Father's Day Gifts: A Small-Business Gift Guide

Dads -- they're the hardest people to buy for. This year, don't fall back on the typical tie or sleeve of golf balls. If you're stuck in a gift rut, check out the creative offerings from small businesses on Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. Whether you're buying for a new dad or an old-school father, our guide of unique and quick-to-ship items has you covered.

Check out our top picks below for some swift, small business-friendly shopping.

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• Men's Apron - Love Elaine

  Outfit your grill master or give your dad some encouragement to cook with this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/101485142/modern-mens-grilling-apron-fathers-day" target="_hplink">customizable apron</a>, $35.00

• Mustache Baby Burp Cloth - BAM craftymommas

  Don't force a new dad to tote around duck and bunny-printed accesories. The <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/100333938/mustache-baby-burp-cloth-baby-boy-or" target="_hplink">burp cloth</a> is also available with a matching bib, $6.00

• Shaving Soap Kit - Olimax Soap

  Treat your dapper dad to an old-fashioned smooth face with this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/98090344/fathers-day-gift-shaving-soap-soap-brush" target="_hplink">soap and shaving brush kit</a>, $28.00

• Personalized Money Clip - My Jewelry Story

  Keep dad organized with this personalized, hand-stamped <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/101920991/money-clip-personalized-metal-money-clip" target="_hplink">aluminum money clip</a>, $14.90

• Personalized IPhone Case - To Gild The Lily

  Give dad a daily reminder of his greatest gift with this personalized <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/99456852/fathers-day-gift-idea-with-express-mail" target="_hplink">photo phone cover</a> for the IPhone 4/4s and Samsung Galaxy i9100, $18.99

• Green Wine Bottle Tiki Torches - Great Bottles Of Fire

  Let dad entertain in style with this set of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80413849/6-green-wine-bottle-tiki-torches-modern" target="_hplink">6 wine bottle tiki torches</a> that comes with all necessary hardware for easy installation, $110.00

• Spice Sampler - Dell Cove Spice Company

  Let your dad's cooking imagination run wild with this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/74530011/bbq-spice-sampler-man-cave-gift-marinade" target="_hplink">personalized sampler</a> set of 16 unique barbecue and popcorn seasonings, $39.95

• Faux Antler Rack - Juxtaposition

  This <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/92706656/antlers-deer-home-decor-woodland-white" target="_hplink">faux antler rack</a> is perfect for the avid outdoorsmen, and your mom will approve of its white, modern spin, $62.00

Comments

[CAELadyJane50]

02:48 PM on 06/13/2012

It is sad some fathers don't appreciate "Father's Day" holiday because some men are less fortunate (unable to father a child of their own). Even if you don't get what you want from your children, at least be glad your life is more complete or fulfilled by being able to father a child of your own. Then there are some fatherless children out there who never even knew their own fathers and wonder about who their fathers really were and what their fathers were really like as human beings.

As far as gifts are concerned, giving my father a fishing pole was one of the best gifts we gave him because he later decided to buy a 14' boat and we spent more good quality time with him by fishing and boating with him. Fishing in a lake or river is such a relaxing activity to do as a family which I cherish in my memory of him after he passed on about 12 years ago.

[Haveissues]

02:22 PM on 06/13/2012

My son using some of the common sense I have tried so hard to impart to him would be nice for starters.

[Lovelyblue]

01:32 PM on 06/13/2012

My father is a man with everything and I haven't a clue what to get him same goes for the boyfriend and he has expensive taste. Alas what to do..

[KIVPossum]

01:27 PM on 06/13/2012

Other than possibly the wine bottle tiki torch, I'd be a bit insulted at any of them. Give me a gift certificate to a bookstore or Amazon

[TdeyoMN]

01:19 PM on 06/13/2012

My husband is going to get better treatment than I did on Mother's Day! It's only fair, he does a lot for the family as much as I do, and he gives me more breaks than he volunteers one. It's all about APPRECIATION more than a gift.

Yes, these gifts suck.

[KIVPossum]

01:26 PM on 06/13/2012

Good for you. Sounds like you have a wonderful partnership and appreciation of each other

[Uncle Rico]

12:57 PM on 06/13/2012

Father's Day is dumb. Another invented holiday.

Signed: a father

[Pandoras Folly]

02:07 PM on 06/13/2012

all holidays are invented, including birthdays.
i enjoy celebrating wookie lifeday myself

[whybotherposting]

12:54 PM on 06/13/2012

So...Father's day is finally brought up on huffington post and it's in the small business section? Article after article was written in the weeks(!!) building up to mother's day - and I should point out there were women complaining that 'mothering' fathers were taking away from THEIR day. P L E A S E. No mention now in that we're in June of how father's are PARENTS TOO, though - as in raising their kids the way a woman does, and of course, Father's day is an afterthought.

At least there are items like an apron and spice set - things I could use since I do all of the cooking at home for the family since my wife lacks that skill and is usually too busy with work anyway. So thanks for that but I still roll my eyes at the golf and money clip stuff. Father's day doesn't need to be stereotypical football/golf/businessman/frat boy showcase showtime. And it shouldn't.

[msperry1123]

01:01 PM on 06/13/2012

Dude, calm down. Obviously, from the lame gift choices above, no one could think of anything interesting for Father's Day. But Father's Day is not an afterthought in my house, and hopefully not in yours either.

[whybotherposting]

01:23 PM on 06/13/2012

Exactly.  People celebrate and recognize father's day appropriately.  Media outlets do not and it gets sickening.  I was posting this as a continuation to replies to comments posted by women (notice too, nobody is commenting..8 or 9 comments...where are the pages and like during mother's day?  An article here or there for this, it was daily for the week leading up to mothers day) who were complaining that men were trying to get on the coat tails of mothers day...and I'm trying to point out now that we're discussing father's day why it was ok for some men to want to celebrate 'mother's day' - because father's day is no equal even though men are.

[Neal Frank]

12:48 PM on 06/13/2012

Not only were those ridiculous items picked by a woman, they were sent by a female PR flak to boot. Try www.santafepens.com. Every businessman knows a hand written note to a client carries a heck of a lot more weight than a text or email. If you're going to use a pen, it might as well be a really nice one!

[ajbernhard]

12:36 PM on 06/13/2012

Charlie Brown knew a whole lot more about Father's Day than the people who compiled this list.

[TdeyoMN]

01:16 PM on 06/13/2012

HA! FUNNY SHIZZ!

[ljb860ljb]

12:35 PM on 06/13/2012

Yea, a month ago it was all get mom a piece of jewelry but for dear old dad shaving gear.... as usual dad is the afterthought and not nearly as respected as mom.

[ajbernhard]

12:35 PM on 06/13/2012

I'm a a retired old geezer, a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and for me, father's day has nothing to do with what some ad agency tells me I want, and doesn't come from any store. But that's just me; here's hoping that fathers everywhere experience something on that day that tugs at their heartstrings and makes them smile, or maybe just feel OK, in a fatherly kind of way. Happy Father's Day, guys.

[Cross-current]

01:07 PM on 06/13/2012

I'm older too, and last year, two girls came to live with us, along with their mom after losing their home in the crunch. After a couple of months, the little girl, who has Down syndrome and has never known a real father, tugged on my sleeve one day and asked, 'can I call you Dad?' Two weeks later, the girls took me out to eat for Father's Day - my first with daughters. I had no reason to expect new loves at my age, but I learned never to give up on life; it always has surprises for us.

[obijuanmartinez]

12:31 PM on 06/13/2012

Spice sampler? On WHAT plane of reality is this going to be a popular Fathers' Day gift? Just curious...

[whybotherposting]

01:01 PM on 06/13/2012

Well, as the cook in the family....I'd say on my plane of reality. Since you were curious ;)

[obijuanmartinez]

01:32 PM on 06/13/2012

Congrats, my friend. You're in the severe minority!

[obijuanmartinez]

12:29 PM on 06/13/2012

Anything involving sex, preferably, not the solo kind...

[bc906]

12:25 PM on 06/13/2012

Worst Ideas Ever

[lowcountryep]

12:15 PM on 06/13/2012

I'm a father. These items were obviously picked by a woman. This crap is by no means father's day material. How about Golf lessons, or season tickets, or a fishing trip, or a gift certificate to his favorite craft beer store, or a nice dinner with the family at a place of his choosing?

[lowcountryep]

12:16 PM on 06/13/2012

An apron? Really!!!???

[whybotherposting]

12:58 PM on 06/13/2012

Yes, an apron. Men cook too. Really. I am proof.

^^ as for golf lessons, season tickets, or a fishing trip, (leave the craft beer, mmmm yes - but in fairness my wife would like that for mothers' day too....), and the family dinner of his choice, well I don't care for any of those things and many men as well don't care for any of those things - save for the family dinner, but that's a year-round thing; not something we do when Hallmark tells us to.

The problem with this article isn't the choice of gifts, but that the focus is on small business and not that fathers are parents to their children.