Not sure where you live, but for the record, only outsiders call everyone "rednecks".  We sticks natives like to otherwise use the term "country" or "hillbilly".

I would suggest an additional tab or two on the inside that are either made of elastic or designed to fit snuggly over top of your laptop-you don't want it sliding around in there, and it looks like you have a few extra inches up top.  If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, check out some commercially made bags (not the briefcases, but the larger bags designed for industry professionals).

If you really want to hide the hole, there is a really easy solution.  At your local big box hardware store (I would suggest Lowes, as I it is hit or miss with Home Depot), they sell pre-cut toe boards for the front of cabinets.  I say pre-cut in that they are the exact correct height as standard cabinets; you will need to cut it for length. You will need at very least some paint, a saw of some sort, and contact cement, but I would also suggest some small nails, as the section is hard to get to to cement it into place.  Then you just measure, cut, paint, and install!  It's pretty simple, and it has saved us tons when we were redoing our kitchen cabinets.

That's pretty cool.  I really like the color.

This is random, but I had the exact same shower curtain when I was in high school as the fabric you have in the background.

Your link isn't a tutorial, it's just the link to your image...

This is a seriously amazing thing.  My husband's grandmother passed away two years ago just before Christmas, and it has been really hard on his family.  His uncle just recently passed as well, and I think this would be an awesome way to give everyone in his incredibly large family to have a keep sake.

Thanks also for the tutorial.  I do have one question:  How do you join the two pieces together?  With all the white thread, it's hard to see where the joining stitches are.

What about a sock monkey?   You could even dress one up "christmassy".  Wow, I like that idea.  I think I'll do it for my own (mini) tree!

I'd still get some cheapo gut strings on it to keep the neck straight, then you can hang it!

That's really cool.  What is in the little package on his back that you stuck the nail through?  (I mean, besides the bottle cap)

This is sort of where I'm going for this year, too.  These hats are so easy to make.  I made a cow hat a few years ago for a friend's birthday, and it's been very popular.  Do you have any experience sewing in wire or some layers of interfacing with the ears?  Mine tend to get floppy, and I don't really have a cure for it except to sew them in deeper, which makes a little bump under the ears when worn.