Father's Day: Secret Message Gift Wrap, Homemade Bows, & Homemade Gummy Bites!

Father's Day is just around the corner so I thought I'd share a little of what we did to make it extra special for Daddy this year.  :)  To make the gift wrapping just as wonderful as the gift inside, I decided to spice up some plain white wrapping paper by having us write secret notes on it for my husband.

On one present, we used lemon juice to write messages (if you try this, just use a cotton swab or thin paintbrush and it should dry pretty clear).  When Daddy opens his present, he can hold the paper up to a strong heat source to see what we wrote!  :)

UPDATE ON THIS METHOD:  The lemon juice method did not work well on the wrapping paper we used.  The notes we wrote with the juice didn't seem to show up very well using a heat source.  It is possible that this was due to the type of wrap we used so I suggest if you try this method - you may want to make a little sample first using the type of wrap you intend to give your gift in to make sure it works well first.  Please let me know if you try this and have a successful story to share as I thought this would be a fun idea for kids.  :)

On the second gift, we used homemade finger paint to write a secret note to Daddy.  In order to read it, he will have to open his present VERY carefully so as not to mess up the paper.

By the way, if you try any of these methods, make sure you measure and cut your paper to size for your gift FIRST so you don't end up having to cut off part of your message after the paint has dried.

Don't you LOVE the bows we used?  They are homemade as well!  I will be posting a tutorial on how we made these (with pics) tomorrow so make sure you check back!!!

P.S.  A follower recently let me know about an article which might be of interest to other readers concerning ways to wrap a gift.  Here is the link:  http://www.aupairjobs.com/articles/10-ways-to-wrap-a-gift/   Thanks for the tip, Jacqui!  :)

Last year, we made Daddy some homemade chipotle gummy bears which he loved!  SOOO this year, in addition to some items that my husband wanted, we decided to make him another batch of chipotle peach gummy goodness!  AND I decided to try a new flavor combination which I am happy to report, was also quite tasty:  mango lime gummy bites!

For the recipe and post from last year, just click here (to make the mango lime flavor, I used lime jello with a tiny bit of lime zest mixed in and tiny pieces of mangos sprinkled on top before the mixture could cool and firm up).

These are AWESOME because they are so unique (how often do you see mango lime or chipotle peach gummy candy in a store?), AND because your kids can help make them for Dad!  You could even let them come up with their own flavor combination for him - if you dare!  ;)

Linking up to:
www.momontimeout.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.atthepicketfence.com
www.cookienut.blogspot.com
www.happyhourprojects.com
www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com
www.sunscholars.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com/
www.makingtheworldcuter.com