5 Homemade Gifts For Dad
Father's Day gifts are always a struggle around here. June is BUSY. I want my daughter to be involved in any gifts for dad that are happening, but how to make time for that?Also, my man is the least traditionally dude guy I've ever met. When I look through those lists of recommended gifts for dads, they are almost always a total miss for him. BBQ stuff? No, I do the barbecuing in this house. Golf? No, thanks. He's not into sports or fishing or yard work.He has interests, to be sure, but they are all kind of specialized. I'm not brave enough to try to buy any bits of climbing gear because I know I'd get that wrong!
I also hate to go for any gift that's just going to end up in the donate pile in a few months. Why bother?[Tweet "Father's Day gifts should be loved, not endured."]I love handmade gifts and these are always well received. With a small child, projects have to be simple enough for her to help.Here are 5 handmade - but pretty simple - gifts for Dad that you can make with only basic crafting skills and also get little or big kids involved.Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase a product after clicking through a link I will make a small income from the sale at no additional cost to you. The income helps to support this blog. Thank you!
Book of Photos or Artwork
This is a pretty popular one, judging by all the discount codes being offered by photo book sites like Shutterfly and Artifact Uprising right now. It also requires a little bit of advanced planning, so maybe file this one away for next year!If a photo book doesn't seem like the thing, check out ArtKive. ArtKive is a phone app that allows you to save, file and share pictures of your kids' artwork. Awesome, right? They also allow you to create books of art, with or without additional pictures. So you could make a little book of illustrations just for dad, or a selection of this year's artwork and photos of the kids, too. I love it.
Etched Drinking Glass
Whether your guy's favorite drink is beer or water, he's probably going to use a glass, right? Make it a special one by using glass etching paste to give him his own logo. Put his name on it, tell him he's the #1 Dad or choose an image (here's where a sports-loving dad makes things easy!). Get great and clear instructions in this classic post on Make Zine.
Handmade Tee Shirt
The sky's the limit on this one. Using iron-on decals, your design is only limited by your imagination (and the size of the decal sheet). Use a phrase or sentiment that is special to your family. Have your kids draw a picture of dad, or a picture of the family and scan that. Combine photos with words or drawings. You can also let the kids loose with fabric markers for a more direct (and likely funky) approach. You can also make a pretty classy stenciled design with just some freezer paper, an iron, and fabric paint.My love, who plays guitar, has a shirt with an electric guitar and a slogan that says "Dad's Rock!" that he cherishes. Another idea is this "pat on the back" shirt, which also captures those adorable kid handprints.
Meaningful Photo
This can be as creative as you want to be. The spring our little one was starting to talk in sentences, but also still using sign language, she was using the "I love you" sign a lot with us. I took a picture of her flashing the sign, and then also wrote "I love you" on the palms of her hands and her feet and had her pose. I printed out the three best pictures and stuck them in a frame. She loved the whole process and her dad and I both adored the result. Her use of that particular sign didn't last long, so I'm extra glad that I documented it.If you have a great picture of your kids with their dad or an especially great photo of your kids, pop it in a frame! We all need more photos off the computer and out where we can see them!
Mini Photo Magnets
I found the instructions for these cool polaroid-like mini photo magnets just before Mother's Day, but I think these would be great for dads, too. My guy has metal bookshelves in his office at work, and I think he'd love to have our little pictures where he would see them all the time!