last Christmas post this year...I promise...until Christmas.

 My homemade gifts.....

Sports coasters.  My family is full of sports fans so I made these out of scrapbook paper and porcelain tiles. I learned how to make them from this girl:

 Who happens to be sporting another one of my DIY Christmas gifts...a t-shirt scarf...while making her typical awkward picture face, which I adore.  Tutorial (for how to make the scarf, not the awkward picture face) found here.

First Christmas Wedding Invitation Ornaments for my newlywed cousin and his beautiful bride...Inspiration found here.  Wish I would have taken a before pic of the invitation...I adored the navy and yellow color combo.

My mom and I also made fabric beaded necklaces a la here, and sadly, I seem to have forgotten to snap a photo.

I spruced up the plain white and brown paper gift bags from the dollar store with my Hobby Lobby (half off) stamp.

During our visit to Dillon,we danced via my nieces' Kinect.  Isn't that the most precious picture?  My three loves.  I took about ten pics and someone was blurry in each of them.  Mostly, Brylee just ran around in circles while Dora the Explorer politely told her to stay in view.  Sidenote: Isn't my cousin's mantle absolutely beautiful?

Every year, my church does a live nativity scene outside before and after the Christmas eve candlelight service, so people can observe as they enter and leave.  This deceptively sweet-looking rascal took the baby Jesus (a baby doll) out of the manger while the rest of the nativity actors (actual humans) were inside listening to the sermon.  When they came out to resume the nativity scene as the churchgoers were leaving the service, it took a while to find and recover the baby Jesus from my niece.  Don't let her within 20 feet of a baby doll unless you don't plan on getting it back.

And with that, I'm officially closing out the 2011 chapter and opening a new one for 2012.  I've got big plans, y'all!