Fast and Easy Record Gifts for Dad

Hi guys! I hope you are all enjoying your week! Father’s Day is a few weeks away still, but I always like to make my gifts a bit before hand so I am not rushed when the date creeps up on me. Dads can be really difficult to figure out what to gift them. At least mine are! There is only so many ties a guy can have hanging in his closet. One thing I think we all can appreciate is music. I LOVE crafting with vintage records, they are always so much fun! Today I am going to show you a couple of quick gifts you can make with old record albums for Father’s Day. There are lots of things you can make with old records, but one of my favorite things to do is use the album covers to make notebooks. You can use the records inside to make a clock. Two gift ideas wrapped up in one neat old package. What could be better?

Here’s What You Need:

*Record Album You don’t Mind Cutting

*Paper Cutter or Ruler and Scissors

*Clock Mechanism Kit (You can find these at any craft store)

*Number Stickers

*Nail Polish and Sharpie Paint (optional)

Instructions for Notebook:

This couldn’t be any easier. Decide the area of the album cover you want in your design. Cut the front away from the back. Mark 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches long. You may want to add a 1/16th to an eighth inch of extra wiggle room to the width for binding. Once you have your covers marked, cut them down to size. Grab a nice size hunk of letter sized paper( 8.5×11) for the inside. If you want to get extra crafty, you can cut down scrapbook papers to stick in between the plain sheets, or add some pockets to a page. Take your cover and paper stack to your local office supply store (I used Office Max) and get the notebook spiral bound at the printing services area. I got three notebooks bound in under twenty minutes and they cost me less than $5 each. Not bad for a super cool notebook for the dads. You could even make some up for school notebooks in the fall.

Instructions for the Clock:

Okay, so this one is really easy too! The first thing you do is measure out where you need your numbers to go. You can measure around your record with a measuring tape to get the intervals if you are going to include them. To mark the main numbers add the twelve and the six to the center top and bottom of the record, and then find the center perpendicular marks for the sides and add your three and nine stickers. You can mark the other numbers if you like as well, or add dots for them. Now, if you want your clock hands to be colored you can paint them easily with a few coats of nail polish. Once the polish dries, you are ready to assemble the clock. Follow the instructions on the package. Most clock kits are the same. You take the hardware apart, then insert the clock into the hole in the record. Tighten the record down to the clock with the large nut. Then you attach the hour hand, the minute hand, and then the tiny nut to hold it all in. To finish it off you gently press the second-hand into the front of the mechanism. Add a battery and you are ready to hang. It’s so fast and easy!

I love how my simple record notebooks and clock turned out! These are going to my papas, but I think I will have to make some for myself sometime! I hope some of you will give this one a try too! I think they will make great gifts! They are great for guys and music lovers alike. I will be busy getting Hannah’s party ready tomorrow and will be taking a small break over the weekend, but I will be back to my regular schedule next week and will be sharing some fun tutorials, vintage awesomeness, and a peek at Hannah’s highschool graduation party! Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Happy Crafting!