Father’s Day Craft: The Daddy Cam!
Here is something easy to make for Father’s Day that is sure to put a smile on any dad’s face. You might even get him to mug for some photos with this faux Daddy Cam that doesn’t really take any pictures but looks pretty snazzy on his dresser or desk. All it is is a block of wood painted black with two lids attached as a lens and a “shutter button”. That’s it! Here is how you can make one too:
Supplies and Tools You’ll Need:
Finding the right size block of wood will probably be your biggest challenge. If you’re lucky, you might already have blocks of wood this size on hand if you have a carpenter in your family or you live near a construction site. But if you’re like me, you’ll have to head to the hardware store to find just the right size block of wood.
First check the culled wood in the back of the store to see if you can find a leftover piece for a discounted price. If nothing turns up there, you might be able to turn on the charm and ask your local hardware employee to look through their discards for you. If that fails, then you’ll probably have to buy a full sized board and have the hardware employee cut it down for you. Usually the first two cuts are free and every cut after that costs 25 cents. I purchased a 4×6 eight-foot board for a little under ten dollars and had two 3-inch segments cut off. The rest I took home to save for some other project. Seesaw anyone?
Next you’ll need the following supplies
- Black Paint—acrylic or spray paint, whichever you like best
- A paint brush if you are using acrylic
- One large lid like a canning jar lid or a peanut-butter jar lid
- One small lid like a water bottle cap
- Two nails to attach your lids
- A glue gun if you are using a canning jar lid
- A photo, cut into a circle that will fit inside the larger lid
The rest is easy!
Craft Directions
All you need to do is sand the wood blocks until they have smooth rounded edges and no super-rough splinters sticking off of them.
After you have your block sanded, you’re ready to paint!
Painting with (safe and non-toxic) acrylic paint and a brush is more hands-on and fun for younger children but spray-painting is quick and easy too. Paint your wood block, your jar lid and the water bottle cap all black. If you live in a warm climate like I do, your paint will be dry in less than an hour.
Now you’re ready to attach the lens and the shutter button. The peanut butter jar lid was super easy. It only needed a small tack-nail hammered into the middle to affix it nice and tight. A canning jar lid will need to be glued on with a hot glue gun but that’s pretty easy too with a thin bead around the edge. Attaching the shutter button is a snap. Affix it to the top of the block on the left side and nail another nail right through it in the center. Easy peasy and your camera is done!
Say Cheese! You’re on the Daddy Cam!
All you have to do now is glue a photo into the center of the lens and you’re done!
