Soon it will be ‘Fathers day’ again around the third week in June and we well be celebrating our dad just for being ‘dad!’
No matter who represents dad, whether it’s a stand in dad, or carer, or someone who simply cares and is there for you, no matter what, but to you he’s your dad.
In this post I will be looking at making and easy ‘Fathers day’ gift ideas!
That’s exactly what it says on the tin so to speak, what you see is what you get!
So what comes to mind when you think of your dad?
Do you see an array of tools fly before your eyes? I don’t mean literally, but what you would associate dad with.
I remember my dad being an excellent cook, he loved animals and had homing pigeons. not into DIY, though he would dabble and leave a mess behind him.
Generally for some reason dads seem to be associated with, hammers, nails, nuts, paint, paint-brushes, overalls, ladders, screw-drivers, painted hands, ties, shirts, cardigans, a certain dad scent and gardening, o’h and football!
So let us take tools as one area we can look at, this is a bit like a lucky dip and see what you pull out the bag, in this instance we pulled out tools.
Thinking about it, there is a lot you can link or connect to dad, but how do you shorten or refine it to something simple. You tune in to what dads about and focus on that, in our case it’s diy tools.
Let us elaborate a bit more. Is your dad very untidy, loosing stuff when he puts it down and he can’t find it, then this is the area where we can make something that dad can use, to help tidy his space up and make life much easier.
CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 YEARS OLD, CAN DO THIS ACTIVITY WITH A TINY BIT OF HELP FROM ADULTS!
We can put a smile on dads face, that wouldn’t cost the earth, but a very useful gift…….how about making a tidy container?
Something that dad can put his bits and pieces in, like tools or handy things, ready for him to find easily, all his stuff to hand, I am looking at making ‘Easy Fathers day gift ideas!’
First let’s have a look at how fathers day came about. Watch this short video which will put you more in the picture.
LET’S HIGHLIGHT THIS!
Now you have a better idea and the story behind fathers day, dads were not greatly rated, until there was a tragic event that took place before characters like Grace Clayton and Senora Dodd, tried to promote celebrating fathers day, with good reason, but it didn’t materialise.
Until Margaret Smith a senator wrote to congress highlighting this, how we have Mothers day, so how about Fathers day.
Later, taking this into consideration, Lyndon Johnson made a declaration to honour fathers every 3rd Sunday in June.
But it wasn’t until 1972 where President Nixon finally proclaimed it as a national holiday and ‘Fathers day’ has been celebrated since, following ‘Mothers day’.
SO NOW WE GOT THAT OUT OF THE WAY, LET’S CONTINUE!
Getting back to our project, we are going to have a look at our throw-outs and see what would be suitable to put together and make some kind of container.
Something that would be tough enough to take a bang or a knock and a shape that can hold more than one tool.
WHAT DID I FIND?
A short while later, after having a good look in my recycle bag, keeping in mind a container that can hold a weightier item and take a knock or two, I found a couple of tin cans and a large plastic container.
I also found some stretchy wrapping up packaging paper, the type they use to wrap around glass bottles that has a criss cross effect and looks very organic, some garden blue string, that we can also put to good use and a McDonalds cardboard cup holder.
So we are making very simple containers and easy to embellish too.
THIS IS WHAT WE NEED!
RESOURCES!
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2 empty cleaned tin cans.
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1 large plastic container.
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1 McDonalds cup holder.
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Garden string.
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Stretchy packaging wrapper.
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Double sided tape.
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Scissors.
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A dad message printed out ready from the computer.
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Lollipop stick.
ARE YOU READY? THEN LET’S GET CRAFTING!
SOME TIPS!
- You can replace dads tools with some new ones of course, availble at Amazon or DIY stores, or simply leave empty and let your dad put the tools he wants.
- Be careful when cleaning the tin cans, as you can cut your fingers.
- I prefer double sided tape, alternatively you can use a clear glue, although as I have used a paper mesh it could become quite messy and could rip up if you don’t get it right the first time round.
- You can leave the tin cans plain without any wrappings, they will still look good.
- It helped to have the McDonald cup holder, as the tin cans fit inside them comfortably, failing this you could find a box, maybe a empty tissue box and shape the hole to accomadate the tin cans. Then you can paint the tissue box or wrap it up with any interesting materials you find.
- When making a dads message, it’s entirly up to you how you present this, hand write it if you prefer, I mounted it on blue card, although you can keep it simple and just have a message on white paper cut and shaped to pop into one of the cans.
- The inside of the tins might look a bit rough, don’t worry about this, it’s all part of the authentic look, but if it bothers you, then you can use permanent markers and do some scribbly patterns, although if you mess up, the ink will be hard to remove and trying to clean the inside of the tin may be harmful, so be cautious.
TO CONCLUDE!
This has been on the most quickest and easiest craft projects I have made. With the added help of finding and up-cycling some useful throw-outs, in making some easy ‘Fathers Day’ gift ideas!
Sometimes simple is the best and no fussing involved. This project can be carried out with very young children, just support them when they get stuck.
To be honest, you could use this type of activity for your kids essentials, like their extra pencil case equiptment, pens, pencils, brushes rulers and so on.
You just need to remember, to keep hold of your tin cans and put them to one side and check out large plastic containers, like the one I used in this project.
Tin cans are quite rustic and pure looking and very versatile and can be used in a number of craft projects, so watch this space!