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Is your dad the kind of guy who owns a classic car and cruises to the oldies? Or is classic rock more his style? Whatever his musical inclination, compile the ultimate mix CD of Dad's favourite tunes for Father's Day. Then, design a personalized CD cover and label for a groovin' gift he can listen to anywhere.

You need:
Blank CD and case
Colour printer
Blank CD labels
Thick, white paper, like matte photo paper
Scissors

To make:

1. Gather your songs and burn them to a CD
There are a couple of ways to put together your music mix.
• Sneak some CDs from your Dad's collection when he's not looking and copy them to your computer.
• Are there old albums he enjoys? There are ways to record them to CD. However, for a quicker solution, write down his favourite song names and purchase them at an online store, like Puretracks.com or iTunes. Songs usually cost about 99 cents.
• Using a program that will organize your music, like Windows Media Player or iTunes, place your songs in the order you'd like them to be on the CD.
• Purchase a blank CD (some stores sell CDs individually, or you can get a package of 10 for about $10).
• You will be able to fit about 18 songs on a standard CD.
• Place your CD in the CD burner and using your program, start to burn.

2. Design and print your CD label
• Search online or in your photo-editing program for a clip art image that can be placed right on the CD. Make sure you choose a design that will still look good with a hole in the centre. We chose a rockin' '50s image.
• Open a new document in your photo-editing program and open your clip art image.
• In Print mode, we selected the CD label template that matched the ones we purchased (Avery CD/DVD Labels #08692).
• The template allowed us to insert the image we selected and size it accordingly.
• When you're ready, test-print your image (using the draft setting to conserve ink).
• Make sure the image lines up on your label when you print.
• Print the image onto the label according to the package directions.
• Affix your label to the front of the burned CD.

3. Design and print your CD cover
• Next, you'll want to create a cover and inside liner for your CD case. We pulled our cover image from the original clip art.
• Create a 10-by-4-3/4-inch canvas in your photo-editing program.
• The cover is the right side.
• On the inside liner (left side), type out your songs and artists in a fun font. You may even want to include a personal note if there's room.
• Test-print your cover and liner (using the draft setting to conserve ink).
• Print your image on matte photo paper.
• Trim your cover, fold and place in the CD case.

Tie your CD with a matching bow and present it to Dad on Father's Day.