I’ve been MIA from my little space on the internet (Hmm, besides twitter…)

This month I have…

I’ve hosted my most successful tweet-up ever (50+ people!!), I’ve gone to holiday parties x 5, I’ve babysat my favorite toddler x2, went to a wedding of my two old roomies <3,  saw the movie Young Adult,  went to a good friends awesome birthday at the casino,  went to an outdoor concert, went ice skating,  set up TWO Christmas trees, learned how to play Texas Hold’em, gifted a KINDLE!! from Gregg, & finished a great book.

Talk about busy, right? +++ all the things I never took a picture of!

My plans for the holidays…

Tonight 23 – Grocery shop, wrap presents, start cleaning like a mofo, hide a present (lol) & get wings w/ friends. :)

Tomorrow 24 – Clean MOAR!!!, prep food, & head over for Christmas Eve at my mom’s. Church + Dinner + PRESENTS! Meet up w/ Brandon friends at a local dive bar after.  (: Becoming quite the tradition :)

Christmas 25 -Gregg & my family over for Christmas lunch/dinner.  Exchange gifts w/ his family. Maybe see Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo. (We live across the street from a theater) & hopefully see my friend Susan at a local bar. :)

I’m normally a total Grinch, but this year I’m trying to be excited about the holidays. It’s my first year in my own place -I wasn’t on planning on getting a tree, I didn’t see the point. After talking to friends who live alone and have their own trees (Hey Nathan! Hi Michael!) I finally decided to lose the humbug attitude and get my own.

Last night after swinging by Starbucks to get *seasonal* peppermint mocha frappuccino with BFF and proclaimed sister, Jen, along with Jason; we went out and looked at trees at this sketchy lot in the neighborhood. We decided on a little tree (3ish feet?) because I heard cats climb Christmas trees and I didn’t want the whole thing to tumble, besides anything “mini” or “baby” sized is cute to the MAX.  They only took cash, so we went to Walgreen’s for cash back and while we were there I got a tree stand, twinkle led lights, red and gold ornaments (GLITTER STARS!), and a little tree skirt. Jason also picked up some woodland themed ornaments, little pine cones and other cute things.

While decorating I thought about Jen’s son, Orson, and how I’d like to help him pick out his own ornament every year, write the year on the bottom, so when he is an adult (*gulp*) and lives on his own, he has an entire box of memories.

Also listened to Christmas carols and didn’t want to bash my head in. THIS IS PROGRESS.

I’ve has the idea for awhile now, that I wanted to make all my friends & family homemade Christmas gifts. Last night I revealed my plan to Gregg, he said it was a great idea.  It’s actually pretty daunting; because we have a ton of close friends & family members. (I did a rough calculation & it was over 20) Oh, & I don’t want to make just *one* gift per person/family, I want to make entire baskets w/ a variety of stuff.

Good thing is, Gregg & I work pretty great together. He’s into aesthetics, & able to see the bigger picture. I excel in grunt work, I like doing, putting things together, the small steps. (Ie: when cooking together, I chop everything up, prep & he puts it all together into something exceptional.)

The whole idea started with this blogpost, where a bride-to-be blogger made homemade vanilla extract & vanilla sugars.The extract takes a few months to make, how awesome is this? I want to be able to say, “I love you *so* much, I thought of *you* 5 months ago!!”

I’d love to include some yummy treats too. Since Gregg camps a ton (& I have …once…) I think S’mores on a stick would be a fun addition. We also like things spicy, homemade hot sauce? Homemade sour gummies?!? yes!

Maybe the gift basket could include something new from the past year. I started gardening, how about including some homemade seed tape?

A few of our close friends have children/are expecting soon. (Hey Jen!) Recycle old broken crayons (cray-ons? crowns?) into rainbow crayons! DIY bubble wands & solution?

This also could be the perfect time to get craft things I’ve always wanted but couldn’t justify, like a button machine. or even better, a letterpress machine. (Total personal obsession of mine)

I met a lady last week, who brewed her own beer. I think that would rock as well. I once made prison wine in highschool, it was terrible, so a kit would be required!

Have you ever made homemade gifts? What was your favorite? Any tips for such a feat?