Father's Day Gift for LDS Dad

I asked my husband what he wanted for Father's Day, and he told me he wanted a copy of his Priesthood Line of Authority. Then he proceeded to order a copy of it. That threw that idea out the window. So I googled ideas of what to do with it and ran across THIS idea. I loved how she made it- as is evident of how close mine is to here. I did want to do thing a bit differently with the last few photos though.

All the photos I needed for it were available by doing a search in google images online, except for the first two in his line- because those men are not apostles and such. So..I did a search for them on New Family Search, both are deceased. I found the contributers to their geneology information and emailed them to ask for photos, explaining what I planned to do with them. I also was able to contact a few people using Facebook. It was a  lot of fun hunting the living relatives of these great men. I even made a few friends a long the way. :)

So although its past Father's day, the idea is still out there for future father's days. It would be great for a husband, dad, son in law, etc.

 

I love how it turned out, and more importantly, my husband did too.

Last minute Father's Day Gift ideas

Are you a procrastinator?? I'm not, but somehow I still manage to do things at the last minute. Guess its my over the top projects....Well whether you're like me or not, here are some last minute ideas sure to please dad in a pinch.

1. Magazine subscription- Make Magazine is a favorite at our house and for any dad that likes to tinker around with ordinary objects and make them into something fun. Purchase the current copy and add a note letting him know a subscription is on it's way. To make this a fun gift from the kids, have them go through and circle projects they want to do with dad, or even make a simple project from it and give that too him too! Of course hobby magazines, sports magazines, etc will be fantastic too! And hey, while you're at it, throw in a magazine holder for the bathroom. You know that's where he's gonna read it.

2. Goody stash- Dad doesn't always get showered with yummy snacks such as chocolates like mom does. Why not pick out some of his favorites treats and present them in a useful item like a remote control caddy, new toolbox, pair of pants (fill the pockets), or a package of socks (who wouldn't want candy filled stockings without the normal expense associated with the filled-stocking season??) The dad at our house received 50 candy bars for his 50th birthday last year and is still working on them. It's nice to not have to share with the kids for once.

3. Entertainment passes- Give him movie passes, tickets to a ball game, concert, etc. Maybe get him a couple of them and let him choose if he wants to go with the guys, or take the kids.

4. Rootbeer! A fun drink to share with the kiddos. Did you know there are over 100 varieties of rootbeer? How 'bout a sampling of a dozen different brands? You can have a rootbeer tasting night as a family. Or what about making homemade rootbeer with the kids? The dad at our house loves his Mr. Rootbeer kit. You can buy a kit such as this one which includes everything you need (practically).

5. Digital Photo frame- There are a lot of digital frames out there now. We love the Kodak pulse. It has wifi and the ability to upload photos from your computer at home to the frame at work, or 3000 miles away. We gave one to my husband AND to my parents. Perfect gift for a grandpa and my husband loves that he has so many photos to look at without the clutter of lots of frames in his workplace. I was concerned about it at first because it didn't come with a random mode, but they have since fixed this by offering the ability to do this from the kodak pulse website. Check it out here.

6. Slice- I know my husband would LOVE this little device. And its so inexpensive. Check it out here

If you hate opening up rigid plastic packaging (I know my husband does) this little item is a perfect solution. It has a ceramic blade, magnet inside so you can put it on the fridge or toolbox, and a hole for putting it on a keychain. You can use it on practically anything you'd use scissors for. And hey, why not give him a gift that you can borrow?

DIY

1. Apron- Whether he's a chef in the kitchen or a gourmet on the grill, what dad doesn't love an apron from the kids? Family fun has a very cute idea for a bbq version. We've done a few aprons for my husband over the years. The last one was made from a denim apron I picked up at Michaels. It was a gift from Jedi when he was a year old. I used iron transfers to make it say "Jedi's dad" and then covered that with masking tape. Then I put Jedi on the floor with the apron and some paint. Soon they were both covered in paint- a true masterpiece!

2. Personalized Candybar wrapper- I ran across THIS great iDad candy bar wrapper that is super cute. Get creative with other wrappers that fit the personality of the dad in your life.

3. DIY gift bag/box- I can't get over how adorable this shirt and tie gift box is. Of course you still have to come up with something to go IN it, but I'm totally motivated to find the perfect something to fill it with!

4. Superhero stash- This is akin to the goody stash idea from above, but with a fun twist and a DIY aspect to it. I LOVED this idea.

5. Date with dad- Better than a coupon book because it's "set in stone" persay. Buy him a calendar, and mark it up with Date's with Dad for the rest of the year. Choose lots of his favorite activities and then plan dates to make them happen. Is there a movie coming out he'll want to see? A ball game? Trip to the ice cream store, fishing for a weekend, etc. Make sure to include a few days when dad gets a break from everthing else.

Ocean themed birthday party

A friend of mine won a service I offered at our church womens group service auction. I offered up hosting a party- I plan and host it, they *just* had to pay for the goods involved (not my time and energy :)

She chose for the theme Under the sea! Seems a bit popular on this blog as of late. I honestly wasn't at all an influence on her choice, surprising??
I was a bit disappointed at first as I wanted to expand my horizons, but 20 seconds later I was really excited to be doing ocean again.

I've mentioned this before, and I'll say it again.
I LOVE FONDANT!!
Could these be any cuter??
The crabs and turtles you've seen before, but I added a friendly whale.

Including a birthday whale for the birthday girl.

My original idea was to have the lanterns look like bubbles around the room, but things got a big crazy and we ended up hanging them across the room in a line.

The party was outside for the most part, so I didn't want to do much on the inside decorations. The table is, however missing the little umbrellas I bought for it. I still have no idea where they disappeared to.

Dessert & Favor table

I scoured the internet for ideas for this party, and of course it's no surprise that there are A TON of great and creative ideas!!

The birthday banner was made with my Silhoutte- my favorite paper craft tool!!

How cute is a goldfish bar?? I got lots of ideas from this post, and the goldfish bar was one of them.

I wanted to jazz up the obvious choice of using Swedish fish. :)

"Sushi" We've been making these for years. I believe I first saw the idea at family fun magazine.

However, when I just did a google image search for "fruit roll up sushi", I was blown away with how far it's come since I originally saw the idea. And you think *I* go overboard?? Just go do the search and you'll think I'm a simpleton.

I love candy coating marshmallows. SO EASY and so fun. I added blue sprinkles to them.
The pixie sticks can be purchased individually at Party City. Lots of candy can- as well as at grocery store candy bins. I love to shop for candy in bulk bins when I'm trying to buy specific colors.

Dum Dum lollipops wrapped in purple tissue paper. I "planted" them in a bed of uncooked rice. They stood up perfectly. If I had the time, I would have colored the rice blue.

This oh so cute fish cake pop stand was copied  inspired by This idea.

I used glitter cardstock in aqua colors. I was covered in glitter for a few days after making it. I'm such a sparkly person :)

Fish cake pops!! I loved the idea here. I made a few changes. My favorite part was the heart candy confetti used for the mouth. These cakepops were almost scratched from my party plans after a 105 degree heat index  day which included 85% + humidity. Not fun conditions for cake pop making. Even my basement wasn't a safe haven for making them.

I used starburst for the fins. It was STICKY!

Incidently, at the party, the starburst had dried up, and the fish weren't sweating any longer.

Starfish chocolate covered Oreos. I used Wilton dark chocolate candy coating. The stars are made from star burst candy. I went through the trouble of making a cute dot pattern on the starfish, but then with the humidity, they kind of stuck inside the plastic. If you decide to make these and will be in any kind of heat, I'd skip those kind of details. (I'm sure you're probably thinking you'd skip most of the details that I put into things by now)

The favor part of the table had bubbles

Go fish cards which I bought a the Dollar store in a variety three pack (so they ended up only being about $.33 each)

Shovels which came with the buckets

Fishes

And MY FAVORITE PART!!

Ocean in a bottle.

I used Target's Market Pantry brand flavored water bottles because I liked the size and shape.

They are filled with two orange fishes-like the ones on the table cloth in the previous picture

water with blue food coloring, and baby oil. I hot glued the lids on

The kids played a relay game with fins.  

Played on a inflatable waterslide

and had a bubble machine.

Happy Birthday my little fish friend.