Creating A December Daily Album: Part One

[ Album: D Reeves Mini White Style File; Patterned Paper: Making Memories Skinny Stripe Fa La La; Santa Sticker: Art Warehouse Noel Sticker Sheet; Black Metal Number Brads: Around the Block Lucky Number Big Metal Brads; Hanging Charm & Word Sticker: Making Memories St. Nicholas Collection 2007 ]

Hello December Daily 2008.

December Daily is an album that documents the month of December leading up to Christmas day (and sometimes beyond - that's completely up to you). It is a chance to reflect, to share, to celebrate the season in a manageable, in-the-moment way. The entire key to this album is to put it together BEFORE December. This is the first of a few posts on the process of putting together this album. In December I will share my finished pages each day.

The Basics: gather up a bunch of holiday supplies, create an album with 25 pages (one for each day), and then when December rolls around you will have a foundation upon which to document you and your family's story. The idea is to take the time now to set it all up so that on December 1 you are ready to experience + to capture the memories for the day and add them into your album as you go.

Some of the topics that appeared in my album last year included visiting Santa:

going sledding:

and decorations:

You can see last year's entire completed December Daily album here.

One of the main reasons I love this project is that it allows me to both document + enjoy the season. I like to be in the moment most days of the year, but especially during December when there just seems to be a bit more magic in the universe. Taking photos of our house and our activities only added to my joy last year.

I love to have activities planned out over the course of the month; not obligations, but carefully chosen activities that our family is interested in doing. Some of the things I am looking forward to this year include a Polar Express train ride in mid-December (thanks for reminding me to sign up Jen), watching traditional holiday movies, driving around to look at lights, picking a couple kid's names from a giving tree and having Simon select gifts for those kids, visiting Santa, lots of hot cocoa, lots of white twinkle lights, reading some favorite holiday books, etc. These are the stories I want to include in this album.

I hope you will consider joining me and create your own December Daily album for 2008.

MY 2008 PROCESS

Here's how I began my process this year:

1. Turn on some holiday tunes. I did this and it seriously put me in the mood. And yes, it is a bit early when Halloween has not even happened yet (4-5 days before is not too bad). I am actually one of those people that really likes to savor the season and starting off with some of my favorite holiday music is a fairly decent idea. Decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving.

2. Read this story.

3. Choose an album size. Last year I went with an 8x8 acrylic cover from D. Reeves Design. This is actually one of the hardest parts of the process. At first I thought I wanted to do something along the lines of Janet's project using an old book as the foundation. Then as I was looking through last year's December Daily one of the things I remembered is that I ended up needing really big binder rings by the end of the month. I ended up going with the white D Reeves Mini Style File that measures 6.75 inches x 9 inches (this is just a front + back cover).

***Just an update: I received an email from Diane at D Reeves and she is making some changes in her life to focus on family and is stopping production of the albums. I completely understand and respect this decision and wish you all the best Diane.

Keep in mind that your album will get bigger over the course of 25 days as you add photos and ephemera.

4. Dive into your stash + corral your goods. This is a great project in that you really may not have to buy too much (or anything) to have a super fun, very full December album. I have a project box that holds my holiday supplies and a basket with some new products that I have recently picked up.

Here's a list of the things I like to work with when I begin this process: 

• patterned papers
• chipboard pages (especially pieces from minibooks you may have left over)
• envelopes
• transparencies
• numbers for each day of December (I did 1 through 25 last year...some people go farther)
• random pieces of stuff you have on hand that you have been wondering what in the heck you would ever do with them

Your first task is to decide on a cover/album and gather up your supplies. Tomorrow I will show my interior pages and talk a bit more about how it's organized and embellished.

This is part of a series of posts on creating a December Daily Album. All posts can be found here.