will withstand the strain of the prank.

5. Change Your (Or Someone Else's) Birthday

It's simple but guaranteed to confuse people: Sometime before the end of March, change your birthday to Apr. 1. Watch as your profile is flooded with well-wishes. To add another layer to the prank, change someone else's birthday without their knowledge if they leave themselves logged into Facebook while you're around.

6. Pretend You Met Someone Famous

Mashable came up with this prank: Find a fan-encounter photo of someone famous and post it to Facebook, claiming you randomly met the celebrity/artist/politician on the street. You'll definitely get called out, but it's harmless fun while it lasts.

7. Tag A Friend In Irrelevant Photos

Facebook lets you tag other people in photos, which is useful when someone forgets to tag your BFF in an Instagram where they look super cute. It's even more useful on Apr. 1, when you can tag your BFF in a bunch (but not too many) random Facebook photos where they're not actually present. Better yet, pick a random category of object, like a sock or a hat, so the tagging is consistent.

8. Write Up A Caricature Status

Esquire wrote about this particularly brilliant prank, and having been the victim of it before, I can say with certainty that it works. If you can find a way to log into someone's Facebook account, post a status that seems normal on the surface, but slightly exaggerates your victim's attributes. "Are they generally upbeat and full of vim? Then make them look like a nauseating narcissist," Esquire explains. The result is pure, reasonably plausible genius.

9. Pretend You Took A Mini-Vacay

If you have vacation photos you've never posted to Facebook, now is the time to put them out there. Pretend you decided to take a spontaneous vacation somewhere amazing, complete with photographic evidence. Nobody needs to know the photos are from 2014.

NBC Orders Crafts Reality Series Hosted by Amy Poehler & Nick Offerman

Do you know someone who is really crafty? Then you should get them on this new show! Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman are teaming up for a new reality competition show at NBC. According to Deadline, Poehler and Offerman will host an unscripted show for the network called The Handmade Project, which has been given a six-episode series order. Produced by Poehler’s company Paper Kite, the weekly series will finally put the spotlight on an underappreciated interest: arts and crafts. Here’s more from Deadline’s report:

"Each week eight all-around makers, from all walks of life, will take on a series of projects with the hopes of impressing Poehler, Offerman and our expert judges. Over the course of each episode, the contestants must tackle a different theme, hand-making items in different disciplines — the difficulty of which increases with every episode until a winner is crown. Shot in an outdoor setting, the series will also focus on the characters and camaraderie of those who enjoy creating their own crafts, all under the comedic guidance of Poehler and Offerman."

“I’m thrilled to be celebrating artists who make things by hand, and I’m looking forward to finally conquering my fear of paper mache,” Poehler said on the news. Offerman added: “People who make things are my favorite kind of folk. Practical, clever and terrific in a pinch. That makes me tickled pink to have a front row seat at this prodigious display of talent, and admiring and cheering on an amazing crop of American makers. Plus, Amy and I have a strong tradition of tomfoolery so let’s see if we don’t have some good fun.” The show is currently looking for contestants, so if you’re a master of all things handmade, head here for more info.

Want Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs For Easter? Here's How!

Dyeing eggs for Easter remains popular, and in addition to bunnies and baskets and chocolate eggs, the real things mean a lot to people. Indeed, the American Egg Board says the average person consumed one-and-a-half dozen eggs at Easter in 2015. That's a lot of cooking.

To cut your time in the kitchen this Easter (which takes place on April 16 this year) — and the stress that comes with getting the perfect peel — check out the board's easier, faster way to hard-boil your Easter eggs.

Easy-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

Total time: 17 minutes
Ingredients: 12 eggs
Directions
Step 1: Heat 1/2- to 1-inch of water in a large saucepan to boiling over high heat. Carefully place steamer insert into pan over boiling water or proceed to Step 2, if not using a steamer insert.

Step 2: Carefully add eggs using a large spoon or tongs. Cover and continue cooking 12 minutes for large eggs (13 minutes for extra large eggs).
Step 3: Drain immediately and serve warm. Or, cool completely under cold running water or in bowl of ice water, then refrigerate.
Voila! Egg-ceptional hard-boiled eggs.

Did you know?

Fresh eggs may preferable in omelets but not for hard-boiled eggs. To make eggs easier to peel, the Egg Council recommends using eggs that are about 7 to 10 days old when hard boiling.

And once they're cooked? In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.

Egg Peeling 101

The number one reason people choose not to hard-boil eggs? Peeling is a pain. Here's a trick an eggs-pert tip: gently tap large end of egg on countertop until shell is finely crackled. Starting peeling at large end, holding egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off. Patch.com

A North Carolina jewelry store apologized to anyone offended by a billboard bearing a controversial message: "Sometimes, it's OK to throw rocks at girls." The billboard, which featured the words surrounded by precious stones, sparked a backlash on social media when it was erected by Spicer Greene Jewelers in Asheville. "Small steps like this lead to a culture of violence against women. Also, children will not see the humor in this billboard. All they will see is, 'It's OK to throw rocks at girls,'" resident Shannon Page wrote on the Facebook group WAX, West Asheville Exchange.The owners of the store, Eva-Michelle Spicer, 28, and her husband, Elliot, 27, apologized for any offense caused by the billboard. UPI

What do you think, too offensive? Drop me a line!

Are You Ready To Relive Those "Summer NIghts?"

It's been nearly four decades since Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta attended Rydell High, but as the 40th anniversary of Grease approaches next year, it seems one Pink Lady and Greaser are planning their big return. Before accepting the Icon Award at the Fame Awards in Las Vegas, Newton-John hinted at a reunion with her Danny Zuko counterpart for 2018. "We are thinking up ways. Nothing to announce yet," she told The Mirror. "Forty years anniversary of Grease, which I can't believe. Time goes so fast. It is so exciting." Whatever that reunion ends up looking like, it may mark one of the Australian star's final performances. "As time goes on, I think of doing less and having more time off," she told The Mirror. However, she was quick to point out her own fibs. "Every year for the last 20 years, I thought I was retiring and then somebody would say, ‘How about this?' and it's like, ‘Oh, that looks fun,' or ‘How about this?' Things that I would never think about." E!News

Can You Do This With Your Kid's Car Seat? Should You?

Car seat safety continues to be a hot-button issue throughout parenting circles. When can they face forward? How old is too old for a booster? How high should that chest clip really be? Well a mom from Greene, Maine named Rachel McNamara recently went viral for her helpful car seat safety tips — that have been pretty eye-opening, to say the least. The reason? In two side-by-side photos, McNamara can be seen holding her baby’s car seat overhead as well as upside down — with her baby still in it. And it’s all to raise a pretty important question for parents: Can your baby’s car seat contain him or her if your car flips or rolls over in an accident? “I’d like to clarify that I’m not advocating that parents should be flipping their kids upside down before every car ride,” she notes. “Just that they should feel confident that their child would be safe IF the car seat was flipped over in an accident. I think this is a great visual and shows just how important proper car seat use is.” She makes some great points about car seat safety, but she's also drawn a lot of flack for using her own child for her demonstration! Take a look at the full story here: Babble.

12 Hilariously Sexist Dating Tips From 1938!

OK, you girls are gonna get a kick out of this! There's no doubt it was a different world in 1938, some would say a better one! But looking back at a list of 12 dating tips for girls in 1938 shows you just how much things have changed! Some real doozies: "Don't sit in awkward positions", "Don't talk while dancing", "Wear a bra", and my personal favorite, "Don't drink too much"! Of course that last one is probably a good idea for all of us, even in 2017! Get the full list here: Trendingly

A Park In China Uses Facial Recognition to Prevent Toilet Paper Theft!

Yep, you read that right: A park in China has installed a facial recognition toilet paper dispensing system to prevent theft. The newly installed machines in bathrooms at Temple of Heaven park in Beijing scan visitors' faces for three seconds before rationing 24 to 27.5 inches of toilet paper, which the park upgraded from one-ply to two-ply. The machines are placed at the height of the average man or woman and will not dispense additional toilet paper until nine minutes have passed. Let's be honest, don't we all know someone who uses a lot more than 24 to 27.5 inches of toilet paper!?! Read more of this crazy story here: UPI

STUDY: Women Who Undergo Facelifts are Perceived as More Attractive, Healthy and Successful

A new study shows that plastic surgery may actually make people appear more successful and healthier as well. “In this study, observer perceptions of face-lift surgery were associated with views that patients appeared younger, more attractive, healthier and more successful,” Many women (and men) choose to go under the knife to appear more attractive and younger, and a new study shows that plastic surgery may actually make people appear more successful and healthier as well. Find out more here: People

Virginia Police Arrest Sword-Wielding Man Dressed as The Joker!

Police in Winchester, Virginia arrested a 31-year-old man who was walking around town dressed up like The Joker and carrying a sword on Friday. He was charged with the horrific crime of wearing a mask in public. Wait, so they were more worried about the mask than the sword? Check out the story here: Death And Taxes Mag.