Pink ::
Do you remember this one? I think we were both still in Nashville when I started this. It was for Little Think's first Father's Day and I have done it every year.
It is the ONE thing Mr. Think wants.
It is his "Badge of Honor".
I bought a pink tie. I found a picture of Little Think on my computer, shrunk it down so her face was about an inch across and converted it to black & white and then made it sepia to warm it up. (group shots would work great for more than one child) Then I then printed it on this stuff:
It is canvas that can go through my inkjet printer. Found it online at Amazon today but I have seen it around other places. Kinda pricey but it is what I started with so I have to go with it. I cut it out in a circle. Then I poked holes around the outside about an 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch apart with my needle tool. I used embroidery thread in a blanket stitch to attach the photo to the tie.
I always just google "blanket stitch" to remember how to do it. There are lots of tutorials for it and I usually find one I can comprehend. I would love to have a sewing machine that I trusted to do a nice finished edge around it but then again I like the quirkiness of my stitches and how they are slightly different each year. And in a few years I will let Little Think sew it on herself. I put the first photo on the bottom of the tie and then add a photo going up every year. We tell Mr. Think he had earned his "Daddy Badge" for the year. (He is an Eagle Scout so he has great respect for badges)
My favorite part is when he wears it to church that day and I can see people wondering what in the world is on his tie. Two years ago I was out of town on Father's Day and he wore it out in the rain for an extended period of time and it got a little rain splashed on some of the photos. So it is a little fragile. It's a good thing it only gets worn one day a year.
Another option instead of sewing would be to have 1 inch button pins made of the photo and pin them to the tie. How totally cute would it look when the tie was all filled up with color photo button pins of things they did together that year. If you google button pins several companies come up. (Zazzle.com is one that has no minimums and quick turn around but I have never used them so I can't vouch for their quality or service. They have totally cool square buttons too!)
I love having something sentimental to give every year. And that fact that he looks forward to it and is proud to wear it shows what a truly great father he is.
Little Think and I need to get going on selecting a photo for this year! :: Think
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That is fabulous! It makes me wish I had started doing something like that 14 years ago...
Posted by: michelle | June 17, 2009 at 02:11 PM
Great Idea. I like it. I will also try to do that in my dads necktie. Thanks for the idea.
-fern-
Posted by: Gift Philippines | June 18, 2009 at 02:02 AM
Love this!!! What a cute blog this is, just found you from oneprettything and I love everything you said on your "about this blog" page, that's totally why I started my crafting/mommy blog. It always makes me smile to find other women who feel the same!
Posted by: Samster Mommy | June 19, 2009 at 07:19 AM
Great idea and love how even nonsewers like me can do this! Even though the photo fabric is expensive you only use a little on this project and have plenty left for lots more.
Posted by: Katie | June 19, 2009 at 01:14 PM
Awesome. My oldest is 10 but I think I will backlog and force him to wear it this year :)
Posted by: DJ Conger | May 21, 2010 at 01:03 PM