Father's Day Gift Guide, by Gabi Gandolfini

Father’s Day Gift Guide 2019, by Gabi Gandolfini 

 

* GUEST POST *

 

Who religiously gives the father in their lives a thoughtful gift on Father’s Day every year? Not me. I’m terrible. We never really do the Mother’s Day / Father’s Day thing. I always send my mother-in-law flowers because I feel it’s the right thing to do, but even my own mum only gets a text message. Am I horrible? I know lots of people who are the same but just don’t admit it out loud!

One thing I AM good at is making cards for all occasions. We make cards from scratch ourselves for every birthday and even more special ones for Father’s Day. So, it’s not like the occasion goes unnoticed! I guess I just feel that something that really means something, like a card we spent the whole afternoon making, means more than anything I could buy and spend our hard-earned money on.

Having said all that, we are all aware of the many sites that sells exclusive and personalised gifts and I do like the idea of that, buying something with meaning. So recently I was introduced to All by MAMA. It’s a site selling beautiful bespoke gifts made by mums and dads running their little businesses around family life. I love the sound of that because that’s me right now. Trying to live the self-employed life while having the kids around and juggling it all. It is so hard and I appreciate every bit of income I get. Therefore, I love the idea of supporting other parents too. THIS has meaning.

Browsing through the site I found some amazing things which I though my husband would love, and he is the trickiest man to buy for. So, this Father’s Day, which this year is on Sunday 16^th June, as well as making a lovely card with the kids, I’ve decided to gift him with something too. Something with meaning which he will love!

Let’s get to it and get to my ultimate Father’s Day gift guide for those who don’t often do Father’s Day like me and don’t even know where to start.

Let’s create a couple of dad profiles first. Mind you, I have two fathers in my life, my husband and my dad and I’m basing my gift ideas on what I would personally and genuinely, 100% buy for them. This is super personal in the hope that it inspires you to see the meaning in the gifts I have chosen and hopefully have meaning for the fathers in your life too. There are SO many other profiles out there, but mine are these:

 

THE PAUL TYPE

Paul is my husband. He is a stereotypical man. He is a plumber, he’s always a bit grubby, I need to drag him to the barbers because he often looks like a bear. He can’t coordinate his socks and couldn’t care less about it either. He’s super strong, super handy and super easy going. He doesn’t really have hobbies which makes it hard to buy gifts for him, although he loves music, weird zombie films, drinking coffee and eating cheese. He’s also a bit grumpy, like he was born already an old man. And he loves his kids more than anything in the world. Whenever the girl smiles, he melts. If the girl makes him brush the Barbie’s hair for the 10^th time, he’ll obey. Whatever the boy wants, he gets. He’s super tough and super soft all at the same time!

 

THE CARLOS TYPE

Carlos is my dad. He’s an engineer, he loves practical things but doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He loves technology, innovation, motorcycles, cinema and bike rides in the countryside. He likes nice things but won’t necessarily know how to style them – but he is happy to let my mum tell him what to wear and how (warning – this is the opposite of the Paul Type!). He also loves drinking coffee and eating cheese but, opposite to the Paul Type who will drink anything with caffeine and eat anything called cheese, the Carlos Type only likes the nice stuff (but not necessarily the expensive stuff!). He loves his wife more than anything, she is his muse and whatever she wants, she gets. And his daughter (that’s me!) and grandchildren.

 

Here’s my 3 picks for the PAUL TYPE

Ten Reasons Why I Love You Personalised Print, £6.99 to £55.99

I love this because it’s super flexible. In the central bubble “10 reasons why I love you” you can write anything you want, from “10 reasons why WE love you” to “Your 10 different types of snore”. You can get creative! I would go for the love one (I know, traditional!) and ask the kids to list 10 things they love about their dad. It would be really cute to have things like “best Lego builder in the world” and “you always burn the pizzas”. We would all cherish it for a long time and the soft side of the Paul Types would secretly love it. It comes in a variety of colours, sizes and finishes too.

 

Personalised Hammer Multi Tool, £24.99

It’s the kind of thing that everyone should have (I have a cheap plastic multi tool thing which I use all the time, so I would personally love a nice one like this). For a Paul Type who actually has proper man-sized tools, this is more of a sentimental gift, the one he would use to change batteries on toys and the kids would see him using his gift all the time. I think he would love this. Otherwise, a Personalised 16oz Claw Hammer for £16.99 might also do the job nicely as he can actually use it at work!

 

Robot Love Daddy & Kids, £6.99 to £55.99

Paul and the likes of Paul will love most pop culture stuff. And all Sci-Fi stuff. This personalised Star Wars nod print comes in a variety of sizes and finishes and I personally think it’s super cute. A Paul Type would definitely appreciate this! If there’s only one child involved, there’s a “Father and Child” option too.

 

 

 

Here’s my 3 picks for the CARLOS TYPE

Best Dad Cheese Board, £25 to £27.50

It would be a waste to give this to a Paul Type as the Paul Type would just grab a block of cheese and eat it. No fancy utensils required. But the Carlos Type… he’d appreciate eating his cheese properly! My dad would absolutely love this.

 

 

 Sponsored by Coffee Print (in pink or blue), £15

This print is super stylish and super simple and my dad would appreciate it. And because it’s classic, the wife of the recipient should not be aggravated by the gift. If you ever give a home gift to a married man, always try to guess if the partner would approve! My mum would approve this print and so would I if it was for Paul! It would look great next to any coffee machine.

 

 

Personalised Weekend Holdall Bag, £40

My dad travels a lot for work and this holdall is the perfect size for the amount of stuff he needs to carry, plus it looks really stylish and yet quite classic, which is what my dad goes for. The fact that you can personalise it with their initials feels quite luxurious. This is one of those gifts that would get a “you really shouldn’t have” kind of reaction.

 

 Bonus Picks

Now, drum roll please… here’s my bonus picks, one that both Paul and Carlos Types would love. In fact, I think these ones are pretty safe to say that most people would love. In doubt, go for one of these!

• Cook & Baking Stand with personalised message, £27.99

This is a gem. Paul and Carlos don’t cook. Paul burns stuff as a hobby if anything. But this beauty would also work as an amazing gadget stand for the kitchen. It’s made of proper wood so it looks amazing, it folds flat so it can  easily be put away if you need counter space, you can fully personalise the message and I love the angle, which means I can display my favourite cook book on it when not in use. It’s really a gift for everyone. This particular seller has incredible wooden creations!

 

• Personalised First Hero, First Love Wooden Frame, £19.50

This is when the soft side of daddy comes out. When they are reminded that they are their kids heros, their loves, their universe, their everything. I think this frame says it all and it made me a bit emotional when I first saw it. A lovely photo of the 3 of them together in there and this is a beautiful gift.

 

 

So that’s it! “What is Paul getting then?”, you may ask me. I don’t know! I’m in between the multi tool and the cook stand but can’t decide. I’ll show you over on Instagram if you’re over there what I decide to get in the end and what it looks like when it arrives. Come over and let me know what you are going for too!

I hope I have inspired you to buy something with meaning and to support other parents this Father’s Day. And don’t forget to make a nice card too!

Gabi Gandolfini

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