Decorated Wooden Hangers for Father's Day

This is a craft project for Father's Day that can truly be put to good use. This Father's Day gift lasts for years. Each time the recipient takes a suit, uniform, or shirt off of the hangers, they will have a hand made reminder of the person who created it for them.

Hangers are something we all use, so this although this particular Father's Day project is going to end up in a closet, at least this one is there for a useful reason. If you are having a difficult time coming up with a useful but unique Father's Day gift that is easy to make, this is a good solution.

Supplies needed:

Sturdy wooden hangers. Get the molded type of hangers. This kind is made to fit and help keep the shape in the shoulders, of a suit jacket or coat. The wooden hangers should also have a cross bar to hold the matching pants, if this is for a suit or uniform. You can also paint simple flat wooden hangers.

A high gloss, high wear, heavy duty paint. The smoother textured paint will allow the articles of clothing to go on and off the hangers easily. Choose a paint to fit a room colour or theme the receiver has some special association with. Team, service or school colours representing their alma mater, are a few ideas for decorating the Father's Day hangers.

Paint brushes

Thinner for cleaning up oil based paint

Covered surface for painting on

Choose Items for decorating the Father's Day hangers:

Decals - Decals usually look more like they are painted on, instead of just stuck on, so they look a little dressier than stickers. Craft, home decorator and paint supply stores usually carry them. Use nice quality ones, not the temporary tattoo type. One simple idea here would be to get letter decals to put their initials on the hangers. That way the Father's Day hangers will be similar to a monogrammed piece of clothing and be very personalized.

Stickers - Stickers are available everywhere and you can easily find any theme you are looking for, from favourite cartoon characters to nature themes, business themes or favourite sports teams. Be aware the design on these may wear off more easily than decals or hand painted designs.

Coloured paints -You may choose to hand paint a design on the hangers instead. One simple idea are the children's fingerprints in different colours all over the surface of the hanger. Again use paints that are going to hold up to clothing rubbing against them, as they repeatedly come on and off the hangers

Instructions:

Paint the wooden hangers and allow plenty of time for the paint to dry properly. Oil based paints have a longer drying time. Check the paint can labels for approximate drying time to give you an estimate of how much time you will need to let them dry completely. Some require much longer drying times. You want the paint to be completely dry before you can proceed to the decorating step. You may also want to do more than one coat of paint for a really durable finish. Of your child or children are very young, you may want to either do the painting yourself or supervise them. Make sure you have ventilation in the room while painting and when cleaning the brushes afterwards.

After the paint is completely dry, begin decorating. Pick a theme or freehand a design. Just keep the recipients tastes and interests in mind when you are decorating them.

Stickers are very easy for a really young child to use.

Decals usually come with application instructions and they are very easy to apply.

If you use paints, again give them plenty of drying time.

One tip: Allow for time on two separate days, to complete the hangers. Do the base painting of the hangers one day, then do the decorating another.

Now you have personalized Father's Day wooden hangers.