DENVER – From handmade ties to wooden cuff links, it’s easy to find last-minute, hand-crafted gifts for Father’s Day at small businesses, craft shows and online shops.
Handmade speaks of time and care; these items don’t roll off conveyer belts. Find a weekend crafts market or do an online search of your neighbourhood to find gifts.
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Or visit an online handmade marketplace, such as Aftcra, ArtFire or Zibbet.
Knotty Tie Co. is a team of young creative types who make ties of any width and length, including bow ties and pocket squares. The company, launched in 2013 with a Kickstarter funding campaign, offers its own colorful patterns, but much of its business comes from custom orders.
Have an idea for a tie? Knotty Tie’s team will design it, digitally print the fabric and sew it. It serves wedding parties and companies looking to highlight a logo, and can also customize a single tie or bow tie for $45.
“We thought ties had become meaningless,” says Knotty Tie co-founder Jeremy Priest. “Just the way they were being made and sold. Our experience of partnering in the design really makes the product more meaningful.”
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William Bussard was an out-of-work architect in 2008 when he created a necklace for his wife using electrical conduit and old wood that he found in his garage.
“I wrote her a little story about it,” recalls Bussard. “And she loved it.”
Many necklaces, cuff links and belt buckles later, Bussard steers Bussard Designs at the online shop Etsy. His handiwork also looks architectural: Lines are simple, crisp and clean.
He works with aluminum, reclaimed wood (mostly walnut) and even old shotgun shells.
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The shell casings in Bussard’s “shotgun wedding” cuff links look old because they are: His father digs the casings — many which date to the 1890s — out of the dirt on the family’s Texas panhandle ranch.
For some fun DIY Father’s Day gift ideas, check out Pinterest.
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