Father's Day is exactly 2 weeks away and there is still time for last-minute gift shopping. What would you get for your dad?
It is easy to shop for an avid golfer, a sports fan, a beer lover, or a handyman. Golf accessories, sports memorabilia, tools, and home brewing sets - they are easy to shop for, come in a wide variety, and you can find a gift to fit any budget. If you are into more expensive gifts, and your dad enjoys luxury items, loves his suits and wears cufflinks - there are gold-plated monogrammed golf club links, money clips, designer ties, watches and leather watch cases, and, of course, cigars and humidors.
Those are all wonderful gift ideas, but they would do neither for my dad, nor for my husband. They both have EVERYTHING. Every tool or gadget they would possibly desire is already in their possession. Neither of them is into sports, they do not smoke, are not particularly into wine or brewing, and neither one wears a tie unless he absolutely has to.
Both of them replied "Nothing" when I asked them what they would like to get. So, I was pretty much left to my own devices and with no leads. Personalization seemed the way to go, ans simply monogramming something store-bought was not good enough for me, I had to make the gifts myself.
I decided to design and make stained glass gifts for them and for other guys like them. You do not normally think of stained glass items as good gifts for men, right? So, I decided to concentrate on office-related table-top items they could use in their home office or take to work. Of course, those would be objects they most certainly were in possession of, but with a totally new spin.
First, I decided to make a business card holder and decorated it with a mustache since it seemed like a nice masculine symbol that was office-appropriate :) Then I moved on to a pencil holder and debated whether it should have a goatee or eyeglasses in addition to the mustache. The glasses definitely tipped the coolness factor scale. Then I made a photo frame decorated with a tree - a great gift for any dad, especially a new one.
I loved working on these items, it was a lot of fun, and they will make great gifts for my dad and my husband in 2 weeks. I am glad I was able to come up with these gift ideas that would fit not only my dad and my husband, but many other men. These designs are already available in my store and I will definitely keep working on this series - I am sure there are many more matching items I can come up with.