That's a good way to practice (and continue learning more) php. What i'd suggest is to either talk with people you know who own their own businesses, or find a local non-profit organization in which you could do a self-updateable site (content management system) where they can do all their own updates. They would really appreciate that, and you'd get really good practice out of it. Just a suggestion. I've done quite a few non-profit sites and they love the content management systems since they tend to do a lot of event and text changes.
Good luck!
Cgraz
