Father's Day Frame

This is a frame we made for Father's Day. I had to erase the cutest part, but oh well. The frame, letters, paints, and dogs and bones were all from the craft store. I let the kids paint the frame and letters outside in their underwear. (wood paint stains) It was a huge mess, but since the letters weren't yet attached it didn't matter. I painted in the spots they missed afterward. Then I glued on the letters and the dogs and bones which came already painted. We put in some cute pictures and Father's day was done.

Five Dollar Father's Day

This was cheapest holiday craft ever! I went to the dollar store and saw these wooden plaques two for a dollar. They were really ugly and had the most horrible pea green, baby poop ribbons. They were just the right size for hand prints though, so I grabbed them and held onto them. Next time I was at the dollar store I saw bags of little wooden letters. I figured I could use them for something, so I grabbed a bag. Then I went back to the dollar store again and found wood paint and glaze two for a dollar. I bought a couple dollars worth knowing I'd use them for something. When I brought the paint home and started checking out my supplies, I found the plaques and letters and knew just what I was going to do.
First I had the kids paint the plaques a solid color. Then they chose a different color (we also had some left overs from a previous project) to paint the letters of their name and their hand prints. We made the hand prints, glued on their names, and glazed the whole thing to make it shiny and beautiful. I switched out the ugly ribbon for some nice ribbon I already had, and ended up with a really cute, but really cheap father's day gift! These would also be perfect for mother's day, and you could easily stencil on the kid's names if you couldn't find any little wooden letters.

Fabric Paint

One year for Father's day, we decided to make a tee-shirt, bag and hat. you could make these for someone special any time of year though. The white smudges are where I took out the names. The bag, hat, shirt, stamps, and fabric paints were all from the craft store. The hardest part about this craft is keeping the fabric paint on the intended fabric. I always strip the kids down when using non-washable paints, or have older kids put on an old shirt or a smock. Before diving in with the paints, you'll want to make sure to have a piece of card board in the bag and shirt to keep the paints from bleeding through. We started with the hand prints, then I did the writing, and then the kids did the stamps, with my help. This isn't just one of those things where you can set the kids loose with the paint and stamps. You really have to work with one child at a time and hold their hand while they're stamping. I'm all for creative expression, but I'm not about ruining anything with fabric paint. Believe me, it's hard to get off of any surface...protect yourself! The hat gets a little tricky with the stamps. You have to put your hand inside the had and make a flat surface under where the stamp is going. Overall this wasn't too difficult and I think it turned out to be a really cute gift. Oh yeah, don't wait until the last minute like I tend to do. The paint takes 24 hours to dry.