December Daily 2012 Ideas and Thoughts

What is December Daily? It is a project started by Ali Edwards that is basically a way to document the Christmas/Holiday season.

Why do it? It's easy to forget the little details that from the holidays since they rush by so fast. Why not capture them and celebrate what makes them special to you?

What if I'm already doing Project Life? Isn't this the same thing?

Not a problem, Project Life is more of a simplified snapshot. December Daily is more of an in depth close up of your holidays.

How do I get started?

*Buy, find, or make an album (after deciding what size you want) then create base pages. 

This could be as simple as sticking cardstock on the page. 

*Buy/gather embellishments. You can go with a theme or coordinating color palette or have a different one everyday. 

*Create Date labels. This could be as elaborate or simple as you want. You need to decide what days you want to document, Ali does the 1st through the 25th. I think it's neat to do the whole month so you can include New Years Eve. Last year I used 2 different stamps. 

It's not necessary to do all this pre-planning but I promise you it is so much easier to keep up with when you do. I suggest to at least do the 1st week. I also suggest buying a notepad/notebook to write down details, ideas, photos you want to use to keep track of your days. Carry it around with you so when inspiration strikes you can jot it down. If you travel or get behind this is an excellent resource.

Find more info direct from Ali here: http://aliedwards.com/2009/12/december-daily-compilation.html

If you think your life is too boring it's NOT. I've been taking an online class all year that has really taught me that my life is filled with stories, even me a person with no children or spouse. Every life has value and interest. Find Ali's ideas here: http://aliedwards.com/2011/11/december-daily-2011-25-ideas-and-story-inspirations.html

Another spin on this daily December project is Shimelle Laine's (one of the garden girls at Two Peas in a bucket)  Journal Your Christmas project. It is similiar to DD because it helps you document the holidays day by day. However Shimelle's take is through an online class (including forums) that really guides you with daily prompts sent to your email. The prompts include journaling ideas, photo ideas/tips and even downloads. One of the neatest things is once you pay the first year ($35 last year) you are automatically enrolled each additional year for free. About $1 of each enrollment also goes to a charity fund she supports. Find more info here: http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1284/journal-your-christmas-2011-online-scrapbooking-class/ She should be updating it soon with the 2012 info. I highly recommend it because she's a fabulous teacher.

This year I'll be doing a combination of the 2. I love the guidance that Shimelle gives but this year I'd like to try to switch things up which is why I'm calling mine December Daily this time. I'll be doing my own ideas for much of the month but there will be certain days that I will refer to JYC emails. That's the lovely thing about this you can do whatever, however you want! Check  out a couple pages from mine last year!

My cover from last year

You don't need to have a photo on every page

An awesome printable from Shimelle
last year

Pictures don't have to be perfect

Don't be scared to document the "bad parts"

Final Tips

1. Don't be scared of this project, don't feel pressured to make it perfect or to "keep up"

2. Include memoribilia like your Christmas card, a napkin, a Starbucks cofee label or ripped out advertisement you like

3. Have other family members contribute

4. Don't forget to get in the pictures

5. Have fun