I love Christmas, but this year I just want to say “enough”.
This season I’m all about being smarter and doing more with less – scaling back
on the amount of time, energy and money I spend on Christmas gifts, cutting
down on the actual number of gifts I buy, DIY-ing simple decorations and more
personal gifts, and simply making do with what we have and being content with
it.
This season I’m all about being smarter and doing more with less – scaling back
on the amount of time, energy and money I spend on Christmas gifts, cutting
down on the actual number of gifts I buy, DIY-ing simple decorations and more
personal gifts, and simply making do with what we have and being content with
it.
When it comes to crafting, I’m trying to keep the same
mindset. For example, I know that I have waaaay too many Christmas themed
papers, stickers and embellishments in my stash. I tend to buy new products
every year and make two or three pages with them, then stash the leftovers away
to be used “next year”. But next year comes along and so do new irresistible
products and the stash continues to grow. I call this “Seasonal Product Hoarding Disorder” (SPHD)! Even though I did
purchase the utterly charming Christmas Past collection from Creative Memories for myself, I am bound and determined to make the most of it, and not have
any leftovers to stash away!
mindset. For example, I know that I have waaaay too many Christmas themed
papers, stickers and embellishments in my stash. I tend to buy new products
every year and make two or three pages with them, then stash the leftovers away
to be used “next year”. But next year comes along and so do new irresistible
products and the stash continues to grow. I call this “Seasonal Product Hoarding Disorder” (SPHD)! Even though I did
purchase the utterly charming Christmas Past collection from Creative Memories for myself, I am bound and determined to make the most of it, and not have
any leftovers to stash away!
To combat my SPHD, I’ve come up with a plan to use minimal supplies to maximum advantage. I’m using just one package of the
Christmas Past paper (12 sheets with 24
different designs), 1 pack of stickers (3
sheets, approximately 36 stickers), 1 package of Embellishments (approximately 40 rhinestone gems and 40 die-cuts)
and one package of Ruby ABC/123 Stickers (3 sheets) to create several paper crafting projects. Here’s what I’ll
be making with these gorgeous products:
Christmas Past paper (12 sheets with 24
different designs), 1 pack of stickers (3
sheets, approximately 36 stickers), 1 package of Embellishments (approximately 40 rhinestone gems and 40 die-cuts)
and one package of Ruby ABC/123 Stickers (3 sheets) to create several paper crafting projects. Here’s what I’ll
be making with these gorgeous products:
An 8 x 8 December Daily Album OR a fun set of Christmas
Countdown Favours
Countdown Favours
Two 1-2-3 Layouts
Twelve Cards for friends and family
Twelve Cards for friends and family
Treat Bag Toppers to use for neighbor, teacher or
classmate gifts
classmate gifts
Throughout the rest of November and the first part of
December, I’ll be sharing instructional posts and videos with you so you too,
can make the most of your products and not have any leftovers! Order your Christmas
Past products now* and gather the few additional supplies you’ll need so you
can complete these projects along with me!
December, I’ll be sharing instructional posts and videos with you so you too,
can make the most of your products and not have any leftovers! Order your Christmas
Past products now* and gather the few additional supplies you’ll need so you
can complete these projects along with me!
*If you are in Canada,
you can shop directly on my Creative Memories webpage. If you are in the US or Australia, you can use the consultant locator on the Creative Memories site to find an advisor
near you, or email me and I can put you in touch with one of the several
advisors I personally know and recommend.
you can shop directly on my Creative Memories webpage. If you are in the US or Australia, you can use the consultant locator on the Creative Memories site to find an advisor
near you, or email me and I can put you in touch with one of the several
advisors I personally know and recommend.
Today I’m excited to share the instructions and video for making the
December Daily Album, and I’ll be posting the instructions and video for the Christmas Countdown Favours in a few days so you can choose
which project you’d like to do and get either of them prepped well ahead of December 1st!
December Daily Album, and I’ll be posting the instructions and video for the Christmas Countdown Favours in a few days so you can choose
which project you’d like to do and get either of them prepped well ahead of December 1st!
December Daily Album
“December Daily” is a concept created by Ali Edwards that
documents and tells the story of the preparations leading up to Christmas. I
love doing this type of album each year as it offers me a way to reflect on and
enjoy the entire Holiday season, not just Christmas Day. In past years, I’ve
made various sizes of stand-alone albums, and have incorporated 12 x 12
December Daily pages into our yearly family album (you can see all my December Daily related posts here.) This year I am
focusing on 31 simple words to help me document the season, and plan on taking
one photo per day that reflects on one theme/word each day. You can use my list
of words (below), come up
with your own list, or simply take photos of events and daily activities that
happen throughout the month and choose which ones you want to use to record
your family’s story. You can find lots of December Daily inspiration on
Pinterest, as well as on Ali’s website.
documents and tells the story of the preparations leading up to Christmas. I
love doing this type of album each year as it offers me a way to reflect on and
enjoy the entire Holiday season, not just Christmas Day. In past years, I’ve
made various sizes of stand-alone albums, and have incorporated 12 x 12
December Daily pages into our yearly family album (you can see all my December Daily related posts here.) This year I am
focusing on 31 simple words to help me document the season, and plan on taking
one photo per day that reflects on one theme/word each day. You can use my list
of words (below), come up
with your own list, or simply take photos of events and daily activities that
happen throughout the month and choose which ones you want to use to record
your family’s story. You can find lots of December Daily inspiration on
Pinterest, as well as on Ali’s website.
Along with Ali and thousands of other memory keepers, I find
that planning and prepping your album pages ahead of time makes the process of
documenting the month easy and more enjoyable. As soon as I have my plan ready,
I put on some Christmas music to get me in the holiday spirit, and create what Ali
calls “foundation pages”. I’ve designed and planned these pages to be flexible
enough that I can add vertical or horizontal photos to them along with brief
journaling. You can download a FREE copy of the December Daily instructions here, follow along with the step-by step instrucstions below, and/or watch the video I created to take
you step by step through the process. (Note that the video is about 22 minutes, so grab a beverage, sit back and take a break while you watch it!)
that planning and prepping your album pages ahead of time makes the process of
documenting the month easy and more enjoyable. As soon as I have my plan ready,
I put on some Christmas music to get me in the holiday spirit, and create what Ali
calls “foundation pages”. I’ve designed and planned these pages to be flexible
enough that I can add vertical or horizontal photos to them along with brief
journaling. You can download a FREE copy of the December Daily instructions here, follow along with the step-by step instrucstions below, and/or watch the video I created to take
you step by step through the process. (Note that the video is about 22 minutes, so grab a beverage, sit back and take a break while you watch it!)
Materials:
For this project you will need seven sheets of paper: choose five sheets of double
sided paper from the Christmas Past paper pack, as well as the sheet with the
numbers from 1 to 25 printed on it, and the sheet with the tags and journal
cards printed on it. You will also need:
For this project you will need seven sheets of paper: choose five sheets of double
sided paper from the Christmas Past paper pack, as well as the sheet with the
numbers from 1 to 25 printed on it, and the sheet with the tags and journal
cards printed on it. You will also need:
- Your choice of 8×8 album with 16 pages
and protectors (Tip: if you don’t have an
8×8 album coverset, order and use the 8 x8 album pages and protectors, then
purchase your album coverset the next time Creative Memories makes them
available!) This year I’m using a
Ruby Bookcloth Album, which works nicely with the colors in the Christmas Past
collection. - 12” Straight Trimmer
- Tape Runner Adhesive
- Black Dual-Tip Pen
- Gold Metallic Pen
- Embellishment Pack (optional)
Instructions:
- Cut out all the numbers from the number sheet.
Set aside. - Choose and cut out six tags. Use the Ruby
ABC/123 Stickers (or handwrite with the Gold Metallic Pen) to add the numbers
26, 27, 27, 29, 30 and 31 to the six tags. Set these aside and save the
remaining tags for another use. - Choose and cut out one of the three journal
cards. Again, use the Ruby ABC/123 Stickers or handwrite your title on the
journal card. Set aside and save two remaining journal cards for another use. - Cut two of the remaining five sheets of double
sided papers into 3” x 3” squares using Cutting Guide #1. You will get sixteen
squares from each sheet for a total of thirty-two
squares. These will be used to create sixteen of the interior album pages.
- Cut the remaining three sheets of double sided
paper following Cutting Guide #2. You will end up with three 1” x 12” strips, fifteen 3” x 8” strips and three 3” x 4” rectangles.
The 1” strips will be used for your album title page, and the 3” x 8” strips
will be used to create the other fifteen interior album pages. (Save the remaining three 3” x 4” rectangles for another use!)
Now we’re ready to assemble the album!
- For the Title Page, refer to the sketch below. Trim
the three 1” x 12’ strips down to 1” x 8” strips. Arrange and adhere two 1” x
8” strips across the width of the title page as shown. Add the third strip
vertically, criss-crossing or “weaving” over the other two strips. Adhere the
journal card you set aside earlier on top of the strips as shown.
- For the rest of the album, create coordinating
double page spreads using the two sketches below. Adhere your squares or strips
as well as your previously cut out number squares as shown. Repeat, alternating between the two
sketches until you’ve filled all pages, including the very last page in the
album.
Now all you need to do is add your photos and journaling. Both of these layouts are flexible enough to add your 4″ x 6″ photos no matter if they are vertical or horizontal! I’ve come up with my list of ideas or themes I want to focus on this year, but you can find lots of Photo-a-Day lists online, or come up with your own! One of the pleasures of this project is that it reminds us to stop and notice the little things around us during this busy time of year.
Keep your album, your Tape Runner Adhesive and journaling
pen close by during the month of December. Each week, print your photos and add them onto the
corresponding day in your album. Jot down a few notes… you don’t have to write
an essay for each day, just your thoughts, feelings or experiences you had.
If you like, finish each page off with a die-cut
embellishment or adhesive rhinestone gems from the Embellishment pack. I’ll share my finished album, complete with photos and embellishments in early January.
embellishment or adhesive rhinestone gems from the Embellishment pack. I’ll share my finished album, complete with photos and embellishments in early January.
After reading this post I bet many of you are saying, “Is she crazy? I don’t have time to make an entire album in December!”, but I encourage you to try it out! I promise you that it will be a great experience and will heighten your sense of
enjoyment of the entire holiday season…that’s the reason I create them year after year! If you do go ahead and make an album, I’d love to hear about your experience and see how it turned out, so please make sure to leave a comment below or post a comment and photo in my facebook group!
Happy Scrapping!
"Seasonal Product Hoarding Disorder" – LOL! I'm glad to have a name for my affliction – and to know that I'm not alone! Thanks for this cute album idea and layouts. I recently saw a December calendar with ideas for daily random acts of kindness. I'm thinking to incorporate some of those in my Daily December Album. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love this idea–thanks, Noreen!
Just finished your album idea! Only took about an hour and a half. I'm all ready to go for December! Thanks so much for your awesome ideas.