Father's Day

I don't know if you have tried this one yet, but you can get a t-shirt and have the kids dip their hand in fabric paint and put it on the back. The front will read "MY dad deserves a pat on the back". OR you can do a shirt and let them put their feet in fabric paint and it will read "My kids walk all over me" and include their names and the year.

There is a great website called mypublisher.com where you can make him book of pictures of your kids along with text. As long as you have digital pictures on your computer. Its easy and special because you can really personalize it.

Does your husband garden or like to plant? Mine does, so we are making a garden/stepping stone. They sell kits at AC Moore and you can decorate them and put a hand print in it. Last year we went to a paint your own pottery place and made a cereal bowl and a light plate with my son's hand print on it for his office. My husband isn't really the sentimental kind so it is hard for us. I'm sure your husband will like anything you do.

Hey D.,
I go onto shutterfly.com and I make a photo book for my husband from the kids. I write a little story highlighting fun things we have done in the past year. I put the year number on the binding (it is so simple with shutterfly's website), and now I have started a collection for him. Last year, he teared up reading it. We then also have a lot of our most treasured photos in print. Huge bonus! And if he is into sweets, like my husband, I have the kids make chocolate chip cookies for him. It is a big fun mess!

Well here is one way. At Picture people you chould have your children dress up like there dad and get their picture taken. They always have something going on and some type of specail that they are offering. Or even you chould do the picture at home and have the kids make father's day cards that look like bow ties Or make the cards look like tools, Depends on what your husband likes to do. Think of what your hubby likes to do and do something that the kids maybe able to do or design around that. Is there something that your hubby real wants and will not go and spend the money himself?

Ask your kids what they want to give their daddy. Have fun with it. And don't distress if the weekened dosen't go as plan. Play with the weekened and let it go its path.

Have you ever seen the Once Upon a Family products?

I bought a Dates With Dad Journal last year- it's a little booklet where dads can write down special outings they've done w/ their little girls and there's a little pocket for pictures/receipts etc.

They also have a Photo album with a necktie on the front. One of my friends has a son and every year she dresses him in daddy's shirt and tie and takes a pic for the album. So cute.

http://www.onceuponafamily.com/joydunn

Have your kids go to a Color Me Mine and create their dad one of a kind pottery. It's a little pricey (about $20 a piece when all is said and done), but it is something that they will be proud of because they created it and Dad can actually use once Father's Day is over! They have mugs, plates, statues, bowls, just about anything you can imagine. On Father's Day make breakfast in bed, have the kids give him their presents. I guarentee he will be shocked and thrilled with the love they put into them! Have fun! :)

I did a craft at our karate school that had Dads in tears. I did a silhouette of their head on construction paper and asked them a bunch of questions and listed the question and answer and printed it out on the silhouette using the computer. Simple things like:
favorite color, number, of course name and b-day, tv show, fav thing to do with dad, mom, video game, etc...I then glued and shellacked it to a piece of wood.

Hi D.!
We go to a local baseball game every year on father's day. I'm not sure where you live, but we go to a Wilmington Blue Rocks Game. They play a home game every father's day and they always have fun things for kids that we can all do together. My husband isn't a big sports fanatic, but he loves going to this game together every year. It's inexpensive too!!

hmmmm, could you put an ad in your newspaper or dedicate a song to him on the radio???

I know my hubby would love tickets to a sporting event, that probably isn't what he is getting this year, but i know he would like it.

D.,
My husband likes to golf and so does my son--we plan to get him a gift card for the driving range, where they like to go together!

Dear D.,
I saw someone talk a little bit about scrapbooking & wanted to share something as well. I was an avid scrapbooker when we were first married. My kids are now 1 & 5, so I don't have as much time. However, a few years ago, I purchased a smallish album (5X7 I think) and made him his own for him to take with him. Since my husband drives tractor-trailer, he LOVED being able to "take us with him" wherever he went. I've added one or two pages each year, so it's starting to get a little thick, but he LOVES it!

Hi D.,

Do you scrapbook at all? We made a father's day pages with the kids pictures. On the one page I had a picture of my son holding out his hands and then we painted them and placed them on a scrapbook page and we found a really cute scrapbook poem about handprints. My husband loved the homemade gift. (Although I have to tell you my son almost blew the surprise. As soon as my husband came in from cutting grass, my son, then 2, excitedly told my husband - "Mommy painted my hands purple!" I just looked at my husband and said forget you heard that. So now he has a record of our sons hands when he was 2. Then we made his favorite meal for lunch. Good luch with whatever you choose to do.

Are there any places your husband likes to go to that you normally would't frequent - a special restauarant, a museum, a sporting event. Buy tickets or make reservations for Father's Day weekend.

Included in the presents for my husband and our fathers I am going to include a container of candy with the following letter signed and decorated by my kids. I altered it a bit from one I found on the internet:

For Father’s Day we want to Take 5
to tell you how much we Treasure you.
You are the smartest of the Smarties,
sharing your Nuggets of wisdom with us.
And the fun times we share are Good & Plenty.
Oh, how you make us Snicker at the Nutrageous things you do.
For the big Rolo you play in our lives you deserve 100 Grand.
What a sweet PayDay that would be – a real Skor!
We hope you will take time Now & Later today
to do something that brings you Almond Joy.
You are a real SweetTart, Dad!
Mounds of Hugs and Kisses,
(kids signatures)

Obviously the candy will be the ones named in the letter - Take 5, Treasure, etc.

Good luck!

Do a treasure hunt!!!!!!!!!

I looked into custom M & M's. You pick 2 colors from their choices, and can fit 8 letters/spaces per line, with 2 lines on the M & M. Then you can put another message on the other M & M. My father-in-law is terrible to buy for, but he has a sweet tooth, so that's what we're doing. I think the shipping is fairly quick, too.

Hi D.,
Last year was my husbands first Fathers Day with our son so me, my step daughter and my son took pictures with the digital camera, you know, fun poses... and went to the CVS near by printed them out and framed them. JC Penny also has some really great tee shirts with "Dad" sayings on them this year. We plan on this year getting him a shop-vac and a cd and a dvd. If your husband is into sports maybe something with his team logo? Maybe you and the kids can do a 'daddy' chore for him so he doesn't have to?
Good luck!
Chris

I always make my husband's favorite dinner - crabcakes - for F.D.

I'm not a fan of shellfish, but he loooooves my crabcake recipe, so I indulge with 2 cans of $19.99 jumbo lump and make them for him two or three times a year!!

What are his favorites? Make a big chocolate chip cookie in a heart shaped pan ~ melt some of the chips and put in a ziplock bag, snip off a corner, and have the kids 'write' on the cookie w/the melted chocolate.

There was one time where we were away form each other on Fathers day so we made him his own breakfast in bed (a traditon in our house for special days) out of construciton paper. I seen people make ties for there dads out of paper as most of our friends go to church on Sunday. The dads actually wore thier paper ties to church! You could all decorate a special cake. We've done vouchers that entitle dad to certain chores or favours from us all.
Also when was the last time you wrote you husband a love letter. Yopu can place them all over the house. He amy be finding them for weeks. You can put tehm in any snacks he takes for work nad tape them back up again. Lots of things
Good luck

I found a quick-make scrapbook at Hallmark last year. it took me about an hour to complete and my husband loved it! he was upset this year that I didn't make him another... so I guess that's what I'll be doing for Christmas!