More shops are open and online buying remains popular, but that doesn’t mean you have to blow your budget on a Father’s Day present. Dad might not ooze the same sentimentality as Mom, but he still values children who are thoughtful with their money and imaginative with their gifts.
Below are five easy DIY Father’s Day gift ideas that will earn big appreciation while costing little or nothing.
Customized Picnic
This picnic emphasizes the serving items more than the cuisine. Pick up a pack of sturdy white plates at the supermarket and a set of colored markers. Younger children can doodle on each plate — rainbows, unicorns, aliens, cars or whatever sparks their imagination.
Older kids — and adults — can write messages on the plates sharing memories about Dad: a sentence, a short paragraph or a list. (Younger artists can dictate their thoughts to an older sibling or parent.) Try prompts like these:
- A lesson Dad taught me
- Books he read to me
- His favorite songs
- Movies we watched together
- A memorable vacation moment
- A time he really supported me
Depending on how many children contribute and how much they want to share, cups and dessert plates can also be decorated or used to record amusing and heartfelt notes. Pack everything in a box with plastic cutlery, napkins and details about where and what you’ll eat. With a picnic this special, the menu and location are secondary, so the backyard or even the kitchen floor will do just fine.
The Daily Dad
You can adapt the same content ideas from the customized picnic into a newspaper celebrating the father in your life. Consider playful titles like The Dad Street Journal, The New Dad Times, The Old Dad Times, The Daily Dad, and so on.
Tape printed photos and stories onto a newspaper front page, or use a newsletter layout in Pages, Google Docs, or Word to design your own.
If you don’t subscribe to a paper, buy a copy from a vending box around town. Many communities also offer free arts or local newspapers in boxes or at coffee shops.
If you need prints, Walgreens and CVS have smartphone apps that let you order photo prints for mail delivery or in-store pickup within an hour. You can also hand-draw illustrations to accompany tales like the time Dad accidentally sent you to school in pajamas or your favorite moment binge-watching SpongeBob together.
Dad Rocks
Purchase a plastic toolbox, tackle box or small watering jug from a home center for about $10. Grab some super glue too. Find five small stones in your yard or a nearby park and glue them onto the container. Use bright paint to write “My Dad Rocks.”
Create coupons for an hour of help with yardwork, household fixes, or a fishing lesson, and tuck them inside the container.
You Gotta Hand It to Dad
Apply acrylic paint to create a handprint or footprint on a tote, posterboard or apron for the dad who grills or cooks. Then add a caption:
- “Daddy’s wrapped around my little finger.” Sketch a bit of string around the smallest finger.
- “This dad is the best, hands down.” Use two handprints from one child or multiple prints from several kids.
- “Hooked on Dad.” Turn horizontal handprints into fish by adding an eye and a fin, then paint a hook in the mouth with a line leading up.
- “Dad’s helper.” Make a horizontal handprint and paint a long rectangle below it to make the handle of a hammer. Add a couple of fingerprint “nail heads” and write: “As a dad, you’ve nailed it.”
- “Number One Fan.” Use a horizontal footprint painted brown, then add white laces so it resembles a football. (An official NFL ball has eight cross stitches and 16 holes — a fun trivia prompt for Dad.)
Father’s Day Cards (Not Those Kinds)
Snap a photo of a child’s drawing or use a favorite family photo and upload it to a service like Vistaprint or UPrinting to create custom cards. You can also upload a cherished picture of Dad with the kids.
Ten personalized folding cards and envelopes on Vistaprint run about $15; 25 personalized postcards on UPrinting cost about $13.
Even with occasional shipping delays, Vistaprint orders are typically delivered within eight days.
Jessica Hale is a freelance writer and editor in St. Petersburg, Fla., and author of Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker: Missteps and Lessons Learned.
