Father's day does not get [quite] the same commercial push as Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day, so any presents bought tend to be last-minute and often lack imagination or personalisation (I don't have anything against beer and chocolate, but a man can only wear so many humorous barbecue aprons, and my kids can't afford the tools I haven't already got).

I came up with a simple little gift that sons of any age can easily make for any father with even the mildest leanings towards DIY or Making.

Where crafty mums might get given a pin cushion, you can give your dad a Nail Cushion!

Step 1: Materials

All you need is some corrugated card (if you don't like recycled card, try coloured craft card), something to cut it, and a bit of glue (PVA or glue stick are ideal).

You can try and save the most visually-appealing parts of the card to go on the outside of the cushion, or use some extra, decorative paper to glue around the outside.

Step 2: Cutting

Cut strips of the corrugated card, across the corrugations so that the long edges are full of holes.

Cut a disc of card and two ring to make the base.

If you want to use a laser cutter, I've attached the ECP files here.

NailCush.ecp
Download

Step 3: The Base

Glue the two rings onto the base.

Line them up carefully, and set them aside to dry with a light weight holding them pressed reasonably firmly together.

Step 4: The Cushion

Roll your strips together, remembering to keep the "best" strip for the outside of your spiral.

When you have enough strips rolled together, wrap an elastic band around the spiral to hold it together.

Step 5: Assembly

Simply drop the spiral into place - if you have enough card rolled into the spiral, it will wedge nicely, and if anything gets stuck or drops too far into the coils, your dad can easily unwind the coils to get the lost item out.

The spiral should expand slightly to fill the rings of the base, and which point you might want to add a little glue to the end of the spiral to keep it tidy.