I make my gifts - alternating so one year it's a big gift, the next it's smaller. Last year it was crocheted afghans, this year I'm making lavender-rosemary soap and crocheting cotton body rags to go with.

In the past I've stitched placemats and napkins, made aprons... next year I'm going to crack out the oil paint and see what I come up with. I have a family friend in Provincetown who has generously offered to give me a lesson next time I am up. ;-)

I soooo wish I could afford one of her paintings. Or prints. Would mean the world to me! http://www.packardgallery.com/anne.html Isn't she amazing? Lots of people paint the sea, but not many catch the moodiness of the sea and sky like she does.