Gift Idea for Father's Day

If you're anything like me, it can be hard to come up with an original idea every year for Father's Day.  Thinking back on what we use to give my dad, it always seemed to be a pair of pajamas, yet he always seemed to wear the "old pair" every night.  When he passed away, he had multiple pairs of new pajamas still sitting on the shelf in his closet.  My husband always seems to give his dad a new golf shirt for almost every gift giving occasion.  I'm sure he has a hundred.

Well, a few years ago I decided to put together a collection of photos of the kids, from birth to present day.  It took quite a few edits and effort to follow my narrowly defined theme:  only pictures of the kids during "family" activities.  No school pictures, pictures of friends, etc.  I wanted to be able to give my husband a gift of "just family".  I sorted through 10 years of pictures on the computer and ended up with a nice, concise book for Father's Day.  I made it small (about 8x8), so that it would be easy to take with him when he travels.  He still looks at it frequently, as do I and the kids.  Here are a few samples from our book:

Book Cover

Title Page

Random pages of Kindness

I thought I'd post this well in advance of Father's Day (which is June 17th this year)  so that it would give a few weeks to "make" your photo book.  There are several online publishing companies that can provide this service, including Blurb, Shutterfly, Lulu, mypublisher, etc.  I believe you can even buy packages at Target.  I personally used Blurb and was very happy with my results.  Each company should be able to give you a lead time on when you should receive your finished product.  It truly is a unique, wonderful gift that will be cherished for a lifetime.  Enjoy making your own memories!