On the third Sunday in June each year we recognize Father's Day as a day to honor and celebrate fatherhood.

It's a well deserved holiday for those men who mean so much in our lives. Not only does Dad bring home the bacon, mow the lawn, take out the garbage, and fix things but he also acts as a parenting partner, a mentor, a friend, a coach, and often a comedian. So lets hear it for Dad!!! He's a great guy!

And for the man who already has everything finding a gift can be a challenge. As a result, the gifts on Father's Day are often more practical than unique in our family. But that's okay because the things that really make the day special have more to do with the little things we do for him to show our love. It might be a special meal, a back rub, offering to do a chore, or simply spending time together. Another way that we can express our love and appreciation for Dad is to make our own cards for him. No need to search for that fancy store bought card when you can craft one that is more meaningful at home. You have all the tools you need at your fingertips to create something that will really WOW him!

But let's go beyond the standard handmade card and create something truly unique with a shaped card. The biggest challenge is deciding on a shape. Start by thinking about his personality, his interests and hobbies. Does he enjoy sports, computers, books, cars, cooking? From there you can draw a shape for the card, use a template or use clipart or illustration that you find online and enlarge the image to the desired size. Determine where the fold will be for the card or use the shape as a front to cover a basic card adhered to the back. However you do it, be creative and have fun!

Two weeks ago, my husband took all of us to a NASCAR race. It was our first time. It was hot, very loud and we had a blast! And it was the first time I really got to see how much he loved the sport. His enthusiasm and excitement was contagious. He's been an avid fan of Jeff Gordon for many years. He has every imaginable souvenir or piece of memorabilia you can think of, far too many t-shirts and he's already had the stock car driving experience. I'm out of ideas in the NASCAR gift department and heís quite honestly not interested in collecting more things. But I know that he'll get a kick out of this simple card.

My inspiration was a collectible item included with one of his many die cast model cars. It was a miniature replica of the stock car hood. To make the card, I created a rectangle and cut off the bottom corners. I used the freehand attachment for the Ultra ShapeXpress tool to cut out flames and to cut a leaf from a Shape Template for the center. Very simple but he'll know that I was thinking of him when I made it.

This next card was inspired by it being my husband's first year as coach to our son's baseball team. I can't tell you how excited my little guy was to know his Dad would be the coach! There's been more than just a little hero worshipping going on since then. There's been lots of guy time and bonding over their love of playing ball.

To create the card, we found an illustration of a baseball jersey online, enlarged it, printed two and cut it out to use as out template. We layered the red and white pieces for the shirt. He Squeeze Punched the Twinkle, Twinkle stars (my kidsí favorite tool!) and we added the lettering. The ìoî is a Medium Round ën Round Squeeze Punch with pen work for detail that we popped up with Adhesive Foam Squares.

The final card was my teen daughter's idea. She and her father have an ongoing competition as to who is better at playing Guitar Hero. They are fiercely competitive although our daughter more often comes out the winner. Still, she loves that he'll play the game with her late into the night on weekends and it's something they can rib each other about in between. So this card is a show of her affection for him.

The card is a mix between a standard card and a shaped card. We enlarged a guitar illustration as the template. But adhered a portion of the shape onto a 5 inch by 7 inch card. She trimmed away the top part of the card above the guitar. This made it possible to see part of the inside of the card. She used Squeeze Punches and a circle Pop Up Punch to embellish the guitar and the space around it.

Whatever you and your children choose to create together it will surely make a memory that will remain with Dad long past this Father's Day. Your thoughtful efforts will be much appreciated and he'll know how much you love him. So go be creative and have a Happy Father's Day!