Simple Father's Day Gift

I wanted my kids to help me make a simple gift for Father's Day this year.  

This is what I came up with.

I always struggle with Father's Day gifts.  What do I give to these men in my life that mean so much to me?  Nothing ever seems quite adequate.  This personalized gift seemed meaningful however.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  

What did you do for Father's Day this year?

We Love Dad

We did this for my husband's birthday a few months ago but it is a perfect Father's Day gift as well!

I got a cute little bucket from the dollar spot at Target (don't you just love the dollar spot?)  With my Silhouette I cut out "We love dad!" and some different sized polka dots.

Then we took a bag of miniature York's and some round stickers--the kind you find in the office supply aisle.  I had each of my boys tell me several reasons why they love their dad. We wrote one on each sticker and put a sticker on each piece of candy.

My husband loved it!  I mean, who doesn't love hearing nice things about themselves!  And an added bonus?  It's friendly on your budget--we probably spent less than $5 on the entire thing!

Why We Love Our Dad

I realize that Father's Day just passed but I thought I'd share what we did for my husband and you can stow it away for another day.  You could use this same idea for birthday's or any other special day.  Since we're all packed up for our move we didn't have many supplies to make something really cute or impressive but this may have been even more fun!

First I sat my boys down and had them tell me all the reasons that they love their dad.  (Some examples?  "He watches Indiana Jones with us", "He plays good music in the car", "He helps us")  Then I cut letters out of construction paper to spell out "Happy Father's Day".  Once they were cut I wrote one reason on each letter and then had each of the boys help me decorate them.  On Father's Day we hung up our sign in the living room for Dad to find.

Super easy.  Super fun. 

A Book for Dad

While I was browsing around Darlybird one day I came upon these blank board books. I just had to have one! I knew just what I would do with it too--make a book for my husband for Father's Day!

Here are the supplies I used:

*scrapbook paper

*photos

*crayons

*white printer paper

*sharpies

*stickers

*mod podge

First I decorated the cover. I just used scrapbook paper and mod podged it to the front.

The boys and I had fun coming up with what to put on each page. Some pages I covered in colored paper but most I left white. If I didn't have a photo of the activity we were describing I had the boys draw a picture of it for me. Here is a sampling of some of our pages:

Normally, I'm all about printing my journaling in some cute font and color from the computer but I haven't had great luck with mod podging over computer ink. It tends to smear. Instead, I chose to hand write everything with permanent marker.

On one of the last pages I interviewed the two older boys about their dad (ie: What is dad's favorite color?  What do you like to do with dad? etc.)

For the back cover I cut traced and cut each of the boys hands out of scrapbook paper (which coordinated with what was on the front.

We'll find out Sunday if it's a success... but I have a feeling it will be!

p.s. I have since found blank board books for a cheaper price here.

Father's Day Bookmark

I saw this bookmark idea over at Make and Takes around Mother's Day. I loved the idea and decided I'd have to do it with my kids for Father's Day.


I used this site to make my list of Father's names in different languages.  I just picked the ones that I liked.

My daughter has always been curious about the photo booth at our favorite museum.  She was happy that we finally got to try it out.

I mounted the Father's list and the pictures on cardstock back to back.  Then I laminated the bookmark and it was ready.

What kinds of homemade gifts are you doing this year?

Hope you have a happy Father's Day at your home!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Running T-shirt

My husband is a runner. Recently as I was folding the laundry I noticed that his running shirts were getting worn out. Luckily his birthday was coming up. Instead of giving him a plain ol' t-shirt I had the boys help me make a special one just for Dad.

I ran to Hobby Lobby and got a few different colors of fabric paint and an alphabet stencil. On the back I painted this (from Dr. Suess's One Fish, Two Fish):

And then for the fun part. Each boy got to pick his own color of paint, dip his foot in and put it on the shirt. The boys thought this was so much fun and couldn't wait to give it to their dad.

And my husband said it's the best present he's ever gotten . . .