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Father's Day gifts: 5 fun craft ideas for Father's Day

DIY gifts take a lot of time and effort, so they're a great way to show someone important how much they mean to you. If you would like to make a Father's Day gift yourself, you can find various original ideas for children and adults in this article that are guaranteed to put a smile on dad's face.

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Father's Day gift craft with toddlers: DIY cooking apron

If the dad loves to cook or often barbecues in the summer, a DIY barbecue apron is both a lovely and useful gift. Young children will have lots of fun with this Father's Day craft idea.

Materials for the DIY barbecue apron

  • White or beige cotton apron

  • Fabric paints in red, orange, yellow, grey, and black

  • Ironing machine

  • Cardboard as a base

Instructions for the homemade barbecue apron

1. First, iron the apron smooth to get a flat area for the design.

2. Draw a simplified grill on the fabric. For example, a semicircle with a grid pattern and three legs to make a spherical grill. Let the paint dry so that it doesn‘t smudge later on.

3. Let your child carefully press his or her hands into the yellow and then into the red paint and leave a handprint on the apron. For more handprints, you can also use orange paint. This will create the flames of the barbecue.

4. If you like, you can give dad a title on his new cooking apron, e.g. "Grill Master", "Kitchen Hero" or "Cooking Champion".

Tip: The apron must be made of a fabric that accepts textile dye well and at the same time is strong enough to protect against heat and splashes of grease. Fabrics such as linen or cotton without a water-repellent coating are suitable.

Father's Day gift craft with children: create your own key ring

This DIY Father's Day gift accompanies dad every day: a homemade key ring makes the bunch of keys easier to spot so that they are no longer misplaced or forgotten. At the same time, the lovingly designed pendant can also act as a lucky charm and remind dad of his loved ones every time he picks up the keys.

Materials for a DIY keychain

  • DIY modelling clay or air-drying clay

  • Knife or cookie cutter

  • Stamps with letters and shapes

  • Small wooden stick

  • Small pendant & key ring (alternative: yarn)

  • Acrylic paint in different shades

Recipe for DIY modelling clay: cold porcelain

If you don't have air-drying clay on hand and are looking for a suitable DIY modelling clay, cold porcelain is a good option. Compared to salt dough, cold porcelain is more velvety (less grainy) and appears whiter. You only need three ingredients for this:

  • ½ cup cornflour

  • 1 cup baking soda

  • ¾ cup water

Take a cup with a volume of approx. 250 ml to measure. Then you can start making the modelling clay.

Of course, you can also make salt dough for the key ring. You can find a simple salt dough recipe in our DIY guide for Mother's Day.

DIY keychain crafting instructions

1. First mix the dry ingredients and then add the cold water.

2. Heat the mixture in a saucepan for a few minutes, while stirring constantly. The finished dough should have a mushy consistency.

3. Pour the finished mixture into another container to cool and cover with a damp cloth. It is important that the surface does not dry out.

4. Leave the dough to cool for 15 to 30 minutes. If you flatten it a little beforehand, it will cool faster.

5. When the dough has reached room temperature, you can knead it again and shape it into a ball.

6. Together with your children, carefully roll out the cold porcelain to a thickness of about 3 to 4 mm, e.g. on a silicone mat. If the dough is still a little sticky, sprinkle some starch on the mat first.

7. Now let your children cut out the shapes. You can also carefully stamp a pattern into the dough, e.g. with a biscuit stamp.

8. Carefully poke a small hole in the pendants, where you can later attach the key ring.

9. Leave the DIY pendants to air dry for about 24 to 48 hours and then paint them as you like.

10. Finally, attach the key ring or the hanger.

Tip

You are likely to have more modelling clay than you need for a few pendants. If your children want to continue crafting, the cold clay can also be used to make fun decorations for a colourful Easter bouquet or the Christmas tree. Or how about a homemade birthday present for dad?

Father's Day gift for book lovers: homemade bookmarks

If your dad is a real bookworm, this Father's Day craft idea is guaranteed to delight him. After all, passionate readers can never have enough bookmarks. We show you how to make elegant bookmarks from old fabric scraps.

Materials for DIY bookmarks

  • Felt fabric (e.g. blue and grey)

  • (Vegan) leather or old leather pieces

  • Scissors, pencil, ruler

  • Punch pliers

  • Hot glue gun

  • Cardboard

  • Wooden beads, leather string, blue yarn

Father's Day crafting: crafting materials for the bookmark.

Craft instructions for DIY bookmarks

1. Draw a template on a piece of cardboard and cut it out to make a template. The shape should be rectangular, about 4 to 5 cm wide and 15 cm long.

2. Cut the bookmark out of felt or leather using your template.

3. Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark with a hole punch. For thicker fabrics you may need a hole punch.

Hot glue gun and parts for the DIY bookmark.

4. To make the tassel, double the leather string or your coloured yarn several times and thread it through the hole. The tassel should be about 5 cm long.

5. Pull both ends of the string through the wooden bead and knot them tightly.

6. Decorate your bookmark as you like: cut out geometric shapes such as circles and triangles from the remaining fabric and attach them to the bookmark with hot glue. Your bookmark will look especially nice if you mix different types of fabric.

7. A great idea is to give the bookmark together with a good book that will give your dad a few hours of entertainment.

Make your own Father's Day gift: ready-made bookmark.
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Quick Father's Day gift to make yourself: a spice blend

A quick and practical DIY idea for Father's Day is a homemade spice mix. Barbecue spice goes well with many different dishes such as delicious vegetable skewers or oven vegetables. Therefore, a customised spice mix is a good idea if dad eats little or no meat.

What you need for a DIY spice mix

  • Clean jar with lid (canning jar or screw-top jar)

  • Bowl for mixing

  • Label or tag

  • Pen or stamp

  • Spices

Basic recipe for a tasty barbecue spice

  • 3 tbsp sweet paprika powder

  • 3 tbsp sea salt

  • 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

  • 2 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp chilli powder

You can modify this basic recipe as you like. For example, add 2 tbsp dried basil and 2 tbsp dried oregano to create a spice mix with a Mediterranean flair. Now you have a wonderful, homemade Father's Day gift!

Instructions for the DIY barbecue spice

Pour all the ingredients into a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid. Then shake it well until the spices are evenly mixed. Of course, you can also mix the spices in a bowl and then pour them in.

Then attach the label: you can attach a small tag to the lid with a thin string or use an adhesive label. Then label your DIY Father's Day gift with a black pen or a small stamp.

Tip

All of these DIY gifts are not only suitable for Father's Day, but are also ideal if you are looking for a homemade birthday present for your dad.

Last-minute Father's Day gift with DIY twist: individual gift basket

A homemade gift basket with delicacies or luxurious wellness products is a gift classic that can be adapted for any occasion and is sure to always go down well. Here are some ideas of what you can fill the homemade gift box with:

Delicacies for Father's Day

Whether you're just giving small nibbles or a proper snack basket, try to choose fair trade products for your gift.

  • Cheese crackers, mini pretzels, mixed nuts, or pumpkin seeds

  • (Home-baked) biscuits

  • Dark chocolate, white nougat

  • Tea mix, coffee

  • Optional: a bottle of wine

Wellness products for Father's Day

Of course, dad will also be happy with some self-care products with which you can bring a spa experience home to him:

  • Beard care set, e.g. with homemade beard oil

  • Sunscreen for athletes, including lip care with sunscreen

  • Solid shower gel/shampoo, possibly hair styling products

  • Personalised bath/sauna towel

  • Muscle and joint relaxing bath salts

  • Aftershave lotion

  • Perfume

Last-minute Father's Day gifts:

Clothes and accessories for Father's Day

Clothes and accessories are gifts that your dad will enjoy for a long time:

If you know that your dad loves sports or is a real outdoor fan, you can of course also give him suitable sportswear: e.g. a new technical shirt or sports trousers.

Tip: The gift basket itself can be seen as a little upcycling project. Simply breathe new life into a clean fruit or wine crate as a gift box. You might want to rub some rough spots with sandpaper or line the box with a clean linen cloth.

Craft ideas for Father's Day: how to make the perfect Father's Day gift

Homemade Father's Day gifts are a wonderful way to give your dad a gift that comes from the heart. Many of our Father's Day craft ideas only require a few materials and a little preparation time, so most of them can be made into last-minute gift ideas. Get inspired by our Father's Day DIY ideas and create an original Father's Day gift in no time at all.

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