Easy and Affordable Father's Day Gift Ideas

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

06 Jun 2009 04:07 AM

Make Father's Day gift giving a lot more fun this year by helping your little one craft a homemade present for dad. If you are working with a tight budget, then you will really appreciate the following ideas. They are simple, affordable, and are ideal for the dad who has everything:

STICK PHOTO FRAME

Materials:

Twigs, sticks, or pieces of broken tree bark

String

Craft glue (or hot glue, if supervised by an adult)

A photo for framing

Directions:

Collect about 20 twigs (10 should be roughly 2 inches longer than your photo and the other 10 should be about 2 inches wider than your photo).

Separate twigs into two piles.

Arrange the twigs so that they surround the photo and extend outward about an inch in each direction.

Use string to tie the twigs at each corner, making an "X" pattern.

Glue the photo onto the back of your twig frame.

Loop a piece of string and glue it to the top of frame, in order to hang the photo.

CD FRAME

Materials:

Old CD or DVD (this is a great way to recycle old CDs and DVDs)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Photo for framing

Scissors

Double stick tape

Adhesive backed felt

Craft glue

Paint

Butter knife

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt and water. If mixture is too sticky add a small amount of flour until you achieve a smooth dough-like consistency. However, be careful not to add too much flour or the mixture will dry too quickly and crack.

Mold a base for your photo frame (in any shape you desire); making sure that it is at least 1-inch deep and 2 inches wide.

Use butter knife to make a slot in the base; making sure to slice at least halfway down through base, then wiggle knife back and forth a little to widen slot.

Bake base on a cookie sheet for 2 hours or air-dry overnight.

Let child paint the base, then let dry thoroughly.

Cut photo into a 3-inch circle. Attach it to CD with double face tape. Cover the back of the CD with sticky back felt. Use glue to secure CD in molded base.

Allow glue to dry thoroughly before presenting gift to dad.

Related Articles:

Your Dad's Photo on the Cover of a Magazine

Father's Day Photo Gift Ideas

Photo Gifts for All Occasions

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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