Creative Father’s Day Gifts That Your Dad is Sure to Love

June 5, 2012 by Amy Clark

It’s no secret that I love my dad like crazy!  Last year we got the opportunity to celebrate him at a dinner in honor of his 35 years of employment with Bayer. This picture of my sister & me with him is one of my favorites from that evening together.  Sadly, for us, our brother has moved to New Orleans so one piece of our puzzle was missing in this picture. He actually has three kids that are so proud of him and adore him!

I had a blast sharing with you my gift ideas for Mother’s Day this year and I can’t wait to showcase some of my favorite Father’s Day gifts that I have given my dad over the years. I hope you will find these ideas inspiring for this gift-giving season.

It’s no secret that I love my dad like crazy!  Last year we got the opportunity to celebrate him at a dinner in honor of his 35 years of employment with Bayer. This picture of my sister & me with him is one of my favorites from that evening together.  Sadly, for us, our brother has moved to New Orleans so one piece of our puzzle was missing in this picture. He actually has three kids that are so proud of him and adore him!

I had a blast sharing with you my gift ideas for Mother’s Day this year and I can’t wait to showcase some of my favorite Father’s Day gifts that I have given my dad over the years. I hope you will find these ideas inspiring for this gift-giving season.

To include in our movie tub, we added a gift card for two months of Netflix for only $15.98. With our five dollars in snacks, this gift is just a little over twenty dollars, but is worth two months of fun! We tied the gift card with this photo that we also printed on 4×6 paper and finished it all with a little red ribbon.

Make a Power Pack for Your Super-Dad-  Do you have a sporty dad in your life? You will love this idea for creating a gift that he can really use when powering up for his favorite sports activities. I came up with this idea for a power pack for our favorite superhero dad with snacks and drinks that he can take on the road with him.

To make this gift, start with a basket or tub. I found this party tub over with the outdoor supplies and would be perfect for storing beverages on the patio after dad is done using it for his gift. On the bottom of the tub, put a layer of newspaper to fill out the tub. Newspaper can be a great way to reduce waste on your gift budget that can be wasted on fillers for the basket and this is a great way to make the basket look fuller for less. Once you have a newspaper layer, top it with colored shredded paper to cover the newspaper bottom. Finish your basket by filling it with power foods. I got Powerade and power protein bars for our dad. Feel free to add your own spin on the power foods. In my opinion, coffee and chocolate are power foods that would fit very nicely into this theme. Explore the grocery aisles for your own dad’s favorite power foods.

Next I had my kids pose for pictures in their superhero capes. Feel free to make your own spin on this though. You could also have your children do strong man poses or lift weights, put on a sweatband and leg warmers, whatever you think says power. Your dads will really get a kick out of this.

Follow the instructions outlined for our movie basket gift idea to create pictures with fun text on them. Tape this image to the front of your party tub. I also stuck another picture on the other side of the tub of my daughter with her extremely scary power pose. That’s a lot of power!

Still stumped for ideas? Here are my few of my favorites!

Give the Gift of Grilling-  Grilling is one of my dad’s favorite pastimes and I am sure it is yours too. Give him a fabulous new Kenmore grill or some great grilling tools that he can use with his new grill. I highly recommend a digital thermometer, a great grilling cookbook, a great grilling seasoning set, or some snazzy new grilling tools.

Give the Gift of Memories- Do you know something about the dad in your life that you could use as a creative gift? Think of their favorite book as a child or think of a gift that he said he always wanted, but never got when he was young. Try and find those items on eBay and write a personal message to them about how you always remembered that this was special to him. You don’t have to pay to get a first-edition of the item, remember that the thought is there and he will appreciate that you remembered that special fact about him.

Amy Clark

Amy Allen Clark has been the driving force behind MomAdvice since 2004. In addition to running a successful community for women and running after her two kids, she has appeared on The Early Show, and in Parents magazine, Redbook, Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, MSN Money and The New York Times.