2 Awesome Sources of Fun Dad Cartoon Images for Your DIY Father's Day Projects

Father's Day is this Sunday, the time to honour and celebrate the first hero in our life. Whether he's the giant of a man looked up to by an adoring son, or the handsome knight revered by a devoted daughter,  Dad is the one who provides quiet comfort and strength. If Mom is the framework of a family, holding it all together, Dad is the foundation, keeping it solid.

At least such was the case for people like me,  who grew up in the 50s and 60s. While mothers kept the home fires burning, fathers went to work, their role as a parent defined by the free time they had and the firmness of hand required.  Helping with babies was virtually unheard of.

For my generation, with kids born in the 1970s and 1980s, husbands, unlike their fathers, knew how to burp a baby and change a diaper. Generally, though, this happened only if their wives weren't around. 

Today, fathers of course take a much more active role in parenting. They have parental leave from work after the birth. They are involved in every aspect of the child's upbringing, from bathing and feeding to carpools and even becoming the principle caregiver. Yet, when a soft shoulder is needed, it's generally to Mom that a child will run, while they turn to Dad for fun and games. Perhaps this is why, when it comes to recognizing parents on their special days, the message can be significantly different.

Drawing on my own experience, as a daughter and a mother,  Mother's Day is all hearts and flowers, while  Dad generally gets less sentimental treatment. The gifts to Mom  evoke oohs and aahs —  because they should. It seems so easy after all to make the perfect choice for her since the options are endless — books, perfume, candles, soaps, clothes, jewellery, spa treatments, on and on and on.  She also gets super excited about anything handmade.

Dad, conversely, seems to be more difficult to buy for (think of the much joked-about tie).  Besides being of simple needs, the things he actually really does like (now think of boys and their toys) are generally beyond kids' budgets.

Whereas Mother's Day often means breakfast in bed for our favourite lady, on Father's Day we often take our hero out to a breakfast hosted by a local service club. Which, when you think about it, is actually more of a gift to his wife.

I've noticed, too, an interesting practice in card selections for these two special days, too. When purchasing the right card for a mother, people tend to lean towards the sentimental. The greetings for fathers, however, are more about the punch line, almost as if we're afraid to be emotional with these big strong men.

Of course, Dad's never seem to see these discrepancies. Or if they do, don't mind them. They love, or pretend to love, the tie. They never complain about where they're eating as long as they're going to eat.  And who laughs the loudest at the goofy card?

So in keeping with their simple acceptance of everything on their big day, here are some fabulous cartoons with dads at the heart of them, perfect for a personal message, t-shirt or some other creative project just right for your first hero.

An iCLIPART.com Father's Day Cartoon Collection

iCLIPART.com Father's Day Cartoon Collection

Father's Day Cartoon Collection from iCLIPART.com

Show Dad You Love Him With a Father's Day DIY Project Using Images from 2 Great Clipart Sources

Father's Day is just a few days away.  It's a time to honour that amazing man who has been your rock, your support, your guide, your strength.

While saying thank you is easy, for some reason finding the perfect present for this special guy can be a bit of a challenge. His needs seem to be simple, his wants often big ticket.

Of course, they've also thankfully shown themselves to be fairly gracious recipients. (Think nasty tie) I remember when I was a child how excited my father would get over every gift —  from a cheesy dime store tie clip to that predictable tie. One of my favourite memories of him was from a Christmas morning when I was a about eight years old. Having done what I could in the gift purchasing with my meagre allowance, my heart broke as my big brother chortled at the cheap cufflinks I had given him. Dad gamely stepped up stating he'd take them and wear them proudly. Which he did that day to church and to dinner at Grandma's, as well as many times after. My first hero grew even more super that day in my eyes.

I soon came to see that the reaction was the same for every gift he received, whether it was a horrendous sweater or a hobby in which he had no interest.  The hand-drawn card created in a grade school classroom was displayed in a place of prominence. A worthy purpose was found for the decorated shoebox. And his favourite treats baked occasionally with the odd ingredient missing or substituted were consumed with no less avarice than if they had been Mom's delectable offerings.

I suspect it could all be explained by his upbringing. Having grown up in The Depression, he was ever grateful for anything that came his way through another's generosity or thoughtfulness. Regardless of how minimal that generosity might be or how misguided the thoughts.

Later, though, watching my husband react to the gifts from our kids when they were small, I noticed much the same reaction as my father's had been. Perhaps it was being the second youngest of seven in a farm family, where I suspected fighting for everything was customary, but he accepted every gift, every gesture with humble appreciation.

As children get older, however, expectations, at least theirs, get higher.  I listened as my kids pondered the possibilities, just as I had done. The challenge being to find the perfect present — a somewhat daunting task given that this guy, like my own father, bought what he needed. 

While adult children can go out and buy gifts for Dad, little ones, unless they are going to get a bit of financial help from Mom,  often have limited options.  They tend to need to get creative to find a way to honour their favourite man.

This can mean anything from taking a plain white t-shirt and personalizing it to decorating a hand-made card. Whatever it is, there's never any question that for Dad it will be priceless. Let's face it, taking the time to make a simple present has to be better than getting yet another tie.

For anyone looking for illustration to get them started, there are many resources offering affordable options for clipart which you are assured can be used legally. Here are just a few fun collections, perfect for Father's Day projects:

iCLIPART.com Father's Day Clipart

Clipart.com Father's Day Clipart