Flat Husbands (and Flat Daddies, Sisters, and Cousins): The 2-D gift with real heart

Newlywed Amanda Stapp decided that if she couldn’t spend her first year of marriage with her husband, Jason — who deployed to Kosovo from 2008 to 2009 with the Missouri Army National Guard — she’d spend it with the second-best thing: Flat Jason.

Flat Jason was handsome, willing to tag along with Amanda wherever she went — and he was made by mounting a life-size photograph of her husband on foam-core board. Amanda took Flat Jason bowling, showed him off on Military Appreciation Day at the Missouri State Fair, and cooked him heart-shaped pancakes to celebrate the couple’s first wedding anniversary.

Flat Jason (above) kept Amanda company during her husband Jason’s overseas deployment. "Real" Jason joked to Amanda, “When I get home, you’re going to like Flat Jason more than me.”

“I wanted Jason to not feel like he missed everything,” says Amanda, who chronicled her yearlong adventures with Flat Jason on her blog A Time Together … Apart. Reading her blog helped the deployed Jason feel connected to his life back home. But Amanda was surprised how much Flat Jason helped her too. “It kept me busy, and I didn’t have time to get depressed or anxious because Flat Jason and I were always doing things,” she says.

To celebrate Jason’s 26th birthday in his absence, Amanda (second from right) headed to a Missouri corn maze with friends and Flat Jason.

Flatten your loved one
Amanda was inspired by military families who have used “Flat Daddies” and “Flat Mommies” to keep children connected with their parents during deployments. Amanda bought hers online at FlatDaddies.com. 

To create a Flat Daddy at FlatDaddies.com, simply upload a digital picture, which will be enlarged to life size and cropped to show the person from the waist up. Each finished flat person is about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. It’s printed on adhesive-backed vinyl so it can be affixed to a wall or mounted on sturdy backing board. Use a craft knife to cut out the person’s silhouette, if desired. The cost is $49.50, including shipping.

Despite its name, FlatDaddies.com has flattened all sorts of military members. “We’ve gotten everyone—sons, daughters, uncles, cousins,” says Eric Crockett, founder of FlatDaddies.com.

Going flat out to help
Eric got the idea for FlatDaddies.com in August 2006 after hearing a radio report about a Maine National Guard family support program that was making Flat Daddies and Flat Mommies.

Despite having no previous connection to the military community, Eric — a partner in a graphics and printing company in Toledo, Ohio — emailed the sergeant in charge of the program. “I can’t imagine being away from my son for a week, let alone six months or a year,” he says. “I also thought, What can I do today? What can I do to make a difference?”

He discovered that the small, local effort in Maine was overwhelmed by requests from military families all over the county. So Eric mobilized his company, SFC Graphics, to tackle the backlog of orders. FlatDaddies.com was born, and to date it has produced more than 6,800 flat family members. 

Four years into this venture, Eric still is moved to tears by the photos, thank you notes, and stories his company receives. Says Eric, “It may be just a big picture, but it seems to make a big difference in the lives of those who have one.”