Father's Day Truck Frame (An easy craft gift for Dad)

How the hand-made Father’s Day gifts began…

When my husband and I first started dating way back when, I was an art student, working full time on top of school just to pay my rent. I attempted to save every dollar that I could, which meant that most of his cards and gifts were handmade for a while. But you know what? He loved it! And so even once I started being able to spend money every now and then, I continued to make sure he always had at least one handmade gift or card. When Em was born, he started getting little handmade creations from her too, especially to celebrate Father’s Day.

Granted, since she’s still so little, it’s mostly me making them at this point, but with a little something special from her. Last year, that something special was her inked handprint added to the card I made him using watercolors and a fine tipped marker. This year, she’s scribbled her little heart out using every color crayon she owns all over the card we picked out.

My husband is a wonderful father, so I wanted to make sure we gave him more than just a card on his day to be celebrated.

We’ll probably start the morning with french toast (his favorite), bacon and then some mimosas for the grownups. Then we’ll let him decide how to spend the rest of the day. If the weather cooperates, he’ll probably want to spend it by his sister’s pool, lounging with frozen drinks in hand while the music plays and the little ones splash around. (Sounds great to me!) After Emily’s nap, we’ll do dinner, dessert, and then it’s gift time. This year, she’s going to be presenting him with a fun father’s day gift: a red truck frame holding one of his favorite photos of her.

This little project was inspired by my husband’s love of pickup trucks, despite not ever having owned one. One day we hope, but in the meantime, a foam one will have to do. I made the frame, as Emily is far too young for scissors, but it is fairly easy to do and I think would definitely be doable by slightly older kids. Only a few supplies are needed:

Craft foam sheets (1 white, 1 black)
Glue
Scissors
Cardboard
Photo
Markers
1 piece of paper
Pencil or pen

The first step is to draw out the truck that you want to create. If drawing isn’t one of your strongest talents, you can find a picture online and print it out.

Either way, you’re going to cut out the truck and trace the outline over both the white foam and the cardboard, and then cut the trucks out. (You can definitely use a different color of foam, but I chose to do white so that I could color it at the end.) *Save the leftover cardboard for later!

From the black foam, you’re going to cut out two circles for the tires using your truck shape as a guide. You’ll also want to cut out an oval shape for the frame. This should be a decent size- think of it as representing the truck door. Then you’re going to cut your photograph out to be slightly smaller than this oval. That way, when you glue the photo on, it will have a small black boarder showing.

The next step is assembly. Layer and glue your white truck onto the cardboard. I used hot glue to make sure it stuck on well and that I wouldn’t have to wait too long for it to dry, but any glue should be okay. Then you’ll layer/glue on your black circles and photo.

Next, you’re going to cut a rectangle out of your leftover cardboard. It should similar in size to your oval. You’re going to cut a small slit into one of the shorter sides- maybe a half inch long. this will allow you to fold part of the rectangle forward and part of it backwards.

You’re going to add a bit of glue to the bottom of the folded down sides and press firmly onto the back of your truck, right behind your photo. This will create the frame stand.

Now you have a super cute truck frame for father’s day!

You can leave it as is, or you can use markers to color it. I chose to color mine in and add a little note onto it.

I also put the year on the back of the truck, so that years from now we’ll be able to look back and know that this little frame was from when Emily was one.

There you have it! A super cute and easy Father’s Day gift. If you’re feeling super motivated, you can skip the coloring stage and create your truck by layering all different colors of foam onto your cardboard. For instance, a layer of red for the truck, then silver for the bumper, then black for the tires. It’s your craft and how you choose to go is completely up to you. Depending on the age of the kids making it, another fun option would be giving them stickers to decorate with as well. It doesn’t have to be perfect; mine certainly wasn’t. This is a gift from a kid, so if the tires aren’t perfectly round or the edge of your truck isn’t exactly straight, no need to start over!