6 Homemade Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Show your dad he’s the best on Father’s Day, with a handmade gift. Here are 6 great homemade Father’s Day gift ideas.

FORT DAD

Here’s where Dad can keep stamps, pens and pencils, paper clips, rubber bands — you know, the small stuff that gets lost. Making it look like a fort makes it fun, too.

1. Cut some cardboard tubes into different sizes. Make two of them short — about 1 or 2 inches tall. Don’t make any that are more than 4 inches tall.

2. Cover each tube with paper from brown paper bags. Glue or tape it on. Make the paper cover one end of each tube. That will be the bottom of the tube when you glue it down on the base.

3. Glue the tubes together and set them down with all their bottoms flat on the table. Tie them together if you need to while they dry.

4. Cut the base out of cardboard. Color it green or brown so that it looks like the ground.

5. Glue the bottom of the “fort” to the base. Let that dry.

6. Cut or break twigs into the right sizes to glue onto the fort. Use a rubber band to hold them on while they dry. If you don’t have twigs, you can glue on torn pieces of bags to look like rocks.

7. Make one twig tall and glue a paper “Dad” flag on it.

GO-TOGETHER PUZZLE

Show Dad that you go together like pieces of a puzzle.

1. Get a photo of you and your dad that you have permission to cut up.

2. Cover the back of it with a thin layer of glue.

3. Set it down on a bigger piece of thick paper or light cardboard. Line it up evenly. Press down on the center with one hand and rub out to the edges from the center with the other hand. This way, you won’t get air bubbles.

4. After it dries, decorate the paper border around the photo.

5. Cut it into small curvy pieces. Make sure they’re not too small — you will write on the back of each piece.

6. Turn over the pieces and write a different great thing about your dad on each one, such as “smart” or “funny” or “takes me fishing.”

7. Give it to Dad in a small box or bag that says, “We Go Together,” and watch him smile.

NO. 1 DAD TROPHY

Give him this trophy for being the greatest!

1. Turn a large plastic or paper cup upside down.

2. Glue a plastic or paper bowl on top of the bottom of the cup. (Tip: Not all glues work with plastic; check the label.)

3. Draw a handle on heavy paper or light cardboard and cut it out. Trace around it to get the second handle. This way, they match. Or cut two handles at once so they are the same.

4. Fold over the ends of the handles about 1 inch, and glue or tape them onto each side of the cup.

5. Ask an adult to help you spray it with silver or gold paint.

6. After it dries, decorate it with a “#1 Dad” sign.

7. Fill it with Dad’s favorite candy, and show him he’s a winner! Later on, he can use it to hold his spare change or pocket stuff (or more candy).

SUPER-SECRET STASH

It looks like a jar of junk on the outside, but Dad can hide stuff inside!

1. Get an old jar with a lid.

2. Cut an empty toilet paper tube so it will fit down inside the jar.

3. Cut a circle out of heavy paper that fits on the bottom of the jar.

4. Tape the cardboard tube on one end to the middle of the paper circle. Set this inside the jar.

5. Place old nails or screws all around the tube to disguise it through the jar glass, but leave the tube empty. Make sure you can’t see the tube.

CORD CORRAL

Have your dad’s cords and cables gone wild? Round ’em up in style!

1. Take a few empty toilet paper rolls and make them look sharp by coloring or painting them or putting on stickers or pictures from magazines. If you want them to hide the cords more, then make them the same color as the floor or furniture.

2. Stand them on end to dry.

3. Now Dad can tuck all those crazy cords inside!

CONTROL THE CONTROL

“Where’s the TV remote control?” Dad will never play hide-and-seek with that important little gadget again if you make this for him.

1. Find a small Pringles potato chips–type of can that your controller fits in.

2. Spread a thin layer of tacky glue on the outside.

3. Cover the can with craft sticks. Make sure the bottoms of the sticks are at the bottom of the can. Use paper or magazine cutouts if you don’t have sticks.

4. Hold the sticks on with a rubber band until they dry.

5. Glue on letters that spell “DAD” and, if you want, glue on colorful strips around the top and bottom of the can.