In today’s materialistic world, finding the perfect gift for your dad is a challenge in itself. But why are we talking about price tag because the true essence of a meaningful gift lies in the thought, love, and effort you pour into it. We have curated a collection of great and easy DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing. These gifts will not only cover Father’s Day but also last minute homemade birthday gifts. Get Set Gift.
1. DIY Gifts for Dad Who Wants Nothing
1 #1Dad pinch bowl
Let us start with an easy one. For this you can use air-drying or oven-safe clay, color & paint brush (to paint it), rolling pin, and a pencil. Decide the size and roll the clay as per it, make the edges like a dish, and poke holes with a pencil saying ‘we and daddy’. Make a thumb heart in the space between words. Follow the instructions on oven-safe clay while baking it. Once done, paint it and your gift is ready. Do you know who is Clay Virtue in the 100 series?
2. Agate coaster
Who doesn’t like agates, so why don’t we try something with them? For this you will need agate slices (larger than the mug bottom), soft paint brushes and vinyl pads. Stick the vinyl pads under the coaster to prevent it from slipping off the table. If you find it hard getting agate slices you can simply use colorful resin and make an agate resin coaster. It will be both shiny and in the color you want. Do you know how are Lake Superior agates formed?
3. Book Spine bookmark
For a book lover dad, it surely is a perfect gift. Take a book (preferably an old one), stiff cardboard, backing paper, knife, and eyelets. Take the book spine from the old book by dismantling it, and cut out the cardboard in its shape. Glue them together and backing paper on the other side. For an old or delicate book spine you can use a sealer to the front of it.
4. Book box for remote
This is another best DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing. Begin with measuring a plot that is 2” longer and 1/4 inch deeper than the remote control. Stick the last page to the book’s back cover with school glue. Open the front cover and coat entire stack of pages (all 3 exposed sides) with school glue and weigh it with another book and let dry overnight.
Open front cover, place remote on page stack, trace around adding 1/4 inch all way around. With an X-Acto knife cut along a marked line, removing 2–3 pages at a time. Measure a ribbon half-length of your book plus 5”and fix it in the bottom center of the hollowed area. This enables easy lifting of remote.
5. Bottle cap fishing lures
Take your dad on a fishing trip and gift this to him. Prepare it with metal bottle cap, small treble hook, small hook rings, barrel spinner, and tools to do so. Fold the metal cap in half, poke holes on each end of the cap to attach hook and spinner. If you have plastic adhesive eyes at home, you can glue them to give it a funny look. Have you noticed how many eyes do butterflies have?
Note: For kids under 15 years, parental guidance is mandatory.
6. Bottle tags
This one’s simpler than you think. Choose your dad’s favorite drink and color, font, and caption as per your choice. Download the tags and print them on cardstock. Use a 1 1/4 – 1 1/2-inch circle punch hole in the cardstock for hanging the tag on bottleneck.
7. Business card holder
Well, let us make this one a little fun piece. Choose a plastic toy, preferably a rooster, a box for keeping the card (wooden/tin), glue, and crackle paint. Begin with painting the box. Attach toy on top of the box with glue and your cardholder is ready. You can also put in custom-made cards for your dad.
8. Can-Do Luminaries
These easy pieces of DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing needs a drill, cans, candles, and cylinder votive holders/vases. Drill holes around the metal cans and place the candles at the bottom. You can put candles in votive holders or vases to make them last longer. Set the tins on the table or along a path of your dad to surprise him. Have you ever thought wWhat object best describes you?
9. Candy dispenser
This can be made with plywood or hard cardboard with a back in 1/2-inch and sides are made from 1 by 3 boards. With wood glue, add feet, dividers, and a pegboard at the back. Insert dowel pins into the pegboard holes and tap each pin in place with a mallet. Carve a hole in 1-inch Forster for candy to sit in and slid down the dowel in place. Now fill in his favorite candies and rotate the dowel.
10. Checkerboard
One of the easy homemade gifts for dad from daughter is this checkerboard. Begin with taping off a 64-square pattern on a cutting board with painter’s tape and yes, your board must be at least 16” * 16” to accommodate standard checkers. Now, use acrylic paint to color squares. Your DIY checkerboard is ready.
11. Chill grill
This one calls for an old rustic no longer used kettle grill. Yeah, we all have one of those in our store room. Clean it (be careful and do not forget to wear your gloves) and paint inside-out. Cover the interior vents to prevent and slow down dripping. Fill in ice and bottles of your dad’s favorite drinks.
12. DIY Air fresheners
It’s time to make something for your dad’s car and for this trace a shape of whichever you like (preferably a Christmas tree, smiley, the best dad or other such shapes) on a fabric twice. Cut out and glue the fabric on the Christmas ornament or other cardboard shape you chose. Once glue dries, soak it into dad’s favorite scent of essential oil. After it dries, thread a twine through the loop for hanging.
13. DIY Bottle opener
For this DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing you need 1 square fence plank of 6”, 4 planks of 4” and 1 rectangle piece of 21” by 4”. Use three 4” pieces and make an “U” shape by joining them with nails and glue. Attach a 6” piece in front of the U-shape with glue and nails. Then attach this box from the open side to the 21” plank on one end and on the other end attach the bottle opener. Attach metal brackets from front to the box for sturdiness and it’s ready.
14. DIY Chalkboard mug
This one’s my personal favorite. All you need is a mug (any size, shape or color), Pebeo Porcelaine 150 chalkboard paint, brush, scissors, painter tape, chalk, and marker. Clean dry the mug and apply painter’s tape or masking tape around the shape you want on the mug. You can really go creative in design and once done paint with chalkboard paint. Let dry for 24 hours, then remove tape and bake in a 350° Fahrenheit (150° Celsius) pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. Write the message and your mug is ready.
15. DIY Keychain/handprint keychain
For the handprint keychain you can make the hand impression with clay or the very famous Shrinky Dinks plastics. All you need with dink plastic is to place your painted hand on the paper and let it dry. Cut out the handprints, place into the oven, poke a hole, add snaps & bolts, add sealant and your keychain is ready.
16. DIY Mouse pad
One of the simple and last-minute homemade birthday gifts for dad is a custom-made mouse pad. You can use a thin wood piece or a corkboard and cut in whichever shape you like, or you think your dad would like. You can get it engraved with your personalized text and coat it with paint stain.
17. DIY Shaving kits
Yes, we all know dads could not care less for their skin but here one of the perfect DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing. Choose products that are safe for skin, help naturally in improving his skin condition and repair damage caused by shaving. This DIY shaving kit should also have essential oils and ingredients that work together for better results. (Also read Is Coconut Oil a Liquid or a Solid?)
18. Domino clock
For this unique and amazing gift, you need a domino set, hammer, nails, clock parts (hands and motor), and double-sided adhesive tape. Lay out the dominoes in the desired oriented way for the clock, and for this you can use a plate. Follow the instructions on the package for clock parts placement and cover the clock movement with a black (any color you want) cardboard circle. You can either fix the machine and dominoes directly on the wall with adhesive tape, or you can use any shaped cardboard piece.
19. Embroidered handkerchief
If you know embroidery and have some time in your hand you can surely try this one of the easy homemade gifts for dad from daughter. Choose a classy design, or simply the initials of dad’s name. Make it on the handkerchief with colorful threads and pack it in a gift box. I am sure your dad will love it.
20. Eyeglass case
Make an eyewear case out of your dad’s traditional necktie. Put the front of a tie down. Cut the tie in half width-wise after marking 17 inches from the pointed tip. Throw away the tie’s narrow end. To make a pouch for the glasses, use a seam ripper to cut the tie’s back seam open by at least six inches. Make a mark eight inches from the cut end.
Fold the knot at the mark in the direction of the pointed tip; tuck the cut edge under 1/2 inch; and pin. Hand-stitch the folded-over section of the tie to the top layer of fabric beneath, along with the top and sides. Be careful not to shut the pouch when doing so. To keep the case closed, attach a pack of self-adhesive Velcro dots. Ever wondered why do we have eyebrows and eyelashes?
21. Firewood carrier
Another one great DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing is this firewood carrier. Flip the canvas bag and remove the gusseted corners using a seam ripper. Cut the bag to make it lie flat. Draw 8 1/2-inch diagonal lines across each corner of the bag’s interior using a pencil and a ruler. Cut along the lines and throw away the corners; fold each cut edge by 1/4 inch and sew it down with a top stitch.
Cut an 18 1/4″ L x 13 1/2″W piece of faux bois oilcloth. Turn the bag upside down and sew the panel with orange thread around the borders. Fold each strap back on itself, pin it, then stitch it together to strengthen the handles and repeat for the second strap.
22. Fringed flannel throw
Though it is not a summer gift, it counts as one handmade gift that will be ready in an hour or so. All you need is a 45-inch wide and 65-inch-long thick flannel (cloth not the shirt). Long sides will be a finish edge and short sides will be a cut edge making it easy to fray.
Cut both short ends in straight line and make a cut at the depth of your fringe near each edge of the fabric. Sew a straight line using a short stitch length from one selvage edge to the other. Remove threads running from edge to edge until you reach the seam; this will create a fringe. Repeat the same for the other side.
23. Homemade coasters/wood coasters/ wood slice coasters
Custom scrabble coasters: It is a 4*4 coaster for which you need 16 scrabble tiles (1 coaster), craft mat, glue, and a cork tile. You get to decide whether you like to make words with tiles or place random alphabets. Once glue hardens, you can trim the edges of the cork tile. (See 13 Different Types of Compasses)
24. Homemade card/candy bar poster
They both are almost the same, only the latter includes candies and chocolates on a card in a frame while the other is a card. To make this one of the DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing you can use candies in homemade cards too. You can come up with unique sentences that can use different candies like orbit, Mars, goobers, extra, etc. to stick in the sentence. This makes a good and creative Father’s Day gift from a kid.
25. Homemade Microwave caramels
Another sweet tooth gift is our caramels. You need melted butter, sugar (granulated and brown), light corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, sea salt, vanilla, chocolate chips and cooking spray. Put the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, corn syrup, condensed milk, and vanilla in a big microwave-safe bowl. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.
Heat in microwave for 6–7 minutes, stirring well every 2 minutes. After 6-minute cooking you’ll get a softer caramel, but 7-minute cooking will result in firm caramel. Pour, sprinkle salt (if planning to coat with chocolate, add salt after dipping), then cut the slab into 1 1/2-inch squares.
26. Homemade orange bitters
For an old-fashioned dad, let us try something different. You need sugar, homemade bitters, water, bourbon, orange peel, and ice cubes. Put a sugar cube (or sugar) in an old-fashioned glass, soak it with bitters, then add water. Stir until dissolved, then add ice to the glass, either a handful of small cubes or one large sphere. Pour bourbon, garnish with an orange slice and squeeze the peel to release its citrus oil before adding into the drink. Why don’t you try Ranchera Meat and 10 best recipes you can cook with it!
27. Koozie
This one’s for kids all excited to make something for their dad. Scissors usage is required, thus parental guidance is a must. Cut a piece of craft foam just long enough to fit a can. Cut the length so that it just overlaps itself as you wrap it around the can. Have kids use fabric markers to create a picture on the foam. To keep it close, attach a piece of Velcro on the back.
28. LEGO cuff links
DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing and love Lego and their toddlers who want to gift them something relatable. You’ll need blank cuff links, 2 Lego, glue, and spray paint (optional). If you plan to paint the Lego, do it the first thing, let it dry, then glue the Lego to the cuff links. Yes, all done.
29. Mason jar lid coasters
Yes, another smart coaster idea for last minute homemade birthday gifts for dad. You need 4 mason jar lids, adhesive cork shelf liner, marker, stamp (your choice), blade. Simply place the lids upside down on a cork liner, trace the circle with a marker and cut it out. Stamp an image in the center of each cork circle (preferably using solvent-based ink), let it dry, then peel the backing off and affix within the lids. (Also see How to make Small Ecosystem in a Jar?)
30. Mason jar succulents
Now for your gardening lover dad we have an amazing gift option. You need dirt, mason jars, rocks, sand, shells, shovel, succulents, and twine. Mix dirt and sand in a 50-50 ratio. Now, add rocks at the bottom of a Mason jar, add shells, add dirt-sand mixture to the top and plant 1 succulent in each jar. Add twine at the last.
31. PapermaidStudio Customizable Father’s Day ‘Coupons’
This one’s a good last-minute choice for all. All you need to do is personalize, print, and punch a few holes and tie the coupon bunch together. Use a single or multicolored ribbon for tying. You can find these printable Father’s Day coupons on PapermaidStudio.
32. Personalized apron (Grilling/cooking)/ Canvas tool apron
You can make one of these last-minute homemade birthday gifts for dads who dedicate their time in cooking, repairing or grilling on his day offs. Here are some links to the tutorial to make one of these pieces for your dad.
33. Personalized spatula
Now let kids play with their imagination for DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing. You’ll simply need a wooden handle spatula, sandpaper (fine to medium), scissors, mod podge, foam brush, and paint pens. Begin with sanding the handle with sandpaper to make the surface adhere the paint. Now the child can write the message with paint, let it dry, apply a mod podge coat to protect the paint, and it is ready. Don’t forget to read about what is the most eaten food in America?
34. Rocky picture frame
Gift your favorite dad moment to your dad with this rocky picture frame. You will need a frame (size your preference), polished rocks, superglue, and paint. Remove glass and back of frame then paint it. Attach rocks with superglue or hot glue. Reassemble the frame and add your favorite picture or go for a funny expression/quote. You can choose from 10 Types of Beach Stones if you happen to be on the beach lately.
35. Snack tin or Dad’s Stache Jar
You can buy a glass jar and print out the design on a label sheet as it is easier to adhere. You can also use a washi tape to tape around the neck of the jar. Fill up the jar with lots of candies (or any eatables your dad loves), stick the Dad’s Stache label, wrap the tape, and your gift is ready.
36. Stamped leather tie clip
This can be personalized with your dad’s name initials. You will need a blank tie clip, leather piece, craft knife, a letter-number punch set, glue and hammer. Cut leather in pin shape and size, punch in the initials with hammer on leather piece before gluing it. Stick it on the pin and let dry.
37. Tea gift box/gift basket
If your dad is a tea lover this is a perfect gift for him, but this basket will not just have tea. We will begin with assembling the basket, so line it with a tea towel. Then, place the largest item pancake mix, a jar of fresh jam (topped with a bow and spoon), two ripe apples, and a clear container of his favorite tea blend. Tie red and white baker’s twine round the basket and your gift is ready.
38. Vinyl Record Bowls
This DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing one need adult supervision but still is an easy one. You need an over-friendly bowl, a vinyl record, and oven. Once your oven is heated up a bit at 360°, place your record and bowl in it and wait until the record starts to warp a little. Take it out, shape it into any bowl or shape and keep it inside that bowl until it hardens. Your vinyl bowl is ready.
39. Watch stand
If your dad also cherishes his watches then this gift is going to be his favorite gift. This gift is a bit time-consuming to make, but you can refer to this tutorial.
40. Watchband notebook
Use up his old favorite watch band to make a new gift. Measure and mark two spots inside the front and back cover: 2” from the top and other 2” from bottom. Both holes on front cover should be at 1 1/2 inches from spine and 5 1/2 inches distance for back cover holes. Punch holes through all 4-marks.
Measure and mark a spot 1/8 inch from the end to attach each of 4 watchband pieces and punch nail with hammer. Now punch the buckle-end watchband pieces on the top cover and your watchband notebook is ready.
41. Whipped shaving cream
This one is another homemade gift for your dad. All you need is half cup coconut oil and shea butter along with 1/4 cup olive oil. Eucalyptus oil drops depend on the strength of smell you want in the cream. Break shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler and add olive oil after transferring into another bowl.
Leave in refrigerator for solidifying and whip for 3 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add essential oils while whipping and check the smell by applying on your hand.
42. Wood grain flask
This DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing will give a classy look to your dad’s old steel flask. Take up a stainless-steel flask, paint marker, X Acto knife (or any craft knife), wood grain contact paper, and scissors. Cut out the paper to fit around the flask and to make the cover more appealing you can personalize it by adding text or calligraphy. Peel off the back and place the paper and slowly press and rub out air bubbles. Then, with a craft knife remove excess and make edges clean.
43. Wool iPad case
For this, you can use a wool piece with a flannel lining and get the color as per your dad’s taste. You can sew it accordingly and even add a leather-stamped monogram to the front of the pouch, which is completely optional. Viola, your case is ready.
2. How to Make Him Feel Special without Gifts
Now that we have an idea of the best DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing, let’s find out what how to make them happy without gifts.
1. Yard work helping
For some personal time together, you can take your dad out in the yard while he sets up the garden and cleans it. You never know what you will learn there, but it surely will give you a chance to spend time with him.
2. Organize
If you are out of ideas and have no time to arrange a gift or worse if you forget about Father’s Day which should not have happened. But still if that is the case, you can organize his desk, study, books, or such things for him. Obviously, it is possible only if your dad has not done it already.
3. Customized Spotify playlist
This low-key gift is also for last-minute arrangements. You can customize a Spotify playlist for your dad combining all those classic old songs. Remember the one that according to him should be considered the gem of the music industry. Collect them all and a few of your choice too because everyone knows dads have some latest favorites that he does not admit.
4. Summer BBQ together
Come on, it is a weekend, and you can plan a summer barbecue with your dad in your backyard or somewhere along with camping. I am sure dad will love to show off his culinary and BBQ skills to his kids while teaching all camping tricks.
5. Quality time
If organizing doesn’t come handy, then just leave everything and plan a movie night for your dad. Well, at home or at the theater it depends on where your dad would love to watch. Get his favorite summer drink and snacks and surprise him.
So, with this our journey to curate DIY gifts for dad who wants nothing comes to an end. But the fun does not end here. By crafting birthday gift for your dad, you are actually creating a token of your love. These heartfelt gifts are unique, so embrace the joy of creation that will bring a bright smile on your dad’s face. And do not forget to share your ideas for Father’s Day gifts and which one of the above you tried. We would love to hear from you. (Also read What are the Best Gifts for Geology Students?)
