Personalized Father's Day Card

What You Need:

• Piece of lightweight cardboard, cut to 5"x7"
• 2 sheets of white paper, 8 1/2"x11"
• 1 sheet of red paper, 8 1/2"x11"
• Scissors and glue stick
• Black permanent marker
• Metallic marker in silver or gold

What You Do:

1. Begin by placing the sheet of white paper horizontally on a flat surface. Position the 5" x 7" piece of cardboard vertically in the center.

2. Fold the top edge of the white paper down approximately 3/4". Glue it where it overlaps the cardboard. Do the same with the bottom edge of the white paper, folding it up aproximately 3/4" and gluing it where it overlaps.

3. Now you will have two flaps of white paper remaining, one to the left of the cardboard and one to the right. Wrap the left flap of white paper around the cardboard like a present, smoothing it evenly. Overlap the right flap of the white paper over the left one, so that the edge is about 1" off-center, and then glue it down, like this:

4. Take out the sheet of red paper and the extra sheet of white paper. Cut two long triangles from the white paper to form a shirt collar, and one 2" square from the red paper to form the "knot" of the tie. (You can do these freehand.) Finally, create a "tie" from the red paper by cutting a rectangle approximately 7"x3" and folding it.

5. Before gluing everything down, invite your child to use the metallic marker write "To Dad" on the front of the tie, and then to decorate it with details that are personally meaningful to Dad, such as a favorite hobby or reminders of a special shared memory.

6. Now you're ready to put everything together. Start by gluing the triangles to the top edge, to form a collar. Then tuck the top of the "tie" under the edge of the square, and glue the square and tie top securely down. Do NOT, however, glue down the rest of the tie.

7. Under the tie, where the white paper overlaps, have your child draw lines for shirt stitching and add buttons. Then, in the space under the tie and between buttons, have your child write an extra message to Dad, whether "Happy Father's Day," "You're the Best," or another special note.