When I went about trying to think up a craft to do as a gift for Father’s Day, I wanted to do something fun and different. The past couple of years I’ve done little canvas paintings or Shrinky-dink keychains. Those are fun and my husband loves his keychains, but the ideas just seemed tired.
So I started to think about hobbies that my husband has. I’m going to be completely honest. He doesn’t have a whole ton of hobbies. He works and then he spends the majority of his freetime with us as a family. Needless to say, this made thinking up something incredibly difficult.
Then I realized one of the things he really loves to do in the summer is grill. I’m talking every night when it isn’t raining grill (and sometimes when it is raining). We plan our entire summer activities around meals on the grill.
The man can grill.
Pretty much the only thing on the grill he hasn’t mastered are kabobs. Poor man, for the life of him, that chicken is still raw if it’s on the kabob. Make it a chicken breast, and the meat is tender, cuts with a fork, and is juicy. Put the piece of chicken on a stick, and it becomes impossible to grill. I don’t know. But then again, I’m not volunteering at the grill.
So with the grill theme in mind, I started trying to brainstorm what my husband doesn’t have for his grill. He has a nice spatula. He has a nice cover and tools. He could use a nice plate to put the meat and veggies on after they’ve cooked, and he could use an awesome apron.
On the one hand, I’ve made the plates before. They are relatively easy. But they’re a relatively common gift.
So instead, I decided to make him a grilling apron! I figured I’d use the kids’ handprints as “flames” on the grill. I decided to use two different colors of flames so that one set of handprints for a child was one color and the other was another color.
Supplies:
- Apron (without a pocket)
- Fabric Paint (I chose red and orange for the flames)
- Fabric Markers
- Cardboard (Optional)
Directions:
1. Spread the apron out flat. Make sure that, if you need to fold any part, that you have a piece of cardboard between the pieces of fabric.
2. Cover a hand in paint and flatten in the middle of the apron. Repeat a couple of times to create a “flame”. If you have multiple children, make sure you start with the child with the largest hands. Ensure that the layers go from largest hands to smallest hands.
3. Once the first layer is dry, repeat step 2 in a different color if you have multiple kids. Overlap some, but make sure there is at least one full handprint visible for each child. Ensure that each layer dries before adding an additional layer.
4. Once all the handprints have dried, use the fabric markers to draw a grill around the flames.
5. Feel free to add words around the grill such as “Father’s Day 2019,” “King of the Grill,” “Our Dad is Flippin’ Awesome,” or my personal favorite, “This Grill is On Fire” with some obligatory music notes. My husband actually sang this to me as if he is related to Alicia Keys.
If your husband is like mine and loves to grill, you know this will be their new favorite accessory while standing at the grill. Hope it makes your Father’s Day and summer just a little more awesome.