Christmas 2011

Yes, I am already thinking about what I want to do differently for next year.  This year, I must admit, was not very stressful.  I don’t feel like we went overboard on buying gifts or spending too much money.  Actually, it seems like it will be a pretty simple Christmas this year. 

However, there are a couple of things that I want to do differently for next year.  I would like to make a few things for a few people on my list.  I used to love to do cross stitch growing up; however, haven’t done it in years.  I put about a dozen books on hold at the library that I am going to pick up in the next few days, and I will find patterns that I would like to make for people like my grandmother, my niece, my step-sister, a few friends, etc.

Also, in 2011, I would like for Todd and I to make several batches of wines and give them as gifts to people.  A cheap bottle of fruity wine (not the 2 buck Chuck which is too dry for us) is no less than $6 from what I’ve seen.  We can make a bottle of wine for less than $2/bottle.  We have plenty of bottles we’ve accumulated over the years to give some as gifts as well as to keep some for ourselves.  Everyone loves our wine, so I think this would be a great gift for my mother-in-law, my dad and his wife, my friend here at work, a few friends of mine outside of work, grandma, etc.  It will cost approximately $50/batch for the supplies and if we make just 3 batches for the holidays, it would be approximately 90 bottles of wine.  We didn’t make any wine in 2010 as we usually do, so we will probably make anywhere from 3-5 batches and give the fruity stuff as gifts and keep the ice wines for ourselves.

Lastly, I would like to make some of the Gifts in a Jar.  This is something my step-sister and my niece can do together in the Winter months, and I think it’d be a perfect gift for the two of them. 

Are you already planning for next year’s Christmas?  Or is it just my OCD?