DIY Father’s Day Gifts Dad Will Love!

DIY Father's Day Gifts

When you’re married to a person who loves DIY & crafting, you end up getting a lot of homemade gifts. My husband knows this better than anyone.

For Father’s Day, I had fun with a few simple DIY projects and I was even able to get my kids involved a little bit. I actually completed these projects last year but I wanted to share them with you because they were simple, fun projects and made great gifts! These things are still being displayed and used around my home and have held up really well.

For both of these projects, I followed tutorials found on one of my favorite DIY blogs, Shanty 2 Chic. If you are inclined to do DIY projects then you need to follow these ladies. They do some amazing things, make it look super easy, and provide instructions for everything!

DIY Hand Print Sign

Father's Day sign from the kids
Father’s Day sign from the kids

For this project you will need:

  • Shanty 2 Chic tutorial
  • 1 x 12 Wood Board (24 inches long)
  • Sander
  • Stain
  • White Paint
  • Card Stock Paper
  • Printer
  • Furniture Tacks

First, I bought a 1 x 12 wood board from Lowe’s and had them cut it down into 2 foot sections (I used the extra pieces for other projects). Next, I sanded both sides of the wood and the edges (rounded them off a bit) with my electric sander. You could easily do this step with sandpaper and a little bit of elbow grease.  When you’re finished, take a cloth and wipe all the dust off.

Next, stain or paint your wood the color of your choice. I chose to stain my board in Rustoleum’s Kona. Just paint the stain on with a brush and wipe it off with a cloth and let dry. I brushed on a coat of Polycrylic an hour later.

While the board is drying, check out the Shanty 2 Chic blog and decide which free printable you want to use! The tutorial has some great printable options but I chose to use this one instead and basically combined two different tutorials into one project.  I printed mine out on card stock. The edges will need to be trimmed off after printing.

Once the board is dry, place your printable on one side of the board and use the furniture tacks to hold it in place.

The next step is when the kids can get involved: I used a bottle of white craft paint and painted it on my kids hands. My son was really excited to make a hand print. Before we did it, I had him practice spreading his fingers apart and pushing his hand down on the board so we could get a good hand print. My daughter was really young and not into the hand painting thing yet.  I had my mom help me hold her so I could have both hands available to help her.  She cried and wiggled around but we were able to get a decent print with minimal smearing.

Voila! Let the paint dry and you’ve got a great Father’s Day gift! You can add a picture hanger to the back if you want to hang it on the wall.

DIY Bottle Opener

Father's Day DIY
DIY bottle opener for Dad

For this project you will need:

  • Shanty 2 Chic tutorial
  • 1 x 6 Wood Board
  • Sander
  • Stain
  • Wood Glue
  • Finishing Nails
  • Wall Mounted Bottle Opener
  • 2 Decorative Brackets (optional)

I bought my 1 x 6 wood board at Lowe’s and had them make all the cuts for me according to the tutorial. At home, I sanded both sides of all pieces and rounded the edges off a bit. Rounding the edges is not necessary but I like the way it looks and didn’t care if all my edges didn’t match up exactly when finished.  I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to projects.  Maybe it’s just being lazy but I like to say that my projects have “character” when they’re completed!

Next, stain or paint the wood the color of your choice. Like the previous project, I stained mine in Rustoleum’s Kona. This is my go-to color for most things and I usually have it in stock in my garage.  I brushed on a coat of Polycrylic an hour later and let it all sit to dry for awhile.

Once dry, put the pieces together according to the tutorial. In the tutorial, they use wood glue and a nail gun but I used some finishing nails and my good old hammer in addition to the wood glue and it did worked just as well.

After all the pieces are put together it’s time to attach the bottle opener. Make sure that it’s attached with enough room underneath to fit a bottle. If you choose to add the brackets for decoration you can do that as the last step.

To get the kids involved: I took them to Pops out in Arcadia and let them pick out some soda for their daddy so he could use the new bottle opener.  They had a lot of fun and I miraculously made it out of there with a 6-pack of soda, two curious little kids who wanted to touch everything and no broken bottles!

Both of these projects were very simple and didn’t take long to complete.   These would be great gifts for any dad!

Do you have any DIY gifts planned for your husbands? We want to hear about them! And if you’re not into DIY – don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with our  Father’s Day Gift Guide.

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Krista Carpenter
My husband Jason and I met at church after we had already graduated from college and started on our own career paths. We were married in 2009 and settled down in Edmond, OK. I am mommy to our sons Gavin & Gage and daughter Greta They are crazy kids that keep me on my toes all the time! By day, I am an Oil & Gas accountant. By night, I’m a self-proclaimed DIY-er and am constantly changing things at my house. My husband and kids are good sports about this and usually roll with it when I up and change something without warning. I am excited to share some projects with you as well as share ideas and inspiration.

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