A homemade Christmas

Greetings on this National Championship Monday!

Andrew and I went to Nola for the day yesterday because I couldn't stand not being there. We walked around the French Quarter, down Bourbon, Royal and N. Peters. We listened to brass bands, tipped tap dancers, saw magicians, marveled at antiques, and ate oysters. New Orleans was alive.

There was a lot of nasty red in our city. But hopefully our purple and gold friends come through. I'll be babysitting tonight; hopefully they go to bed early so Ms. Whit can get her football on.

It's not very fitting to blog about things other than the 'ship on the day of the 'ship, but I wanted to share it anyway: my homemade Christmas gifts.

My mom taught me the basic crochet stitch, so I made little hand towels. I really enjoyed the process. Hopefully, this year, I can learn a new stitch.

I also made homemade lotion bars found here: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2011/03/making-homemade-hard-lotion-with-a-diy-lotion-and-lip-balm-kit.html

It was an easy, fun project. I made most of them while babysitting my nephew, so he was even able to help. 

I went to an antique store and found about 8 antique saucers for about $1 each. 

But the greatest part of many gifts is the packaging. 

Andrew helped me with the labels to explain that the towels were made by me and to explain what lotion bars were and the benefits. 

I thought it was a nice gift, and I've even had other people want more lotion bars. Girls that I babysit for and my mom's house keeper wanted some! 

I would like to try a new, creative homemade gift every year to keep my creative juices flowing and the keep my wallet full. 

I hope this inspires you and me for next year's Christmas to get creative and enjoy the process. I thought about these gifts and had been working on them since June. I'd say that's thoughtful and cost-efficient. That's exactly what I was going for.

Also what I'm going for is a big ol' win tonight from my tigers. Les geaux!