Make A Personalized Grilling Gift for a Gamer Dad

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Is it incredibly cliché to go shopping for a Father’s Day gift at The Home Depot?

Ok, it probably is, but that’s exactly where I headed for a last-minute shopping spree before this weekend. My husband is typically pretty easy to shop for, and since I sort of went cheap skate on his birthday a few weeks ago, I decided to spoil him for Father’s Day with a brand spanking new smoker for the yard.

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We already own a pretty nice gas grill, but there is just something about that charcoal grilled effect that I have been missing so far this summer. I considered a little charcoal grill, but decided that the dual benefits of a smoker made it the real winner.

I really love it when I can find everything I want in one aisle. Just inside The Home Depot sat the coveted smoker AND a stack of Kingsford Charcoal to start off our grilling.

I’m pretty sure we’ll be set for a while with the Kingsford Original Twin Pack. Even better, it was over half off the original price! Frugal gifting win.

Now, as a crafty blogger, I refuse – REFUSE – to just hand over a perfectly packaged, store-bought gift. It goes against my nature. I needed a way to personalize my gift for Daddy, and I had an idea. While still at The Home Depot, I snagged a new grill mitt as well. I already had a plain ceramic platter in mind for the rest of the gift idea.

My husband is a total gamer. Now, he obviously isn’t terribly into Super Mario anymore – he plays Xbox and all sorts of manly, too-violent-for-me types of games – but he loves all the Mario shirts and things I’ve bought him over the years, so I sort of stick with that theme. The grill icon on the oven mitt gave me an idea, and I’ve been dying to try my hand at sharpies on ceramics!

And now I had the charcoal I needed to make a perfect Father’s Day gift for a gamer dad.

Supplies You Need:

3D Paint

Large Platter

Acrylic Paint

Oil Based Sharpie Pens

I used my computer to type up the phrase I wanted in Super Mario font, and printed it on plain paper.

I snagged a briquette of charcoal from my Kingsford bag, and started rubbing it over the back of the paper.

Once I had a nice, dusty layer of charcoal, I flipped the paper over and lined up the words on the rim of the plate. I used a pen to outline the words, leaving a faint outline on the plate.

I already had on hand a full set of Oil-Based Sharpie markers, so I grabbed the “Mario” colors and got to work!

Once I’d outlined all the words around the plate, I sort of improvised some Mario characters to fill in the gaps, and added my sons’ hand prints and names to the center in ceramic paint.

I also used 3D paint tubes to transform the grill icon on the oven mitt into another famous Mario icon:

Once the smoker was assembled, I had the trifecta grilling gift for my sweet gamer dad.

If you’re looking to make a last-minute grab for Father’s Day, you can find your own grilling gifts at The Home Depot near you by clicking here.

I know for a fact that my husband will want BBQ Pork Ribs for his first grilling, since he’s talked about them at length recently. Once those have been ~~made~~ devoured, I intend to send him on the hunt for some more grilling inspiration. We need to take advantage of our short Chicago summers and get our grill on!