CONTRIBUTED BY LARISSA

This Marine is now retired and raised his own Marine who is now 21 and stationed at Camp Pendleton.

"A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be."  -Unknown

With Father's Day fast approaching I was thinking it would be fun to share ideas of what to buy or what to do for this year's upcoming celebration of the men in our lives.  Whether they raised you or father your children, this is a great time to give a gift that speaks of your love for them.  I've included some ideas I received from several of my friends and I'd love to hear what you have done in the past or what your plans are this year!

If you love to make gifts, then creating a family album is right up your alley.  My friend Kim is one of the most talented scrap bookers I know and makes fun and creative gifts for her family and friends.  With some planning, and the purchase of a few supplies, you can make this personalized gift for your spouse or father.  Kim started with a pre-made, chip-board album cut out to spell the word family.  These can be purchased on-line or at your favorite, local scrap booking store.  She decorated each "page/letter" with different papers, embellishments and photos.  She added fun word stickers to some of the pages to tell her story and created a great memory for her mom to enjoy for many years to come. 

Check out these sites to purchase your own family chipboard book:

http://www.chipboardalbums.com/servlet/StoreFront

http://www.shoptilyoucrop.com/servlet/the-CHIPBOARD-ALBUMS/Categories

http://creatingtreasures.blogspot.com/2008/11/working-with-chipboard-albums.html A blog that is somewhat of a tutorial, not a place to purchase.

http://www.croppinparadise.com/bunny-bunny-word-chipboard-albums-c-1846_1993.html

If you have little ones in your family who want to be involved in the gift-giving process then here is a family-oriented idea that won't cost you more than the price of paper, an envelope and a stamp. If you are not "crafty" and don't have the special scissors or paper that the family album requires you can still encourage your kids to make home-made cards for dad.  My sister-in-law has taken her kids art and folded it down to card size, written her child's name, age and the date on the "artsy" side of the card and wrote a greeting on the inside and mailed it to us.  I love getting hand-made items in the mail and this type of "gift" always makes it to the refrigerator gallery!

For some of us, the convenience of on-line purchasing makes shopping for Father's Day more enjoyable.  We want to accomplish the mission while still finding something fun to give.  I have always thought it would be great to purchse personalized postage stamps for myself and I have a friend who decided to do this for her mother for Mother's Day.  Check it out at:

http://www.usps.com/postagesolutions/customizedpostage.htm

Other on-line options:

www.snapfish.com for personalized photo gifts.  Great for displaying on their desks at work.

www.amazon.com for the book, music or movie-goers in your family.  One idea would be to purchase your father's favorite sitcom, old or new, on DVD.  Amazon has great prices on a lot of different items and you can apply for free prime shipping.

www.brookstone.com for digital photo frames or a pocket digital photo album.  I love this idea for the techno-savvy men in our lives or those who travel a lot.  My friend, Lacey, did the research on this one for me and found that Amazon carries the pocket digital photo album and it's at least $20 cheaper. 

If none of those ideas work for you my husband, Bill, has some great and very extravagant ideas for the hard-to-buy-for dad.  If money is no object or you have the means to purchase large, pricey items he would recommend a flat-screen TV, a new set of golf clubs or a Garmin. 

No matter what shopping route you take, have fun making or purchasing something that dad will enjoy for many years to come!  And remember, time is a precious gift and is never wasted on the ones you love!