Father’s Day is just around the corner and I have the perfect Father’s Day craft for you to make with your students (if you are still in the classroom) or at home with your own children if you are on summer vacation. The best part is that even though this project is simple, easy to make, and inexpensive, the bold colors make it look spectacular when it is complete.
Thank you to ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers for partnering with me on this blog post. I received payment, trade, and or products from Astrobrights in exchange for promoting their products. However, all opinions stated are my own and I only promote brands and products that I use and love. This post also contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links, which helps to support the blog.
It’s sort of a Father’s Day tradition to gift a dad with a necktie at some point in his life. Dads can be so tricky to shop for since most men generally have everything they need and are satisfied with what they own. This sweet Father’s Day craft is a play on the traditional necktie gift, with an added personal touch: a heartfelt note from his child. The bright colors of the necktie pop against a plain white background, and it looks fantastic in a black 8×10 picture frame – like these bargain frames from the dollar store!
Creating the Tie
Getting started with this craft is so simple. I let my helpers pick their own necktie colors from the wide assortment of Astrobrights papers that I always have on hand in my classroom. I divided my paper into two piles: a bright pile and a bold pile. The girls were told to choose one bold color to be the actual tie and one bright color which would be used for the stripes on the tie. I wanted the contrast of the darker, bold paper to stand out against the white “shirt” background, and the lighter colored stripe would create an extra pop of color (and make it easier to read the personal message that each crafter would write to her dad).
For a little extra durability while my crafters worked on the project, I used Astrobrights cardstock for the tie, and regular Astrobrights paper for the stripes.
Once the colors were selected, I copied the necktie template onto their chosen colors of cardstock (in this case Blast-Off Blue® and Celestial Blue™) and cut the bright paper color into 3/4 in strips for their tie stripes.
Then it was finally time to craft! The girls went right to town cutting out their neckties …
… and gluing the stripes onto their ties. The girls selected Rocket Red® and Vulcan Green® for their stripes. Both colors looked stunning paired with the two shades of blue ties.
If you want to keep expenses down, but want your students to have some choice in their colors, I highly recommend purchasing any of these multi packs of Astrobrights paper from Amazon. They provide a selection of colors in smaller quantities and have a great price. Click any of the images below to shop.
I also recently discovered this gem on on Amazon. It’s a cardstock pack that contains every color of Astrobrights paper.
Anyone can go to the store and purchase a gift, but there is something so touching about letting children pour their love into a gift that they make themselves. And let me tell you, these two girls were meticulous about making the nicest gifts possible for their dad!
I provided a little guidance ahead of time and explained that if they ever looked at the stripes on their dad’s ties, they would notice that the stripes are all diagonal and aren’t generally straight (horizontal) on lines.
A lot of time was spent trying to perfectly space the stripes on the tie. You could have heard a pin drop while they worked.
Once the ties were perfectly striped, each girl used scissors to trim the excess paper from the edges of the tie. Using Astrobrights cardstock for the tie was particularly helpful at this point because the sturdiness provided an extra guide for the scissors to follow.
Preparing the Shirt Details
Once the tie was ready to go, it was time to work on a few details for the dress shirt. I handed each girl two triangles and a small rectangle that had been copied onto white cardstock. I explained that we really needed the black lines to be visible on the shapes so they would stand out against the all-white background that the tie would be mounted on. I asked the girls to leave a tiny bit of white border as they trimmed around the edge of each shape.
No surprise, they executed that instruction perfectly.
Assembling the Tie and Dress Shirt
Once the tie was complete and white accent shapes were cut out, it was time to assemble the craft! I handed each girl a piece of white cardstock that I had trimmed to 8×10″ and did a quick demonstration on how to assemble the various pieces. Then I let those hardworking girls go to town!
The white rectangle was placed vertically at the bottom of the sheet of cardstock -this represents the “button up” portion of the shirt.
Next came the tie, which is glued to the very top of the cardstock.
As a final touch, the triangles were glued at the top of the paper, overlapping with each side of the tie’s “knot” the same way a shirt collar would.
Writing a Message to Dad
Once the tie craft was complete, only one task remained: penning a sweet Father’s Day message. We brainstormed a few different ideas for the girls’ messages and then they went to work, writing a personal note for their dad on the light colored stripes of the tie. They each used a black Flair Pen to give their words a little extra pop and contrast from the bright paper color.
Framing the Father’s Day Craft
Once the tie craft was complete and a messages were written, these gifts were ready to give! They looked perfectly sweet on their own, but I added a simple black picture frame as an extra special touch. Don’t be fooled by appearances, the frames are from the dollar store and they only cost $1 each. And just look how stunning the completed Father’s Day craft turned out. I know of one local dad who is going to love the gifts his daughters created for him.
Free Father’s Day Tie Craft Template
If you want to tackle this Father’s Day craft with your students or your children at home, you are in luck! I have created a FREE template with patterns and all of the steps you need to recreate this project at home or school. Just click the image below to access your free Father’s Day craft template!
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