I keep finding more and more great gift ideas for Father’s Day! How cute are these crafty paper containers by Kristen at Paper Crave?!? Head over to her site to get the free printable template and directions to make these for the man in your life.

Cathe Holden made an adorable retro “Message in a box” for dads. The free printable clip art is fabulous. My son’s room is a camping/fishing theme, so I really love this art! Speaking of Cathe… I’m on my way to California to visit her! So excited to see my talented friend:-) Be looking for photos soon.

You might also enjoy:

• Father’s Day Free Printable Gift Ideas {A great round-up of freebies}
• Father’s Day Coupon Card {For dads and husbands}
• Father’s Day Gift – Homemade Ho Hos {Recipe}

Be sure to join Amy on Facebook for more fun!
Also, be sure to check out Printables by Amy! Find easy and affordable digital files to download and print at home or at your local quick print shop. Each product is custom designed by Amy, a professional graphic designer. Amy makes do-it-yourself projects a breeze!

You probably saw the blue and brown striped free printables I recently designed for Father’s Day. Breakfast in bed is always fun, but for even more DIY gift ideas, check out this creative free printable round-up!

If Dad likes sweets try these cute ideas:

Amy from The Idea Room made adorable Candy Bar Wrappers for dad.

Kristan made homemade Ho Ho’s for her husband! Wrap them in the free printables I made for an extra sweet gift.

An oldie but super goodie by Bakerella! You can’t beat these cute brownie burgers and cake fries.

If Dad likes soda… or “Coke” as we call it here in Texas. Check out these fun labels:

Amy from The Idea Room made cute soda bottle covers.

Delightfully Noted has made Retro labels for pop bottles.

Find fun labels for cans over on Oopsey Daisy.

Fun Free Father’s Day Cards:

I love this adorable printable pack of cards, labels and tags by Ana featured on Catch My Party.

Mique at Thirty Handmade Days made a cute card for the player in your life:-)

Looking for more card ideas for Dad? Download my printable card and coupons.

Want even more Father’s Day freebies?

• Visit last year’s Father’s Day Round-Up.

Be sure to join Amy on Facebook for more fun!
Also, be sure to check out Printables by Amy! Find easy and affordable digital files to download and print at home or at your local quick print shop. Each product is custom designed by Amy, a professional graphic designer. Amy makes do-it-yourself projects a breeze!

I don’t know if you could tell by the sudden influx of tool commercials on T.V., but it’s almost Father’s Day. And if there’s one thing that I know about my husband, it’s that he loves Ho Hos.  He’s been asking me to make them for months.

He’s all “Honey can you maybe make Ho Hos one day?” and I’m all “Husband, can’t you see that I’m busy making cupcakes for people I’ve never met before? I don’t have TIME to make stuff for someone that I actually love and am spending the rest of my life with”.

And then he doesn’t divorce me.

Which means that the man obviously deserves his beloved snack cakes for Father’s Day, dontcha think?

I know that these don’t have the signature swirl of filling in the middle.

That’s because I tried to replicate that swirl. And failed miserably.

Turns out, it’s really hard to cut thin cake into small pieces and roll it up. Messy too. But then I remembered the Twinkie Pan that I have and I thought, wouldn’t that work?

I think it did!! And so easy.

To make the cake part, just bake Devils Food cake in the Twinke pan. I used box mix, but you can do homemade if that’s what tickles your fancy. Make sure not to fill the wells more than about 2/3 full.

Once cakes are cooled and removed from pans, make your filling:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, shortening and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Add powdered sugar and beat on low until just mixed. Increase speed to high and beat for 2 minutes.

Once the cakes are cooled, you can pipe the filling in through the bottom of the cakes. The Twinkie Pan I bought comes with a decorating set that is perfect for piping filling in.

Once you’ve piped the filling in, place the cakes in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours. Before you remove the cakes from the fridge, melt some chocolate almond bark or candy melts in a medium sized bowl.

Before dipping the cakes, cut the ends off.

This will give them a more traditional Ho Ho shape.

Coat the cakes in the chocolate. I did this by placing them in the bowl and spooning the chocolate over them. Remove by sliding a fork underneath and placing on wax paper. Place in the refrigerator to harden. Makes about 20 cakes.

But guess what? That’s not all…

Super talented Amy designed cute manly printables to wrap around the finished cakes. Use these little tie pattern wraps that match her free printable Father’s Day tags for an extra special gift.

Just print out the strips and trim to fit the cakes. Wrap around, trim and tape on the bottom. You could use card stock or regular paper. Print the tags and cut with a 2 inch round cutter. Tape to the top.

That’s it!! And now you just made the most awesome Father’s Day dessert ever.

Be sure to thank all the hard working dads in your life. Have a wonderful Father’s Day!!

Free Downloads

• Blue Fathers Day Tiny Tie Wraps**
• Brown Father’s Day Tiny Tie Wraps**

• Get the free tags here.**

** For Personal Use Only   •   NOT for Commercial Use   •   © 2011 LivingLocurto.com

About Kristan

Kristan is a fun mom from rural Arkansas with an amazing talent for creating cute recipes along with humorous stories. Find her on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, Twitter & Facebook.

You might also enjoy:

• Father’s Day Treat & Free Printable
• Father’s Day Coupon Card

Be sure to join Amy on Facebook for more fun!
Also, be sure to check out Printables by Amy! Find easy and affordable digital files to download and print at home or at your local quick print shop. Each product is custom designed by Amy, a professional graphic designer. Amy makes do-it-yourself projects a breeze!

We love to surprise Dad with breakfast in bed on Father’s Day. Here are some great free printables to help make Father’s Day extra special.

I designed some cute circle tags, notes and flags for my husband. Enjoy these for your own dads, grandfathers, uncles, brothers and husbands.

Download the Free Father’s Day Printables

Choose from Brown or Blue.

All files are © LivingLocurto.com and for PERSONAL use only. NOT FOR RESALE.

• Brown – Father’s Day Tags

• Brown – Father’s Day Note

• Blue – Father’s Day Tags

• Blue – Father’s Day Note

This Post is Sponsored by:

Cooking with Kids

Involving your children in the cooking process is fun and will give them an interest in preparing food in later life. But every kitchen, especially one that will have eager little children working in it does need some special equipment, and certain types of pots, pans and utensils.

For a mess-free and happy cooking experience, remember to watch your kids in the kitchen at all times, make sure they know what not to touch in the kitchen, such as sharp knives and boiling water, and for an extra clean cooking experience go for non-stick cookware for easier washing up afterwards.

Be sure to join Amy on Facebook for more fun!
Also, be sure to check out Printables by Amy! Find easy and affordable digital files to download and print at home or at your local quick print shop. Each product is custom designed by Amy, a professional graphic designer. Amy makes do-it-yourself projects a breeze!

I wish I could tell my Dad a Happy Father’s Day, but he lives in heaven now and is in a much better place.

(Photo taken by me when I was about 9 or 10 years old. He was teaching me about photography.)

I got a lot of traits from my Dad. He was talkative, stubborn, never met a stranger, fun, a Mac nerd, loved photography and ran his own small businesses. I sure wish he was here because he would have been commenting on my blog everyday, been our biggest I Heart Faces fan, entering each week’s photo challenges and Fix-it Friday. Heck, he would have been emailing and commenting to EVERYONE in our social networks that we would have probably had to ban him!

Most of all I wish he was here to see his grandkids. I know they would have loved to have had Grandpa Ted around.

When I was 12, my Dad was on a list waiting for a new heart or else he would die. This was a long and hard wait, because organ donation was pretty much unheard of back then. He was only 45 and it was hard to believe my normally larger than life Dad was so frail and sick.

I remember the exciting evening he got the call that they had a heart and an ambulance was on the way to pick us up… the heart would be at the hospital when we got there!! We made phone calls and then had enough time to get ourselves together by the time the ambulance arrived. I rode in the front seat of the ambulance, not knowing what was going to happen. This could be the night by dad lived or died. It was exciting because I was 12 and going really fast in the ambulance! But it was also such a scary time.

Once at the hospital, we weren’t sure where to go… imagine you had just been visiting with family expecting to die and now you might live!! We were all a little frazzled, but my Dad was very excited and found directions on where to go, practically yelling at anyone in his path… “I’m here for a new heart!!”. Little did we know, we had arrived before the heart, so we had some down time, just enough to get scared all over again!

Dad was taken to a small room and we all huddled around him to give kisses and hugs, not knowing if we would see him again. Then he was off to be prepped while we prayed and waited for the heart. Waiting for a heart just seemed so weird! Who’s heart was it? What had happened? Who was the family who donated such a precious gift? Would it all go well?

Then I heard the words “It’s here!” I stepped out of the waiting room to see the surgeon doing a very fast walk down the hallway with a small cooler in his hand. WOW! It was time! After this, my 12 year old brain is a blur. Everything went great and Dad was okay! We got to see him the next day and I think he actually came home in record time after less than a week. I think he was the 36th person to have a heart transplant at Barnes Jewish Hospital, where now they have performed over 500 heart transplants. Just a week or two after returning home, he was doing wheelies on his motorcycle! He was given 5 years to live. He lived an extra 10… seeing me graduate from high school and college, getting to meet my future husband, enjoying his step-grandchildren and going on many trips with his family.

I don’t know who donated his heart, all I know is that he was a 35 year old competitive cyclist who was hit by a car while training for a race. I’m so thankful that his family donated his organs. Who knows how many other lives they saved as well?

Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants, but 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

Each organ and tissue donor saves or improves the lives of as many as 50 people. Giving the “Gift of Life” may lighten the grief of the donor’s own family. Many donor families say that knowing other lives have been saved helps them cope with their tragic loss.

Click here to learn more about how to become an organ donor in your state. All you do is fill out a quick online form and they will mail you a card. Or download these Printable Donor Cards and put one in your wallet.

If you are in Texas, you can click here to register.

I know my Dad would have been proud that I told you about organ donation:-) Thanks so much to my kid’s dad for taking them out for the day while I got a chance to honor my dad by writing this post.

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful Dads out there!!

P.S. If you are passionate about spreading the news of organ donation, please visit Taylor’s Gift. Taylor was a local girl who died in a tragic skiing accident at age 13. Taylor’s gift of organ donation blessed five lives through transplantation of her heart, liver, both kidneys, pancreas, and cornea. Taylor’s Gift Foundation strives to increase organ donation through the enlightenment and education of our youth.

Be sure to join Amy on Facebook for more fun!
Also, be sure to check out Printables by Amy! Find easy and affordable digital files to download and print at home or at your local quick print shop. Each product is custom designed by Amy, a professional graphic designer. Amy makes do-it-yourself projects a breeze!