Need a great practical gift for Dad this father’s day? Something you know he will love, use, and appreciate? Take a trip to the local grocery store and stroll up and down each isle with nothing but good old Dad in mind! Grab a few of those things that you know he loves as a delightful treat and package them up for a thoughtful, yet useful gift this fathers day. With father’s day right around the corner, I wanted to share a past gift with you that was a huge hit. What man doesn’t love his favorite snacks and treats in the cupboard for a late night movie or after a long days work. Stock him up with his favorite treats and make it into a gift to show Dad just how special he is. This gift is not just for Father’s day – try it for any man on your list during the holidays, to celebrate a birthday, or any occasion!
Just last week I shared with you my struggles when it comes to buying and giving gifts to my husband. Well father’s day is no different, and the kids and I are always at a loss. Like I said in my earlier post: “Unless I have a list with a specific tool or electronic devises I am lost, and most likely I don’t have enough money to buy it anyway! These days I am trying hard to think practical, but still put the time and effort into giving gifts to the men that mean the most to me deserve. With father’s day right around the corner, I wanted to share a past gift with you that was a huge hit.” What man doesn’t love his favorite snacks and treats in the cupboard for a late night movie or after a long days work. Stock him up with his favorite treats and make it into a gift to show Dad just how special he is. My in-laws did something very similar to this around Christmas time for my husband and I, and I thought it was such a fun idea! It inspired this years Father’s Day gift for my husband – a Dad friendly basket filled to the brim with his favorite goodies!
Here’s the thing in our house. When I was first married I stocked the pantry in our home with junk food, oven ready foods, soda, energy drinks, treats, and snacks. I made a lot of prepackaged meals and frozen pizzas because we were “always so busy” with work and play to cook decent meals (oh how little I knew about what being busy really means). Well let’s just say our first child arrived, and vastly changed the way we eat and live our lives. Healthy became much more important than fast, and many of the foods that we used to eat never entered our home again. Two years after his arrival I became a stay at home home which allowed for much more time to worry about the things that I fed to our family. Not a day has not gone by in the last 4 years that I have not made 2 or more homemade meals a day. Which leaves the hubby missing out on all of the treats we used to have readily available to eat. Don’t get me wrong, we still enjoy this on occasion, but if the kids and I are home, and these things are in our pantry, they don’t last long enough for Dad to get home from work and enjoy! SO, I simply don’t buy them anymore.
As a little treat for the hubby on Father’s Day I took the kids grocery shopping for Dad! We walked up and down the isles with only one person’s tastes in mind. I searched for things that I already knew he enjoyed and that he hadn’t had in a long time. You can see in the picture above the array of foods that we chose. Everything from boxed lemon bars, and breakfast bread, to chips, dip, and even Spam (yuck) got added to our shopping cart. We grabbed his favorite drinks, gum, snacks, cookies, cakes, and candies to make into the most desirable gift basket we could think up for a very special dad. We even included a few little fireworks, some great magazines he would never buy for himself, and a book that he could read with the kids before bed. There were also a few perishable items that we wrapped and hid in the fridge.
We piled them all in a big basket (that we already had) and added a bow, a card, and some hand drawn pictures to create what we think is a pretty stellar father’s gift. We gave him his gift a bit early because he just had a birthday, and to my surprise he was more than thrilled with his basket of goodies!
He loved how practical and thoughtful it was, and even began enjoying his gift immediately, and throughout the entire evening I might add. He found it to be such a great gift idea, that I thought I might pass it along to you all in case you are stumped on a gift for Dad this Father’s Day! You can make this gift as big or as small as you like to fit any budget! Just keep Dad’s taste in treats in mind, and he is sure to love his basket of goodies!