"Made, Bought, or Got:" Our Dad's Day Contest 2010

In anticipation of Father's Day, we asked our readers for their favorite Father's Day gifts they've ever "made, bought, or got." We loved reading your sweet, thoughtful, and funny stories, and learning (yet again!) that the best gifts are the ones that are thoughtful, sentimental, made with love, and don't have to cost a million bucks.

Congratulations to our first place winner: Josie from Asheville, NC; and our two runners-up: Reva from Kansas City, MO and Trudy from Frazeysburg, OH! These three lucky ladies are the winners of gift cards from Uncommon Goods, Shoestring's favorite indie and artisan/handmade-focus gift catalog, based in Brooklyn, NY. (Melissa loved them so much, she even chose them for her wedding registry. Really!)

Check out their entire selection of thoughtful and unique gifts for Dad, and read on below for Shoestring reader stories of Dad's Day magic!

HOMEMADE FROM THE HEART

I think my father's favorite gift I made was a clay sculpture of a snowman (from the movie The Snowman, which we used to watch together constantly). My sisters made me give him my gift last because they knew he would cry.
~ Genevieve L.

This was the best Father's Day gift that I could think of for my first born, Erica, to give to her dad. I bought a photo album and made a sort of book with pictures. It was supposed to be the baby talking to her dad. All the pictures coincided with the text, and my husband loved it. That was also the first time I celebrated Father's Day, because my own Dad had died in an accident right before I was born, and I think that's part of the reason I put so much thought into it.
~ Paula M.

My dad has a re-purposed rock on his desk that I painted to look like him when I was 5 years old. It's among his prized possessions, and even though we were estranged for years, he always kept it to remind him of how much I love him.
~ Melissa T.

*Runner Up*
My dad drives trucks and is on the road most of the time. He has trouble remembering everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries, but he always feels bad about missing them. I made him a scrapbook that had a page for each of his grandkids with birthday pictures from the last year. It also had pages of my husband and me, and my brother and his wife. I put all the birthdates on each page. He still has the book, and now he can feel like he's a part of everything while he's traveling. He loved it!
~ Trudy G.

For my fiancé, I am collecting all of the pictures of our son and him for a photo collage. I'm also going to get a mold for both of their hands and make a casting of them holding hands on Father’s Day. To my brother, who is my son's Godfather, I'm giving engraved golf repair kit with the date he became Jesse's Godfather and an inscription.
~ Angie H.

BEST BUYS

*Runner Up*
My dad likes to fish, so the hubster and I bought him an awesome tackle box with removable boxes within the main box to keep everything tidy and safe. We filled it chock full of lures for local types of fish. I was quite pleased with us.
~ Reva S.

I think some of the best gifts I've ever given are the little ones. For instance, the "#1 Dad" mug I gave to my father when I was 5 years old still sits proudly in our kitchen cabinet. It's the little things that matter most.
~ Megan J.

One year I gave my husband a framed photo of him with his kids, the movie Big Fish because it reminded him of his father who passed away, and a very cool retro hockey t-shirt from me. He loved them all.
~ Lisa K.

FATHERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

In 2002 my college graduation coincided with Father's Day. My graduation was definitely a memorable "gift" as it is the only time I can remember my father letting himself show such a variety of emotions: happy, proud, relieved and a little heartbroken, as this marked the beginning of my adult independence.
~ Carolee D.

*1st Place Winner*
In 2006 I gave my Dad an early Father's Day gift: I planned to take my R&R in time for Father's Day. I was deployed to Iraq and my Dad, being a Vietnam Veteran, was really taking it hard. I'm the youngest of three daughters, so I'm his baby girl. Late in May I had my chance to come home for two weeks, and I planned it with my step-mom. I arrived in NC early that morning and went to my dad's job. I usually called him around that time, so I did and asked him what he was doing (the usual: work), then I told him to step out into the hallway, saying I was having something delivered for him. When he came out to the hall, he saw me. It made his day and made everything right. We hugged and cried, and I wished him a happy Father's Day. My father and I are very close. I got out of the Army in 2007 and moved to Asheville, NC to be closer to him. When I was a little girl, he and I would sit all day and watch the Star Wars movies together. Now that I live 20 minutes from him, we continue the tradition. Every few months, we sit together on a Saturday and hold our marathon. I'm 33 now.
~ Josie D.

Copyright 2010 Shoestring, LLC. Image: Free Digital Photos