A (Hopefully) Practical Gift for Dad

So, feeling a bit of a time crunch, I didn't have the kids make (or hand-make it myself, and let them take credit, whichever the case may be) gifts for Brett and the grandfathers this year. I chose to stick with a photo gift. They are usually well received plus they are relatively quick to make and not at all expensive (at least not the ones I choose!). The only problem was deciding what photo gift to make.

In the past, I have made a few different photo gifts for various occasions: photo calendars for Christmas, photo books for Mother's Day, photo mugs for Father's Day, personalized photo notepads for Mother's Day, photo aluminum water bottles for Mother's Day, photo travel mugs for my brothers' birthdays, and possibly more that I can't think of right now. The thing I have noticed, though, is that some of these items don't get used for their intended purpose because the recipient is concerned about damaging it or something. For example, my dad told me that the mug used to sit on his desk at work as a hard candy holder. Really, my intent was for these gifts to be used, and not just displayed. (Really, you can put a hot drink in the mug! That's what it's for...) So, I had to come up with something really functional.

My original thought was to make iPhone covers after they were mentioned in an email I received from Shutterfly. However, upon doing some research, I discovered that my father-in-law no longer uses an iPhone for work, and my mom swore that my dad wouldn't like it, suggesting that it was too "girly." That I don't even understand, but I just thought, Okay, that idea is out. Plus, the obvious issue here is that Brett doesn't own an iPhone (although, trust me, if this were a viable option for us, he would definitely want one!).

Then, I thought about photo barbecue aprons, but again, those might have come across as too "girly," even if they would have pictures of my adorable children on them. So, I wasn't even gonna go there. Next, I thought about photo mouse pads, which would serve a purpose for Brett at work, but maybe not so much for the grandpas. Plus, there's the lame-o gift factor, so I nixed that idea.

Eventually, I settled on the idea to make these photo magnets, which are a set of four magnets, each 2" x 2" and can be completely personalized. (They were also on sale, so it pays to look for the deals.) This allowed me to make two magnets with photos of Mia and two with photos of Logan. I made one set that said things like "World's Best Daddy!" and "I Love Daddy!" Then took the same pictures and altered the text to read  "Grandpa!" in place of "Daddy," which was a quick, simple change. The photo magnets look nice and they're a truly practical gift. So, to all my favorite fathers, it's on, guys. I challenge you to not use these the way they were meant to be used!