5 Free Father's Day Gift Ideas

I remember when my parents used to tell me their favorite gifts were the homemade variety. I thought they were just being nice. I knew what they really wanted was a coffee mug, jewelry box or water weenie from the Santa Secret Gift Shop at school. It only took me twenty plus years and two kids to realize they were actually telling the truth - homemade gifts are the best! The countdown clock is on for Dad's Day, so here's a list of five free father's day gift ideas you can get cracking on right now (or during nap time).

Favorite Tie Photo
I took a few silly ones with Ryan's tie on Benny today (even knotted it myself):

I used a different tie and went the photographer route a couple of years ago - came out with a few of my all-time favorite Noah photos.

Father's Day Questionnaire
Pre-made questionnaires are available online, or you can get crafty and make your own. The answers you'll get are priceless. 

I mean, "really good at... hammering"? Why do I have so many frames waiting to be hung around here?

Home Movie Highlight Reel
I made one for Noah's first year and I'm just putting the finishing touches on Benjamin's this week. I'll post Noah's for now so we can keep Benny's a surprise.

Scavenger Hunt
I'm a little embarrassed to admit that the idea for a scavenger hunt came last week while I was reading Gone Girl (if you've read the book, you'll understand why it's a crazy place for inspiration), but Noah loves searching for treasures so I thought he'd love to take Daddy on a hunt. Here are a few of our clues:

Hand Decorated Cookies
I don't really know why ties seem to be the universal symbol for Father's Day. It's kind of the equivalent of Mother's Day being represented by handbags or heels. I don't think we'd stand for that! But tie cookies are easier than these (or so I thought):

So I decided not to fight the tie theme when I came across these dapper delicacies online:

Easy enough, right? Well, when Noah and I tried to make them and ours turned out like this:

Colorful keyhole? Baseball bat? Not quite the paisley tie I had envisioned. I guess I should have learned from my previous Pinterest Mom post. We gave up and resorted to making these:

Mustaches mean "Dad" too right? Even if they're on little blue faces with four eyes?

Ryan didn't seem to mind our early gift fail - he ate about three when he got home from work.

Let me know if you have any other good ones to add to the list!