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Celebrate Dad this Father’s Day with these two fun DIYs

22 Aug 2024

Nothing shows how much you care like a hand-made gift – it also means Dad will have a one-of-a-kind present that he will cherish for years to come. Head to your local ReseneColorShop to pick out Dad’s favourite testpot shades and try making one of these fun and handy projects.  

Surfboard bottle opener 

Most Dad’s like a bottle of beer, especially on a hot summer day or after a long day at work, so why not make him this cool surfboard bottle opener. We took a premade ply surfboard and painted it and gave it a retro stripe then screwed on a metal bottle opener. This would make a great addition to the garage wall or man’s cave, and we guarantee Dad will love it.

What you need: 

  • A plywood MDF surfboard shape  
  • Or a piece of plywood cut into a surfboard shape that is 48.2cm long, 14.7cm wide and 0.7cm thick  
  • Painters masking tape  
  • Paintbrush  
  • Sandpaper  
  • Bottle opener and screws 
  • Resene testpots in Dad’s favourite shades. We used Resene Blue Night and Resene Sail  

Step 1:Take your surfboard shape and paint the base of it in your chosen paint colour. We usedResene Sail. You will need two coats for best coverage and allow dry time between coats. 

Step 2:To create the stripe down the middle, take some painters masking tape and tape up the stripe (ours is approximately 3.5cm wide). 

Step 3:Paint the stripe in your other chosen paint colour. We usedResene Blue Night.

Step 4:Remove painters tape and screw on the metal bottle opener. 

Wall painted in Resene Villa White, picture frames in Resene Resolution Blue and Resene Morning Glory. 

 

Fish keyring holder 

Storage of keys is a must in any home and a great concept to keep them all together in one place is with a keyring holder. Whether your dad is into surfing, fishing or boating, you can make a keyring holder to suit his hobby.  

What you need:  
  • 1x piece of MDF 41cm long, 30cm wide and 0.5cm thick  
  • 4x pieces of dowel 1.5cm thick and 4cm long 
  • Wooden knob for eye 4cm in diameter 
  • Testpot brush  
  • Pencil  
  • Screws  
  • Jigsaw  
  • Drill  
  • Fish shape template  

Step 1: Draw or trace your fish shape onto the piece of MDF board in pencil. 

Step 2: Cut out your fish shape using a jigsaw. 

Step 3: Measure out your dowel pieces witha pencil ready for cutting, ours were 4cm long and 1.5cm thick. 

Step 4: Cut your dowel into four even pieces. You might need to give the ends a light sand using sandpaper. 

Step 5: Paint your fish shape in your chosen paint colour. We used Resene Half Innocence.

Step 6: Paint your pieces of dowel in your other chosen colour. We used Resene Duck Egg Blue.

Step 7: Paint your wooden knob for the eye in another of your chosen colours. We used Resene Emerge. 

Step 8: Mark out on the back of the fish in pencil where you want the dowel pieces to go and drill in the screws from the back. 

Step 9: Turn the fish over so the screws are visible at the front and slowly and gently screw the pieces of dowel and the knob into the screws to secure. 

Step 10: Add hanging strips to the back of the fish or a picture hanger and hang on your wall. 

Wall painted in Resene Parchment, console table in Resene Villa White, plant pot in Resene Lynchpin and ribbed bowl in Resene Sorrento. 

project Vanessa Nouwens 

images Bryce Carleton 

Published: 22 Aug 2024