Handmade 2012: Father's Day Present Ideas

With Father's Day just around the corner, I've been thinking of present ideas that my little one and I can make for the various dad figures in our lives. In my experience, a handmade present is always more gratefully received on such occasions as it shows more thought has gone into personalising the day. So if you're stuck for thrifty inspiration, look no further!

Earlier this year I made several superhero outfits for some of my son's friends. Why not adapt this idea and sew a cape on a tee shirt for your dad.

Simply cut your chosen fabric to size, pin on to the tee shirt, and then sew into place. You could even use fabric pens/paints to design a Superdad motif on the front. He'll love running around the garden pretending to be a superhero. You could even buy him a new pair of pants and make him wear them over his trousers!

Or why not upcycle some cufflinks? For my friend Jim's birthday recently I bought a pair of basic cufflinks fastenings and personalised them. I used a glue gun to attach scrabble tiles of his initials to each cufflink. But Lego pieces, buttons or old coins would work equally well. Poundland are currently selling cufflinks for £1 so this would be a very cheap but lovely gift for the dad in your life.

Another easy present idea would be to make them a cork notice board, using cork's from wine bottles. When I made mine a few years ago I collected corks over about two months, but I've now realised you can buy the corks from home brewing shops and online.

All that is needed is to buy a large-ish photo frame and a piece of card to fit in it. Then glue the corks onto the card. Maybe attach a photo of the two of you with a pin, as a nice finishing touch.

For a lovely handmade present from the little ones, get arty. My son has just made some Jackson Pollock inspired photo frames for friends of his. Using plain wooden photo frames, he splattered different coloured paints over them. I think the frames cost £1.20 for a pack of three from Ikea. This technique would also work well to decorate a 'man box' for dad's, to keep their odds and ends in. S.C.R.A.P blog has some useful tips for this.

Photo taken from S.C.R.AP. blog

I would love to hear about any more 'man' present ideas you've had. Drop me an email at Thrift-Queen@hotmail.co.uk or Tweet me @QueenThrift and have fun making!