I know, I know...we've barely got over Christmas 2011 and I'm already jumping ahead to 2012!

2011 has been a rough year financially, forcing me to consider more homemade gifts than I have in the past.  It worked well for my family this year, so I am planning to make as many gifts as I can in 2012 - the first family birthday is in February so I need to start working on that plan now.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Jewelry for the girls and ladies on the list
2. Beaded bookmarks for my mom and sister who have not yet embraced e-readers (Mothers Day)
3. Satin pillowcases, maybe monogrammed if it's not too expensive
4. Fabric roads for toy cars for youngest nephew  http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/11/make-fabric-roads-for-toy-cars/
5. Faux leather initial key rings (cut out 2 initials, cut a strip of faux leather to make loop for split ring, sandwich loop between the 2 letters, top stitch all around and you're done) - for Fathers' Day

I don't make food gifts - when it comes to cooking and baking, I am the queen of inconsistent results!

Is anyone else thinking about homemade gifts yet?

I am not thinking about doing gifts yet lol   just need to start using my craft supplies more after I do a cleanup around this house.

have you thought of doing basic monogramming on the sewing machine or embroider them on ?

Today I went shopping for a piece of plastic to make a makeup bag.  I prefer clear plastic ones...easy to clean, easy to find what I want!  I couldn't find a makeup bag I liked, so I opted to make my own   I paid for a half-yard of the plastic (minimum purchase but still more than I needed). Because it was a slightly damaged roll end, the guy at the store gave me 1.5 yards because he couldn't be bothered to cut off what I wanted.  SCORE!

I'm thinking of making 3-1-1 friendly makeup bags using fabric remnants and zippers on hand, fill them with travel sized toiletries collected year round, and giving them as gifts for the frequent travellers on my list.  I could also make matching fabric luggage tags as well.

I can also make large zippered pouches for wet stuff, for DD13 and her swim team mates.  Oh...the possibilites! LOL!

There are lots of cool makeup or travel bags patterns out there too.

I have a long list of gifts for the year!

My sister made us all (15 of us that will be together at Christmas) new Christmas stockings -- they are all made from the same pattern, but each has a print that fits the particular person. 

I am working on finishing some quilting projects, and each person will receive a quilted gift at Christmas. 

For my siblings, (4 of us), I'm making a scrap/photo album of all of the letters our grandfather sent home to our grandmother during WWII, before they were married... I've been gathering photos from that time frame from the family stash, including many Navy pics...  My goal is to get these finished for the last siblings b-day at end of July, and we will all receive them at the same time.

My 16 (almost 17) year old son has a few guitars, so I'm making him a wall-mount rack for them.  I'm hoping to knock that out by his b-day at the end of April...and it will be made from materials we have on hand.

My sister and I have been making candles all year, and plan to give some out as gifts, as well. 

My cousin is trying to accumulate table runners for each season & each holiday, so I'm going to try to get a set made for her...making them 2-sided.  I made her a very simple one for Christmas last year & she loved it.  I'd like to make a variety of styles & patterns...we'll see how this one goes.

I look forward to reading about what everyone else plans!

Several of my coworkers are retiring.  One is getting a quilted wall-hanging in the school colors (gold and black) with the school mascot, an eagle, embroidered on it.  The other two are getting afghans - one is half finished, the other hasn't been started yet.

 karen teacher thats pretty wish my dad got that when he retired as a teacher at the collage he taught at green river we did a lizard on a card for him once around in washington that was agood collage at one time back in the nineties they had a gator on cards for teacher but we thought alizrd on it was funny he got that and a presant of candy bars students use to bribe him during mid term testing time the stories they had they wrote it all down on the lizard cards well thats what he got still has it in his old brief case...

I'm so glad to see that some of you are quilters. I'm trying to learn and maybe by Christmas I'll be able to make some small, useful items like pot holders and shopping bags.

 Hey guys, I guess this would be correct forum for my question. Wanna gift my father on his 60th birtday, I am really confused what should I purchase. Please guys help me.

Played clean up the yarn mess I knew I had lots of yarn but NO IDEA HOW MUCH until today went to Walmart and found some moving style boxes cheap 88 cents per box.. Planning to use up what I have before buying anymore items..Planning to start make scrap yarn scarves to donat with box of scrap yarn..

3 boxes (16x16x24) of acrylic yarn-worsted weight

1 boxes (16x16x24) of Baby Yarn

1 boxes (16x16x24) of cotton half full

1 boxes (16x16x24) of scrap mini balls of acrylic yarn-worsted weight

1 boxes (16x16x24)  completed projects of baby hats and adult hats