Homemade Father’s Day gifts your dad won’t forget
My daughter and I love to make Father's Day gifts for the most important man in our lives- her father and my husband. We love making them almost as much as he loves getting them. He loves them so much, in fact, he still has every gift we ever made him. The gifts we make are fairly simple and economical to make. He treats them as if they were priceless pieces of art or precious artifacts. He will never forget them the Fathers Day gift she and I make for him.
One year, we made him a scrapbook for Father's Day. She and I looked through all of our photographs and picked out the ones we knew he would like best. Our daughter, only two years old at the time, did all of the artwork and put on all the stickers. I wrote the captions for the pictures and a few poems on certain pages. She "designed" the cover and I wrote the title of the scrapbook "Daddy's Day, 2007" on the cover. He keeps this scrapbook on the nightstand by his bed. The only thing that is ever placed on top of it is his Bible.
We combined the scrapbook with a DVD I made for him. I combined our old video tapes of family outings, vacations and parties. I even included our daughter's first steps; the first steps we were able to record, that is. Although it was time consuming, with the help of a computer program, it was fairly easy to do. I made a cover for the case out of denim material and our daughter decorated the DVD case with colored fabric markers.
Every year, she and I make a "coupon booklet" for Father's Day. This year, she is cutting out the colored construction paper. I will use the hole punch and then she will weave yarn through the holes to keep all the coupons together. She will help me write out the titles by copying the words I write on a separate sheet of paper. Of course, she is responsible for all the artwork on the coupons and the booklet that holds them. As with last year, we will put our heads together and come up "discounts and freebies." The tried and true "Momma Does the Yard Work this Week-End" and "One Day of Rest" will be included. This year we will add some things that our daughter can do for her Daddy all by herself. These will include folding all of his socks for a month, making his toast for breakfast and "Free Hugs and Kisses."
A Father's Day tradition in our home is making gifts using handprints. This year we will make molds of our hands from homemade clay and then bake them. Our daughter will decorate them as she see fit. We also make poster of our handprints. Using scissors is a new skill our daughter is mastering, so she will be responsible for cutting out our handprints. Her Daddy loves to compare the size of her hands now to the size they were in years past. He has one picture of her handprints on the wall in our office. He often takes it down and compares her hands with it.
This year, time permitting, I will also incorporate her footprints as well. I have already started writing a poem about where her little feet will take her as she grows up and how "Daddy takes each step too." I will have her step in paint and walk across a long sheet of butcher's paper. My husband has been looking for a picture to put above his desk, next to her handprints. I believe this new picture will look great there.
Father's Day would not be the same without homemade cards. This year we will add glitter, seeing our daughter is now learning "portion control" when using glue. I will ask her what she wants to say on the card and write her words on another piece of paper. She will them copy those words on the actual card. My husband has already been dropping hints about the cards we will make for him.
Father's Day is great holiday for homemade gifts. My daughter and I love to make them. Her Daddy loves to get these presents. He treasures each one we have made for them. He has kept everyone; many are displayed, both at home and at his office. These Father's Day gifts, not always the most attractive presents, are treasured and will never be forgotten.
