Homemade Christmas

I know it's only October, but my family has already decided how we're handling presents this year. It came about when Dwight proposed that he and I forego exchanging gifts and call the hot tub our gift to ourselves. I jumped on that, seeing as I have a terrible time finding good gifts for him while he manages to get me great stuff. It's a lot of pressure. Which I now don't have to endure. Hoorah! 

Then we brought up the extended family exchange. Since money is tight for...well, everyone now (no kidding!), we thought it would be a great idea to have a "homemade only" Christmas. Not only would it save money, it would be more meaningful. When you have to make something as opposed to picking some random pre-packaged gift off the shelf, more thought goes into the process. Exchanging imperfect but heart-felt gifts seemed like the ideal way to celebrate Christmas, so we brought it up to the rest of the family. 

Everyone loved it. While some are a little unsure what they'll do, all are willing and some of us are downright excited about it. My mom told me that my nieces are just thrilled. We decided to exchange names and include the kids, too. I know at their age, I would have felt so special being included in a name exchange with the adults. 

So the names have been exchanged and it's time to brainstorm. We wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan and let the creative juices flow. I've thought of a few things and am keeping a list going. I think this is going to be a whole lot of fun!