Craft His Love Homeschool & Lifestyle: MEMORY KEEPING | December Daily 2016 Final Walk Thru Part 1

MEMORY KEEPING | December Daily 2016 Final Walk Thru Part 1

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.