Help with Father's Day Ideas

Hi,

When my daughter was about 17 months we made a father's days shirt for him. I went to Michael's and I bought a t-shirt and some fabric paint and I put the hand and feet prints on the shirt and then I wrote with the fabric paint - I love you Daddy. This shirt was a huge hit. It wasn't very expensive and my daughter is now almost 4 and she loves it when her dad wears the shirt with her hand and foot prints on it. It's lasted the last few years really well.

D.

Oh I am very excited to share what I love to do for my husband!!!!! I have a blog about it go here..... http://thingsandplacesforkids.blogspot.com/ scroll to the bottom and then click on older posts and it is the third entry.... I've also done one on a white shirt with black and wrote I walk all over dad! ENJOY!!!! :)

hey R., i thinnk that the fathers day gift that my husband loved toe most was last year. i went down to michaels craft store and picked up a big bucket of white modeling clay and did handprints of all of my kids. then i chose individual pics of each of my kids with him, (my favorite special moments) uploaded them to costco and had them printed with a sepia tint and framed them with a shadow box. picture on one side and hand handprint on the other. i did a caption above all of them on the wall that said imagine how many lives they will touch. in 10 years of marraige and five kids my husband has never cried, last fathers day he did. good luck and tell him happy fathers day for me!

Stepping stones are a great idea. You can put your son's little footprint and write something or decorate it with stones. It's something that you can have forever and always look back and see how small his little footprint was at one time! I did this with my children when my oldest was 4, she is almost 11 and we still have them! You can find them at Michael's and most craft stores.

I started taking my son to a portrait place (although you could easily do this at home) and had a picture of him taken wearing a shirt and tie of my husbands - we are approaching my son's (and husband's) fourth father's day, each year, I have had the same pic. taken - same shirt and tie...really cute to see how my son has grown (this year I need to incorporate baby #2 into the picture!)

Awwwssss.first of all..so cool you have a hubby that you can do that for...is lovely to see someone saying such nice things about their husband. I'm not a very crafty person, but something like a "Dad's day scrapbook" might be nice. You can put photos, mementos and other things in there that are "great dad" related. (As they pertain to your family.)

I know with mine, its hard to do the same because he's a great dad and there's no thanking him for it..he just is and was raised to believe that everyone pitches in. His attention to our children is wonderful and he is even a good "fuzzy dad" and he had no pets growing up.

So I suggest something that memorializes and looks ahead at his "great dad" days. Make it something that you can look at fondly throughout your kids' days, if you have more you can add from them, etc. Eventually you will have a tradition of adding to his collection of memories, and each year you get to look at all the wonderful things from years before.

Good luck, and again, its so wonderful to see someone saying "My husband is great and helps me out". We don't see enough of that these days as it seems its always easier to "blame the man" then to thank him. I wish I knew a specific to tell you but my hubby is horrible about giving me even the slightest of ideas. He says "he doesn't want presents" and we do have a "no gratuitous gifts rule" that says basically nothing just to get something. We don't always have something to give but our time with each other so we take advantage of that...which if you are looking for something personal, you might go that route too. Places like Glamour Shots made a mint on that idea a long time ago...now with the internet age and lots of freelancers out there, its possible you don't need to go to a studio..) So if you are into that...grinz..go for it:) I am a photographer so personal photos are something I can suggest...but do be careful if you go that route and meet your photographer before hand to make sure that this is what you want. Always take someone with you to the shoot you can trust (since this would be a gift I guess hubby is out but take a girlfriend). He might appreciate a very feminine gift from you....sometimes we forget our hubbies need to feel "wanted" too...grinz. We just assume they know I think. So maybe something from "junior" and something from "wife" would be nice instead of from "mommy"...hmm...I kind of like that idea...might do it meself :)

R.,

Last year I cut out a paper tie and put my childs handprint on it. I wrote on it "Happy Father's Day" "2008" He loved it! I used a paperclip to clip it to his shirt and he wore it to church. I intend to do it again this year. If you like I would send you a pattern.

N.

Every year I take my kids outside and have a "photo shoot" in which I take about a hundred pictures of them in color, B&W, and Sepia, then I send them to Costco to make him current wallet size photos. I also take a couple of the most awesome shots and print them larger to put in great frames so he can put them on his desk at work.

Last year I made us basketball jerseys( he had recently put a basketball hoop on our garage) each with our nicknames on the back and bought everybody striped tube socks. There are five in our family so we make a basketball team:)

I also create his card on the computer and have the kids add the art:)

All of these presents have brought a tear to his eye, especially the cards:)

How about one of those digital picture frames? You can easily update it all the time with new pictures.

L. H

SAHM to 10 and 6 year old girls.

Hi R.!

It's funny that you post this question because I have been thinking the same thing! Years ago my sister had her pictures taken with her daughter (just the two of them) and had them framed. She gave them to him for Father's Day. I always thought it was the sweetest gift because it truly was from the both of them!

Now for my own plug... I am a photographer who specializes in children and families, and I give discounts to Mamasource members! You can check out my website at www.JillyBean-Photography.com and also my discount at the top of the Mamasource page under "Local Business Reviews".

Good luck! I'm sure he'll love whatever you come up with (sounds like a good guy!!!).

J.

Well this isn't a home made idea but over at Bridgeport village there is a Barbershop that is a manly man shop where they gat a beverage of choice and will do an old- fashioned shave. They have all other services also. My hubby realy liked this last year.

R.,

Have you considered Kids N Clay over by Alderwood Mall? You and your son could go in and create something from scratch, or just paint something premade.

For last Christmas my hubby and I brought in our two kids and put their handprints on a large square serving plate and gave it to my in-laws.

They offer jsut about anything you could imagine, coffee mugs with dad on it, bowls, etc. And, they are relatively inexpensive as well.

Melissa :)
http://www.kidsnclay.com/lynnwood/

Hi R.,

For a gift from your son idea, I'd like to add a different idea to the photo stream...

Some of the photo Websites (I use shutterfly.com) offer bound books. Take a bunch of photos of your son and hubby doing different things. Upload them and design a picture book for them to read together. Shutterfly's is super easy. You create an account, upload photos, choose a layout, drag the pictures in and add captions.

For a gift from you,

My husband appreciates Scotch, so I bought him a new bottle, something he didn't have. Think about the indulgences your hubby likes but doesn't get to have very often.

Good luck. I'll be watching this thread for ideas for us!

I surprised my hubby one year by packing up the car and planned an over night camping trip ( I borrowed stuff from friends, I'm a city girl), We did go into town for coffee.

How's your bbq?..one year..I took him to home depot and let him pick out his own gas bbq, they have those great no interest payment plans. The day before I made potatoe salad, picked up steaks and burgers and invited his brother and family so the guys could set it up..nothing says pride to a man like a gas grill!!

For the last 6 years, I've made a tshirt for my hubby. It says "best daddy hands down" and my kids each put a handprint on it. Last year, we laid all of them out side by side and could see the handprints grow, and we added one.

You can get a tshirt and fabric paint at the craft store.

He calls them his favorite shirts and wears them almost everyday.

~S.

Dear R.
You can have pitures transfered to a cup if he drinks
coffee this would be a neat way for him to show off his
son at work or a Father son frame,blanket there are all
kinds of different things you can do & I'm sure that no
matter what you do he will love it he sounds like a
wonderful man you are Blessed to have such a wonderful
Husband & Father to you & your son.

God Bless you all & get busy it may take you till that
special day to get it done good luck.
Me a Mother of 4 Granmother of 9 & very Blessed with love
your friend J.

Someone already mentioned this idea, but I thought I would also recommend that there are alot of photo products out there that are really cool. I use Snapfish.com (an HP website). Last year I made the photo mugs for my husband and father-in-law and they both loved the mugs. You can write a message on the cup, there is room to put many different pictures (it's a good idea to crop the pics so faces are the main focus and you can do this from the website). There are many other products from Snapfish that he may enjoy if he doesn't drink coffee or tea.
Also...another idea that adds to what another person already brought up: instead of a paper tie, go buy a tie and use permanent, non-toxic craft paint from the craft store to add your son's handprints to the tie.
Good luck!

R.,
when i was little my mom and i mad a weekend for my dad for father's day. we made him breakfast in bed, played games, made him lunch, i drew (scribbled more like) a picture, we went for a walk together. For dinner, my mom sent my dad to drop me and my brother off to a friends house on the far side of town. By the time my dad got home, the house was lit with candles and there was a nice dinner for two and mom even had a nice bubble bath for him and gave him a nice massage (or so she says). she went all out with the candles and romantic music...

R....
What a good daddy you have! You and your son make sure you cherish and tell him often how good he is at all this daddy stuff!! If you want to go strictly homemade, I think the stepping stones is a great idea, that coupled with breakfast in bed, or make his favorite for dinner and he would probably be very happy! One other idea I have is maybe get him some tickets to any of the local sports teams you have in town, I bet he'd love that! This year I am planning a stealth attack on my hubby's new office at work. I am going to go in and decorate it and when he goes back to work he will be surprised, a framed pic of the mars rover, a digital pic frame for his desk,rearrange his furniture in a more cohesive way, bring in his favorite book shelf he got while in the Army(that he has been lugging around with us, every time we move) and just for fun: a name plate for his desk that says his name and then underneath it its says "Sgt. Major of the Universe", this is a title he seems to take whenever he has done something clever or astounding---yeah, my hubby's a goofy guy!---But its the thought that counts, so think about what makes your hubby happy and what his interests are and go from there,,,always throw in some food somewhere, guys love that!!

For Father's Day last year, I organized a cribbage tournament for my guy and our friends, complete with a couple prizes, snacks and beverages. He loved being able to play one of our favorite games, getting time with friends and having to do none of the work himself. It has since blossomed into a twice a year deal because it is so popular amongst our friends. The first time we did it at home; the second, at a favorite pub. Making time for our husbands to do something they enjoy and/or spend time with people they don't get to see as often is something my guy enjoys.

Hope you find a great idea that works for your family.