First Father’s Day Gifts // Embroidered Photographs

First Father’s Day gifts are so special! Make these easy and adorable embroidered photographs for the first time dad in your life.

A dad’s first Father’s Day is a pretty special thing. And first Father’s Day gifts can be extra special too! If there’s a dad in your life that you’d like to celebrate, these embroidered photographs are a perfect gift idea.

Celebrating a First Father’s Day

This was one of those projects that I actually made for Mr. Lovely (it was part of his first Father’s Day gift!), so I had to embroider, photograph, and get this post together all in secret. It was full-on undercover DIY.

But the good news is that he loved them and now they’re proudly displayed around our house. These little embroidered Instagrams are the perfect gift, I tell ya! They’re also a really easy first embroidery project if you’re exploring embroidery as a new skill.

First Father’s Day Gifts from Kids

If you need more ideas for a first Father’s Day gift, we’ve got some other really great ideas! You can make these yourself, or if you have older kids they can get in on the fun and help as well.

Stenciled Grilling Apron. This cute grilling apron is made from a towel and a stencil that you can download here on Lovely Indeed!

Homemade Orange Bitters. If the dad in your life enjoys a good cocktail, make him some homemade bitters that he can add to his favorite libation.

DIY Cornhole Game. Any dad would love a woodworking project that was made for him! This cornhole tutorial has instructions for two sizes of boards, and two really great painting ideas to decorate them.

Bike Pannier Bags. Get some bags in your guy’s favorite color and create these useful and cool pannier bike bags.

Make a Yahtzee Game. Who doesn’t love a round of Yahtzee with dad?!

First Father’s Day Gifts For Dads, Grandpas, and More

Since we’re talking about Father’s Day, let’s acknowledge that there can be plenty of father figures in your life! These ideas aren’t just great for “dad.” They’re perfect for anybody who you might like to celebrate on Father’s Day.

Brothers, uncles, grandfathers, and women who fill a fatherly role would all love to receive something thoughtful and special like these embroidered photographs.

Why Embroidered Photographs?

This Father’s Day gift idea is a wonderful way to get photos off of your phone and into your home! So often I take photos of our kids or our family and they never see the light of day, because everything is digital.

But with this project, you can choose some favorites of your kids and their dad, and create a one-of-a-kind gift idea that features them.

I love these for a first Father’s Day gift for so many more reasons, too!

• They’re totally affordable.
• The embroidered photographs are sweetly sentimental but still very cool.
• It’s something that you’ll actually want to display around the house.
• You can pair them with another gift or give on their own.

The Best Photo Paper for This Gift Idea

When you’re printing photos for this first Father’s Day gift idea, different types of photo paper will alter the project depending on what you choose.

My favorite type of photo paper for this project is a matte finish, somewhat thick stock. You can get photos printed like this at lots of online printing presses.

Some of my favorites are Social Print Studio or Shutterfly.

I also love using prints that have a classic white border around the edges for a bit of a vintage look!

Materials You’ll Need

Here’s what you’ll need to create these embroidered Instagram photographs.

Materials

• printed Instagrams (these squares from SPS are the way to go!)
• embroidery needle
• embroidery thread
• thimble (optional)
• pencil
• scissors

Make Time: 15 Minutes per photo, depending on intricacy of your design

How to make Embroidered Photos for a First Father’s Day Gift

1. In pencil, lightly sketch out a design on your Instagram. It’s fun to draw something that adds to the photo, like a sun in an outdoor photo or an extra flower in a garden.
2. With a needle, punch holes along all of your drawn lines. Make a hole at either end of each line, and space them about 2-3 mm apart in between.
3. Embroider through the holes using a backstitch. There’s a great diagram for a backstitch right here! Basically, you work right to left. Start your first stitch by coming up through the back and down through the front. Make another stitch by coming up through the hole to the left of your last stitch, then down through your first hole, which already has a thread through it.
4. Keep embroidering until your design is finished! Knot your thread at the back of the photo and snip the ends.

How to Display Embroidered Photographs

Fair warning: this is addictive! You’re going to want to embroider little designs on every photo you’ve got. And I’m not going to stop you.

To display, you could put them around the house in a number of ways:

• Display them on your fridge with magnets.
• Group them in a shadowbox frame.
• Tie up a length of twine and clip multiple photos on.

More Father’s Day Ideas to Celebrate Dad

Try a few more of these ideas to round out your Father’s Day celebrations! xoxo

• Blood Orange Sidecar Cocktail
• Make Your Own Pretzel & Beer Pairings
• Make a Wes Anderson Guess Who Game
• DIY Leather and Cement Checkers Game
• DIY Painted Woodcut Platter

First Father's Day Gifts // Embroidered Photographs

Yield: Embroidered photographs

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $5

Embroidered photographs are a special and thoughtful first Father's Day gift idea!

Print

Materials

• Printed photographs
• Embroidery thread
• Pencil
• Thimble (optional)

Tools

• Scissors
• Embroidery needle

Instructions

1. In pencil, lightly sketch out a design on your Instagram. It's fun to draw something that adds to the photo, like a sun in an outdoor photo or an extra flower in a garden.
2. With a needle, punch holes along all of your drawn lines. Make a hole at either end of each line, and space them about 2-3 mm apart in between.
3. Embroider through the holes using a backstitch. There's a great diagram for a backstitch right here! Basically, you work right to left. Start your first stitch by coming up through the back and down through the front. Make another stitch by coming up through the hole to the left of your last stitch, then down through your first hole, which already has a thread through it.
4. Keep embroidering until your design is finished! Knot your thread at the back of the photo and snip the ends.

Notes

This Father's Day gift idea is a wonderful way to get photos off of your phone and into your home! So often I take photos of our kids or our family and they never see the light of day, because everything is digital.

But with this project, you can choose some favorites of your kids and their dad, and create a one-of-a-kind gift idea that features them.

I love these for a first Father's Day gift for so many more reasons, too!

• They're totally affordable.
• The embroidered photographs are sweetly sentimental but still very cool.
• It's something that you'll actually want to display around the house.
• You can pair them with another gift or give on their own.