Today, sharing birthday wishes with friends is incredibly easy, thanks to the convenience of social media. Just type "happy birthday" in a post to your friend and you've accomplished a kind and thoughtful gesture.
But what if you want to do more? What if you are one of those people who wants your messages to be fun, personal and original?
You’ll be glad to know there are dozens of online resources offering tons of free birthday content you can use: memes, ecards, animated cards and wording ideas for posts, texts or emails. I’ve rounded up ten of them that deserve a look.
Like many things online, sometimes you have to sort through a “haystack” to find the “needle” you’re looking for. But with a little extra effort, your message will stand out and your friends will likely be impressed and touched by your message. Who knows? Once you start making creative birthday messages, you may never post an ordinary greeting again.
If you’re already a Pinterest user, you know it’s the big kahuna of visual ideas. If you’re not, be prepared to be amazed, delighted and even overwhelmed with a sea of colorful, visual stimulation.
First, sign up for a free account. Then, search for whatever type of greeting you’re looking for. Examples: “Birthday friend,” “funny birthday message friend.”
A screen of pins will result, where you will find all kinds of related birthday content, much of it linked to additional resources. For example, the pin below is linked to the site wishesquotes.com.
If you like your birthday memes sarcastic, this is the place for you. Chances are you’ve seen company's cards, which feature old-fashioned clip art, floating around social media. Hilarious is the only word for them.
No site I’ve seen can beat someecards.com for contemporary humor, which varies in tone from universally funny to mature audiences only. The vast variety includes cards for just about every occasion, assuring you can find something that fits your situation. They are all free.
3. Giphy.com
If you’re looking for a fun, short, animated clip, that won’t take a long time to find, Giphy is the place to go. GIFS are the ideal thing for posting or bringing fun and emotion to an ordinary birthday text message, like the cat blowing a party horn, below. Everything is free.
4. Canva.com
This free graphic design program is one of my favorites. It may take a short time to learn, but for design savvy users, it is worth the effort. There are dozens of free birthday card templates you can use as is or easily personalize with your own photos and words.
What I like most about Canva is how easy it is to create a birthday card (or any content) with high-quality templates, graphics and typography. Import a photo of your friend, or one of both of you, for an original, personalized card. Then text or share on social media, directly from Canva.
Many templates are free; premium templates require enrollment in the $12.95 per month Canva at Work plan.
5. Smilebox.com
This site boasts beautiful birthday card templates which allow you to do something you can't do on some other sites: personalize your birthday ecard with your own photo. I recently used this resource to create a musical birthday greeting for my niece, similar to the one below.
The quality of the graphics, the animation, the sample wording and the music makes smilebox.com a source to consider if you like sending creative ecards.
The Basic plan is free, but offers fewer choices. The Premium plan is $5.00 per month.
6. Birthdaywishes.expert
Like many sites of this variety, which make money by selling ads, the design is busy and chaotic. However, if you take the time to sort through the options, chances are you'll find a birthday greeting you like.
This site delivers on its claim: “birthday wishes for every person you know.” The huge range of birthday categories includes friends, family, humorous, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, milestones and more.
You can choose a meme, like the one below, or choose from "word only" messages. There are no animated ecards, but there are no free trials or monthly plans either. Everything is free.
7. Holidaycardsapp.com
This site, also known as “Birthday and Greeting cards by Davia,” offers a large assortment of non-animated ecards, in a variety of art styles.
With tons of puppies, fireworks, hearts, kittens and teddy bears, the quality varies greatly, but if you are willing to take the time, you're likely to find a birthday greeting you'd like to send.
Talk about variety. The "Birthday for Friends" section, boasts 273 options.
This service is free but you have to register to use it.
8. BlueMountain.com
You may be familiar with Blue Mountain's beautiful greeting cards sold in retail stores. Their site offers high quality, interactive cards featuring fun animations, creative designs, heartfelt messages and popular songs.
The free seven-day trial allows you to send any of the birthday ecards, or any cards from a variety of categories. You can purchase the month-long membership for $4.99, the year-long membership for $19.99 or the two-year membership for $29.99.
Sometimes, you may want to post a worded birthday message to your friend, without any graphics. Alternatively, you may be designing your own card and want to start with the words. In either case, this is a good place to look for ideas. Everything is free.
There are some memes and ecards here, but wording options are the main feature. Below is one section from "Birthday Wishes for a Friend."
10. Doozycards.com
This professional, easy-to-use site calls itself “your new home for the most heartfelt and hilarious ecards online." What makes these cards stand above most is the animation and music, which are original and high-quality.
I liked the Lounge Lizard card (below) so much, I sent it to my sister. The company recently introduced a Dion Warwick collection.
The 10-day trial is free. After ten days, if you don’t cancel, your account automatically converts to $2.00 per month.
As you can see, there is a variety of choices when you want to share online birthday wishes with a friend. Try out several and find your favorites. How do you send online birthday wishes to your buds? Leave a comment below and share your good ideas.
Steve Fadie is the author of Words to the Rescue: The sentiment guide for the tongue tied. The Words to the Rescue series, with over 140,000 copies sold, helps readers express themselves in short, personal messages for birthdays as well as a variety of occasions. www.wordstotherescue.com