Father's Day

I am writing this post before Father's Day, but I am not posting it until Father's Day.  This is simply because if I do, then Daddy won't be surprised.  Since I have to save this post for Father's Day, you will just have to remember my ideas for next year, or if you still need a last minute gift, I suppose you could throw something together quickly using one of my ideas.

Daddy got 3 surprises this year. 

Surprise #1
The first one was a plaque that Angie and I made.  All you need is a cheap frame, 2 colors of paint, and a printer.  I bought a 8.5x11 frame at Michael's using a 50% off coupon which made it $2.49.  I also bought 2 bottles of paint for $0.89 each.  I already had paintbrushes and a printer, so the entire gift was under $5.

Start out by deciding what you want your plaque to say.  It could be a poem or song lyrics or a Bible verse.  I Googled "Father's Day Bible Verses" and chose this one:

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” (NIV)
Psalm 103:13

Then, when Dad's not home, take one of his shoes and cover the bottom in paint.  Be careful not to ruin his shoe (and make sure to clean it up well when you are done!) Make a shoe print right across the paper.  (You may need a bigger paper if Dad has unusually large feet).  Allow it to dry thoroughly.

Then take your little one's foot and paint the bottom in a different color paint.  Make a footprint right over the top of Dad's.

Allow it to dry once again.  Then place in frame and wrap it up to give to Dad.

Pretty simple, huh?

My only problem with this is that 3 year olds don't quite grasp the concept of a surprise. So when you have them help you make a gift for Daddy and tell them "Don't tell Daddy, it's a surprise" they run right to Daddy and tell him that they made him a present and painted their feet.  Errgh.

 

Surprise #2: Father's Day Video

I don't really have directions on this one, it was just one of those ideas that popped into my head and I just couldn't go on until I tried it.  I am by no means an experienced movie maker, but I have used Windows Live Movie Maker a few times in the past.  If I can recall, it was a free download off the Windows website.  Anyway, I took clips of Angie at different stages and added them to the movie.  Then, the other day, I tricked Michael into letting me tape him dancing around with Angie in her princess dress.  I put it all together, and added some music.  I don't think it will win any awards, but I would say it's not too bad for what little knowledge I have on the subject.

If you like this (or even if you don't) you can make one of your own.  Trust me, if I can figure out how to make a movie, you probably can too.  Just download Windows Live Movie Maker and start adding clips of home movies!

Surprise #3: Cookies!!!

Something I always wished I had was letter-shaped cookie cutters.  So I justified buying a pack of them from Amazon.com for this project (Plus there are a million other things I can use them for!)

You can use just about any cookie recipe for these, but I used a simple sugar cookie recipe.  Prepare the dough and flatten it out with a rolling pin.  Cut out your letters with the cookie cutters and carefully place them on a greased cookie sheet, then bake.

Obviously, you can spell out any message you want.  And you can use this gift for any occasion... birthday, Christmas, congrats, etc.  I would have decorated these with icing, but I was running low on time as I was up late last night baking these.  Next time I use these I will decorate the cookies for sure.  Daddy loved the cookies, although Angie ate most of them. =)