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I know it's a little late to be showing off Christmas projects but I finally finished my December Daily® album and I wanted to share it for the simple fact that I'm proud of my self for actually completeing it, and because I know there are a lot of people still working on their albums.

I've attempted this project every year for the past three years and this album is the only one that I've completed. I thought for awhile I would go back and complete the other two but in honesty I'm over it and moving on. I'm letting those two be reminders that if I don't stick with this project in real time it will never get done. And that was my best motivation this year, those two half done albums sitting next to my desk. They haunted me every December night when I was too tired to work on my album.

So my first tip if your looking for tips is stick with it. Don't give up and don't get behind (too much) because that will turn into empty pages and lost memories. I have such a bad memory that if I don't get something documented usually within a few days... it's gone. The little quirks, funny sayings, or the feelings in my heart at a particular moment are basically erased. So, for me, to be successful in a project like this is to stay on top of it. Own it. Be the boss. And get it done.

Alrighty, you'll here it is, well the first 9 days anyway. I've also included my video walk-thru at the end of this post. 

Back in November when I was planning and prepping for this project I thought I would use one of my Simple Stories Snap Album that I love dearly but I fell in love with this polka dot album from Felicity Jane.

This album is beautiful as is but I always decorate the inside of the album with something, usually stamps. Usally star stamps. I used the Studio Calico ink, Poppy, with an old star stamp from my stash. I just eyed the pattern as I went. Had a mishap and decided to cover it with this DIYed pocket that holds my Christmas countdown card and my handwritten reason why. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
Over the month of November and even into December I was collecting new supplies to try out in my album. I shared my extra large December Daily haul on my Youtube channel. When it comes to adding different layers into my projects I try to keep an eye out for things that aren't neccesarily made for scrapbooking but would in fact serve well. I found some cute glassine bags and little fabric pouches in the Target dollar spot. This super cute lumberjack sack is holding all of my extra photos that I want to include. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
The next page is a 2x2 protector cut down to 8 squares instead of 12. Sometimes I can handle 8 better than 12 and I like to include different sizes of layers. I filled the squares with cute little embellishments from Freckled Fawnand Me and My Big Ideas and some random goodies from my stash. I also threw in a few of the needles from our Christmas tree. Now we'll always have a piece of that tree with us forever. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
I also like to add different size photos. My favorite this time was 5x7. I used a strip of vellum to add the photo to the rings so it won't shift around. I also like to mix up black and white and color photos. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
I wanted a heavy photo album but without the thickness so the best way I could acheive that was to make use of templates. As a hybrid scrapbooker templates are one of my go to resources. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
I had to include a picture of this guy, our very first Elf on the Shelf, Chippy. I also love to include fun embellishments like tags and sequins.

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
For story 7 I pretty much copied Ali's idea. Love the layers and textures of the tags! I used the same papers to make a coordinating page. And my pocket, it's a DIY as well. I'll have a tutorial on that soon! 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
December Daily Album Inside Decorations

Story 8 was a collection of parties we attended through out the month. Yep, I found that 8 at the Goodwill. Keep your eyes out, ladies! 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
And story 9 was probably my favorite of the whole album. My dear sweet Alifair (4) dressed her self for our homeschool group Christmas party. She wore multiple layers, none that matched, but felt extremely confident and beautiful the entire night. She had so much confidence that she decided to sing in the talent show. I had no idea she was going to do it until she popped on stage. 

December Daily Album Inside Decorations

December Daily Album Inside Decorations
So there you have it! The first 9 days of my 2016 December Daily album. If you  want to see a video of the walk thru click play now.



I've been working on my Week in the Life™ album this week. It's been a slow process but I'm getting there. One of the things I've decided to do is cover my album with some pretty paper. I had originally thought that I would just keep it as is but it's gotten a little messy over the past few weeks. So I'm covering it.

scrapbook album with scrapbook paper and washi tape on the cover


I'm using this 6x8 kraft album from Echo Park. It's exactly like the Snap binders from Simple Stories. I opted to cover the entire cover with a pretty white and black textured cardstock. This paper is from a paper pad from Hobby Lobby. 

I simply cut down the paper so that it's a tid bit smaller than actually cover, I didn't want any of the paper hanging off the album. 


I used Mod Podge and a foam brush to adhere the paper to the album covers and back side. After that I covered the paper with Mod Podge as well. 

Once it dried it was a really shiny and smooth. It felt almost like leather or vinyl. 

using scrapbook paper to cover an album


I really like the look plus it adds an extra layer of protection onto my album. 

I did the exact same process to the inside of the covers. I opted for this blue gingham from Crate Paper's line, Gather, by Maggie Holmes. 

blue gingham scrapbook paper used to cover the inside of the album


colorful scrapbook album

I love the color of it all and since I'm going for a very modern and colorful look to my album it works out perfectly. 

a colorful week in the life album







You can check out a more detailed process by clicking the video below...




How about you, do you cover your albums or add any fun embellishments to the front or are you more minimal and simple?
the happy planner homeschool planner

For my plannre this year I chose The Happy Planner Teacher's Edition (sold at Michaels). I know this planner is set up for a classroom teacher but I wanted to show you all how you can add some additional pages to make it usable for a homeschool mama!

the happy planner homeschool planner

the happy planner homeschool planner

THE HAPPY PLANNER for HOMESCHOOLERS

This planner is absolutely beautiful and the kit comes with so many fun extras like note pads and stickers. However beautiful I needed to make this planner work for a homeshool mom so I created some colorful yet functional pages to plan our homeschool year. 

FREE HOMESCHOOL PLANNER



By adding in these pages I made this beautiful planner work for this here homeschool mama and I can not wait to plan in it!!! 

HERE IS A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL THE PAGES (PDF is set up to print FRONT to BACK)
WEEKLY PAGES
ATTENDANCE RECORD
LIBRARY TRACKERS (2)
PASSWORD TRACKER
DAILY SCHEDULE
LOOP SCHEDULE
YEAR AT A GLANCE
SUPPLIES TO BUY
STUDENT PLANNER (comes in handy for plannign for multiple children)
MONTHLY GOALS


To see how I used these pages in my planner (p.s. I haven't added all of them, yet)... CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW!!



So I sat down with my kiddos this week and tried to discreetly ask them about their homeschooling experiences so far. I knew if I made a big deal about it they wouldn't give honest opinions. So here goes...

Homeschool Kids q&A, homeschool mom


HERE IS WHAT MY KIDS REALLY THINK ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING (IN ORDER TO KEEP IT REAL I'LL BE POSTING UNEDITED VIDEO COMING SOON)

Q. First, do you like homeschooling?

A. Jack, 10 - "Half and half."
     Lilli, 7 -"Yes, I love it!"
     Alifair, 5 - "Yep, I get to stay with you all day!"

4th grade homeschool photo


Q. What is your favorite part of homeschooling?

A. Jack - "Getting to play most of the day."
     Lilli- "Everything, I don't have to get up to early."
     Alifair - "Art, painting and dancing around."


Q. What is your least favorite part of homeschooling?

A. Jack- "Writing. Reading Aloud."
     Lilli- "I don't like doing too much reading,"
     Alifair- "Cleaning up. We have to do it all day."


Q. Do you think homeschooling is hard?

A. Jack- "No, not at all. The only thing is having to do chores a lot during the day."
     Lilli- "Yeah, sometimes. I like it a lot though."
     Alifair- "Well, I can't spell my name and it's hard."

Q. Do you ever feel lonely homeschooling?

A. Jack- "No, I need more a lone time, in my room with just me and myself."
     Lilli- "No we are in here at the same time."
     Alifair- "No, but my toys feel lonely in my room."

kindergarten homeschool, excited to learn


Q. What do you wish you could change about homeschooling?

A. Jack- "I could upload all the content into my brain and just be a genius."
     Lilli- "More time for ART!"
     Alifair- "More things to eat."

This is just a quick snapshot of what my kids think about homeschooling. I'm hoping to do a more formal interview in a video and post it soon!

If you would like to check out more homeschool kids and read about how they feel homeschooling click on over to the IHOMESCHOOL NETWORK's blog hop!