gift guide: father’s day.

June 7, 2018

For anyone looking ahead to giving the fathers in their lives a little something special on Father’s Day this year, here are a few ideas for the sweet, silly, sensitive, caring, compassionate, and crafty fathers in your lives.

This handmade broom for perfecting his sweep.

This classic henley for showing off his dad bod.

This face oil for pampering.

This navy platter for entertaining.

These hooks for organizing.

This sore muscle salve for rejuvenation.

This scented candle for making the place smell nice.

This special edition knife for picnicking.

Action items:

Like last year, in an effort to ground all of this gift-giving in something a bit more down to earth, here are a few things we can do today to help fathers of all kinds:

For Families with Two Dads: Take a photo. The Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents LGBTQ parents and their children. Their Snap it and Send it initiative encourages LGBTQ parents—and everyone—to “snap and send” photos of forms that only have a place for a mother and a father. It’s a call to action to acknowledge the diversity of families.

For Families with Incarcerated Fathers: Send children’s books. Last year many of you sent books to the DC-based nonprofit Hope House, which supports families with incarcerated fathers by connecting dads to their kids. The Hope House looks for children’s book donations on an ongoing basis for their Father-to-Child Reading Program, which records the voices of incarcerated fathers reading children’s books to send to their children.

For Men Who Have Babies: Support Men Having Babies, a national nonprofit supporting gay men who would like to become biological parents. They educate prospective parents about the process of becoming biological fathers and run an assistance fund to offer financial support to fathers during the surrogacy process.

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9 Comments

  • Reply Colleen Wisniewski June 7, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    So many good things on this gift guide! I love the simplicity of products you share. Also, thank you for honoring other families with various situations. I appreciate you being vocal about these action items. Thanks for being so thoughtful!

    XOXO long time reader, but just finally starting to comment. Sending you lots of love from Philadelphia.

    sincerely, colleen

  • Reply Jess June 7, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    another option for handmade brooms that I’d highly recommend is Berea College in Kentucky — sales from their crafts program helps support their tuition-free model and they just seem like a great resource for economic resilience in Appalachia. Plus, I ordered one of their brooms last fall and it’s a beauty: http://berea-college-crafts-605257.shoplightspeed.com/broomcraft-products/brooms/

    • Reply Emily June 8, 2018 at 9:17 am

      Thank you for posting this. What a great resource!

    • Reply Alex June 12, 2018 at 10:51 am

      Yes! I was going to reply the same. Their placemats, wooden games and throws are all also worth a look.

  • Reply Elizabeth June 7, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    I always love your list posts! Thank you for the fun gift-giving inspiration and also the thoughtful action items. The face oil caught my eye because the brand name is my husband’s last name! I was so proud to read about what a mindful company it is. What a great gift it would make!

  • Reply Elizabeth June 7, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    I just gifted myself my first Opinel. Pretty excited about these recommendations!

  • Reply Anonymous June 8, 2018 at 10:23 am

    It is ridiculous to spend $300 on a broom. I don’t think there is any justification for it other than rich people who don’t know what to do with their money. I also see that they are your sponsor. This is shady practice in name of simple living.

    • Reply ERIN BOYLE June 8, 2018 at 10:40 am

      Hi there: Totally understood that the there’s sticker shock associated with a luxury broom. These particular brooms are handcrafted in the Shaker-tradition by a sculptor and artist. They’re pieces of functional art, and, like much art, they’re certainly a luxury. Beautiful to behold but certainly not in the budget of most people. And yes! Custodian is a new sponsor of the site. While in no way required to do so, when there’s an editorial fit I do often include products in roundups that come from the independent sponsors of this site. I’m proud of the thoughtful folks that help support this site and proud to be able to showcase their work when it makes sense to do so.

  • Reply Lauren June 12, 2018 at 12:28 pm

    Thank you for sharing the nonprofit information. I was struggling to find a thoughtful way to honor my husband, and a donation to Hope House feels perfect.

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