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A Mini Tool Box Craft For Dad: Father's Day Gift Idea

June 12, 2011 By Brandy 8 Comments

Make dad a mini tool box craft filled with coupons! A darling Father's Day gift from the kids! Altoid containers are fun to use for so many projects. 3 are stacked together to create this mini tool box.

mini tool box for dad made out of altoid tins

Father's Day is just around the corner and I would love to share an idea that my children and I made Derrick. We actually made this as a Christmas gift last year, but it could be used for any occasion for the lover of tools in your home! And the Daddy over here has many boxes of tools, so this was perfect for him.

I found my inspiration for this project by googling "creative gifts for dad" in google images and found a photo of a mini tool box on Alpha Mom! So I checked out her site and was in love! Here is our version of this fun tool box!

Father's Day Gift: A Mini Tool Box Craft For Dad

For this project, you will need:

Empty Altoid Tins. At least one, but they are darling when stacked.

Sand paper or wire brush
Spray Primer

Spray Paint

Vinyl + Cricut or Silhouette (optional)

Craft Wire

Hammer & Nail or metal punch

Mini Hardware Handle

(Don't you just love Altoid tins? The project ideas for these cute little boxes are endless!)

First things first. Cover your work surface outside with newspaper and make sure it is well ventilated. Sand each tin to create a rougher surface for your paint to stick to. Don't worry about doing anything to the inside of your tins, just the outside.

Apply your spray on primer and let dry. Then apply several thin coats of the spray paint color of your choice, allowing time for each coat to dry in between layers.

Once dry, mark 2 dots on the bottom of the first tin, and the tops of each consecutive tin, and bottom of the middle tin. Using a hammer/nail or metal punch, carefully hammer two holes into each surface that you marked. Make sure that the holes line up with the tin underneath since you will be wiring the tins together. After the holes are punched, wire them together with your craft wire.

Once your tins are wired, apply vinyl (this is of course optional). And your handle. You could screw in you handle from the underside, but the one that I bought didn't work like that. The screws were too long (they allowed for depth since they are supposed to be screwed into a cupboard) so I used some epoxy and allowed it to dry 24 hours. It is merely a decorative touch, not meant to hold up to being carried around a lot.

open tool box with printable coupons inside

Then fill it with little goodies and you are set! We made these coupons for ours. I put them in their designated tins. On the back of each coupon is a picture that each child drew.

If you liked this Father's Day gift idea you might also like...

Car Wash Kit for Dad

Summer Tie Dye Party!

June 10, 2011 By Brandy 13 Comments

We hosted a "Tie Dye" party in our back yard earlier this week and it was FUN! We invited a bunch of friends to come over with white shirts and dressed to get WET. The kids made shirts, played in the homemade sprinklers and wading pool, ate lunch and PLAYED. It was great! Kaylee kept coming up to me and saying, "Not done yet Mama!" and would then run back to the wading pool to play.

The weather was in the mid 80s, not a cloud in the sky and very low humidity. Perfect!

I supplied beverages for the moms, juice boxes for the kids, hot dogs and cookies. Everyone else brought a snack to share. We ended up with a great assortment of summer goodies. Popsicles, chocolate strawberries, popcorn, watermelon, cheese sticks, and yogurts. The kids were thrilled.

These were fun to make. I made a batch of sugar cookies, piped around the edges, then filled the center with thinned down frosting. Then I dripped several different colors of frosting in the center and dragged a tooth pick through it to create the crazy designs.

Here are the boy's shirts we made LAST year...

And our new ones this year...

These are how our shirts washed up. The kids loved them and they are so unique, but a word to the wise: DO NOT use tie dye from the year before. It isn't potent at all! I had a couple of bottles left in the basement and used those to refill the new ones after we used them up. The purple one and the onesie had lots of pink that didn't end up sticking around after the wash. So I dyed them again letting it sit much longer and they still weren't as vivid as they should have been, but it helped.

I purchased a kit at Michael's for 40% off and it was the best deal. All of the bottles, dye, gloves, and rubber bands that we needed for less than it would have cost to purchase the dyes separately. The instructions were great and the kids (about 15 of them) had a great time creating their custom summer tee. It was a lot of work, but worth it.

The onesie is for baby sister who will be here in 4 months! The kids said that they are going to bring this to her to wear in the hospital. I think that will be hilarious.

finished tie dyed shirts drying on clothesline

They sported these hip creations all over the place the next day and it was pretty easy to spot where they were at all times 🙂

Homemade Sprinklers

June 7, 2011 By Brandy 8 Comments

collage of photos of children helping dad make PVC pipe sprinkler

On Saturday, Derrick decided that he was going to help the boys make their own sprinklers. I would never have thought to do such a thing! He sat down with them and they designed exactly what they wanted. The "blue prints" as the boys called them were pretty cute. I love how Aaron added all of the grass and water in his.

Then we went to Lowe's. While Kaylee and I picked out hanging flower baskets, the boys browsed up and down the plumbing aisle, picking out PVC pipe fittings for their sprinklers.

They worked all evening gluing, drilling, and testing, until they came up with these...

children playing with homemade PVC pipe sprinklers

SO AWESOME! They even attempted a HUGE family sized sprinkler, but it couldn't handle all of the water pressure and kept exploding, so that one will have to go back to the drawing board, but the PVC water gun was a success.

Was it cheaper to make sprinklers vs. buy one at the store? Probably not, but they had so much fun planning and working with Derrick that it was worth every cent.

We hosted a summer party in our backyard for a bunch of friends this afternoon (more details on the party to follow in a couple of days)Â and the kids all had fun with the sprinklers!

{I Love You to Pieces} Puzzle Father's Day Cards

May 30, 2011 By Brandy 7 Comments

I know it's too late for anyone to use this idea this year for Mother's Day (the tags say "Mom"), but Father's Day is just around the corner and these would be great for Dads too!

I came up with this activity for the children at our church. I needed an inexpensive activity for 45 children!

Oriental Trading sells blank puzzles for a reasonable price, but I only had a week to prepare these, and if I ordered from them they wouldn't have been here in time. So I found mine at Discount School Supply. 48 (4") puzzles + 2 day shipping for $19.95. Sweet.

The children created a special Mother's Day "message" for their Mom and then broke it into little pieces so that she could put it together when they got home from church. They had a GREAT time making these. We also talked about mothers in the scriptures and did a matching game. It was a great sharing time.

I made tags that said, "I love You to Pieces Mom! Happy Mother's Day" and put them in snack baggies ahead of time.

I ended up with three to make when I got home! 🙂

So just switch out the tags for a special Dad and it's a sweet, custom gift that's fun to reveal!

Little Rainbow Cake

May 28, 2011 By Brandy 10 Comments

child with small cake with blue frosting

Aaron made this sweet little cake for his preschool teacher's birthday. I wanted something that he could do on his own. He helped bake it (even cracked the eggs on his own!) and then got to work decorating it.

blue cake with skittles candy rainbow on top

Just skittles and mini marshmallows. He was so very proud of his cake and his teacher was thrilled to receive it. She shared a little piece with each member of the class and even took a picture of the cake and is using it as her facebook profile picture 🙂

child decorating cardboard cake plate with markers

A fun, cheerful, and simple cake. I'll have to come up with some more little cakes like these for the kids to make this summer. He had so much fun.

child with finished rainbow skittle cake

Do you have any fun projects that you have done with your kids? Link them up here!

Time Capsule Birthday Gift! 1920's, 30's, 40's

May 20, 2011 By Brandy 10 Comments

Send a family or friend on a nostalgic journey and make a time capsule birthday gift from the 1920's 30's or 50's! Brimming with treats and gifts.

I've been thinking about my grandma lately. She is one the biggest inspirations behind my love for sewing. Today I'm sharing a gift that I made her a few years before she passed away. A nostalgic time capsule gift from the 1920's, brimming with treats and trinkets from the decade she was born. When she passed away I received the tin back that I used to put everything in. It seems only fitting to use it for holding sewing notions now, and I think of her every time I use it. Â I shared this gift idea on hereÂ before, but IÂ thought it would be fun to look back onÂ this oldie, but goodie!

black and white picture of author's grandmother

Wasn't she beautiful?

She loved the giftÂ so much that she refused to open or eat any of the treats inside! I labeled everything with the year it was created and a brief back-story to it and she saved them to show to people when they came to visit her.

Time Capsule Birthday Gift! 1920's, 30's, 40's

I had this tin in my craft closet for awhile. I used to use it in my kitchen decor, but haven't for awhile. It has The Saturday Evening Post picture on it. An issue in 1922. Perfect for the era I was going for! And just the right size for everything I collected to put in it.

My mom told me a couple of her favorite songs, so I made her a CD with them. The photo on the front is her! She grew up on a farm in Boulder, Utah. I also included a photo book that included more facts about that decade (price of a loaf of bread, gallon of gas, etc.). It was absolutely fascinating to learn about the time she was a child.

We lived at Ohio at the time and one of my favorite restaurants to go to was Cracker Barrel. I especially loved their Old Country Store. I found these fun items to include in her tin and labeled everything with the year it came out and fun facts about its history. MOST all of the chocolate candy bars that are around today, came out in the 1920s. I picked a couple of favorites and one that I hadn't tried before like this marshmallow one. Doesn't look appetizing, but it is classic of the era so I think she will remember it.

Did you know that Kool-aid, Scotch Tape and Band-aids were all invented in the 1920s and early 30s? I didn't until I made this gift! I attached descriptions, time frames and facts to each item. It was fun reading through them!

More Homemade Gift Ideas

Birthday Party In a Box Pampering Spa Gift for Mom Root beer Sampler for Dad Hostess Gift Basket Homemade Bath Bombs What to Expect When You are Expecting Gift Basket

Birds!

May 11, 2011 By Brandy 10 Comments

Aren't these fun?!?! I saw these on Obsessively Stitching and knew that my boys would love them. Aaron asked for a green one, and Dallin asked for a blue one. So last night, since Derrick is out of town, I got to work and ended up with a couple of more. They were just too easy to make!

The patterns and tutorials were great. I spent about 2 hours on the pig and all of the birds. The boys were very excited to see these when they woke up. Since I made the red bird and pig as well, Aaron was wondering where the yellow and black birds were, lol. I'll have to make those too sometime, but I got tired last night.

Kaylee LOVED the baby blue one and so I made her a pink bird. She didn't like it. She wanted one just like Dallin's. So I made her a baby blue two-toned one and that sufficed, but I think she still likes his better.

She added her "blue twee twee" to the pile.

The originals were made from fleece. I bought a bunch of sheets of felt for mine and it worked out great, but will probably get fuzzy and pill sooner than fleece would have.

The Mini Wasp Bag

May 9, 2011 By Brandy 6 Comments

Do you remember this Wasp Bag that I made a while ago? I LOVE it! Every year for the past 3 years, I have made my mom a handbag for her birthday. The first year she asked for one around her birthday, the second year that one started to wear out so I sent her another, and this year I decided that she might like an upgrade again. It's fun choosing fabrics that I think she will like and trying new patterns.

As you can see, my bag is much larger than hers. I scaled it down a lot. I have 3 kids, and still have one in diapers (hopefully not for long, we're working on that). My mom doesn't need a big diaper bag or old lady purse so I thought this would work out well for her.

inside view of handbag with pockets and lining

I especially liked the fabric that I found for the inside (Hobby Lobby)

bottle of body spray and lotion inside handbag

I filled it with some body products and a gift certificate to Cold Stone and called it good. She loved it.

Would you like to make your own Wasp Bag or a scaled down version?

Click here for a link to the tutorial. No, it's not mine. I don't have mad skills like that, but I can follow a pattern and share a link 🙂

Brown Bag Apple Gift Sacks

April 30, 2011 By Brandy 22 Comments

brown bags painted red to look like apples

Last night I was browsing some blogs looking for something to add to our teacher's appreciation gifts. Maybe a unique way to wrap them or a little treat to make with them. I saw these on Skip to My Lou and immediately left the computer, grabbed 4 lunch bags, a can of red spray paint and headed outside. 10 minutes later I had 4 sacks, ready to turn into little apples...for FREE. I love them!!

red painted bag with raffia tied to close

I made some cardstock tags and a little leaf and added our memo cubes, along with a candy bar for each bag.

Now I think we are set. Dallin's school has themed days next week. Some are fun days like PJ day, Hat day, Sports Day, and the other two are "bring a flower for your teacher" and "make a homemade card for your teacher" days. It will be fun contributing to those days, but it's nice to have something homemade and creative for the boys to give their teachers and bus driver besides what is "required" to bring 🙂