11.18.2012

December Daily 2012 | my plans and a few tips

Super excited that my little December Daily album was featured on Ali's blog. She is so inspiring and so generous. I've followed her for quite a while now and needless to say I was so honored she wanted to highlight it! Thank you all for your kind words too. It really means a lot to me.

For the past two years I have done a December Daily, which is an album that documents each day in December. There's no right or wrong way to do these albums. Some people do large 12x12 albums, digital pages, photo-books, smaller 8x8, 6x8, 5x7, 4x6, etc. Some do it in their Project Life albums. Again, there is no right or wrong way. Ali Edwards started it five or six years ago and it has grown to be a popular way to do a holiday album.

Tip #1: make it work for you! 

This year I'm doing a mix of projects, each kind of makes up a layer of my overall memory keeping this December.


  1. December Daily in 31 Lists: documenting a little something each day with a photo and a list.
  2. 12 December Joys | a Holiday Bucket List: 12 items for 12/2012. 
  3. December in Project Life: my regular monthly set up of Project Life.


  • December Daily in 31 Lists: I loved the 30 Lists project so much. My friend Stacey on Instagram suggested it would be a fun way to to December Daily. As I was trying to decide what to do this year, this idea kept coming back to me. Remember tip #1: do what works! I decided to alter one of the extra Moleskine journals I had extra to create my December Daily. Here I can do a list or a story a day and I've made up my own prompts for each day (see below if you want to use them too). Journaling can be a struggle sometimes but I found having a prompt and just keeping it in list form really works for me on a daily or daily-ish project. The design is the same each page. Just a photo, washi tape, maybe some stamps, a number for each day, my list and a little date stamp. *note if you use a Moleskine the pages are quite thin. I'm using chalk inks in mine. Here's a look at my album: 







A close up of the tags + here's one of my little date stamps I'm using.


To share the love this holiday season, I'm sharing the prompts I created: if you would like the prompts, please click here to get them from Google Docs. It's a pdf so it should be ready to print. Click on each link for each page.

I printed them on HP Brochure Paper in Matte and cut them out with my paper trimmer. I have the prompt loosely adhered on each page, but am making it so I can change it easily if I want to. I'm keeping the extras (there are quite a few prompts to choose from and both "favorite" and "favourite" spellings) in a little container on my desk to make it easy to pick one each day. Here are the prompts!





My second way for documenting December:


  • 12 December Joys | a Holiday Bucket List: I must really like lists! For this project I'm doing a more "crafty" 6x8 album using a Handbook from Studio Calico and a mix of a solid 6x8 page and divided page protectors. My husband and I have come up with 12 items that we want to do in December. Kind of a bucket list or manifesto, whatever you want to call it. Again, I looked back at what has worked for me. The bucket list pages I did this past summer worked great for me, so instead of trying to make each day crafty and doing 25 crafty days, I'm just doing 12. Twelve things we really want to do. It's 2012. The twelve days of Christmas. It just felt fun and felt like the right thing for this year. The pages are almost ready to share, hoping by this next weekend or keep an eye on my Instagram feed. What's cool and feels like a bit of serendipity is that my Moleskine fits perfectly in a page protector that I can add right inside the bigger album. Fun fun stuff!
And finally because I am already doing it anyway:
  • December in Project Life: I have a monthly set up for 2012 and I plan to add more of my favorite photos and some everyday life stuff here. You can see how I set up my monthly 2011 album here.  Updated: I am using a Design F page protector and journal cards from Ali Edwards in my Project Life. Really fun! Check them out here.
So there it is! My plan for documenting December 2012. I'm really excited about it and it feels right for me this year. 

Tip #2: prepare as much as you can before December. Ali's templates and overlays are a great place to start. I'll be using her 6x8 templates in the bucket list album. Ali calls these her "foundation pages" and it's great because a lot of the design is already done.

Tip #3: have fun! This really should be number 1. Don't compare, it's easy with so much inspiration out there. Take it for what it is. Celebrate others and their creativity. My advice is to try something. You can always change it or try something else another time. It's all good! And realize what works for someone else may not work for you. It's doesn't make either way right or wrong. It's just good stuff no matter how you do it! And don't forget to live and just enjoy the season.

I would love to see how you are documenting the season this year: share on Twitter and Instagram using #decdaily. Updated: also use #decdailylists so we can share! :)

To see the awesome gals behind 30Lists, click here. (note I am not affilitated with them but definitely inspired by them!)

To see more about December Daily and Ali's past albums click here.

P.S. I have some exciting news to share tomorrow. You heard it--there will be a post two days in a row! 



Products used: here is a group of the products I used. I can't find the link but the canvas star is from Maya Road. I stitched it on with white thread. The little silver stars are from a confetti pack I found in the party section of Michael's. The red embossing glitter is actually some old Martha Stewart but I couldn't find any links for it. I've heard the Zing is fantastic and hope to get some soon! The paper I'm using as a backdrop is one of my current favorites from I Lowe Scrap. I used the white Brilliance ink on the cover. Initially I used white chalk ink but it was really really white. I liked this one more for the look I was going for. I also had to order another set of the journals because I messed up on the first one and it said "le twinkle." My husband liked it but I decided to re-do it. Anyways, hope that helps! Have fun with whatever way you decide to document your December!


31 comments:

  1. About to print list :) Thinking I will pop the prompts in a Christmas jar and pull one out each evening for the next day.
    Thanks again for sharing you great ideas this year xx

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    1. You are most welcome!! Love the idea of a Christmas jar! I'm looking for my Serendipity bowl my friend got me from there. I thought that would be fitting too! Enjoy and have a very happy Christmas!

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  2. Thank you!! Fun to try something different but something that hopefully works and I can finish before next July!! :)

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your work! Wow. So inspiring!! After reading this post I'm going to try to do the lists and include them in my December Daily album. Thanks for the idea. Again, you are so talented and I'm really excited that Ali showcased your album on her blog.....I would have freaked out!! :) Have a great holiday and again, thanks for the inspiration!!! :)

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  4. Hey Annette-

    where'd you find the AC holiday stamp? I love it. Have never seen it before!! :)

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    1. I need to add that! I found it at Hobby Lobby in the middle aisles where the Christmas crafts are. In the store I went to it was near the scrapbook section like in the middle of the aisle if that makes sense. Hope that helps!!

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    2. Just found it on Simon Says Stamp! http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/servlet/the-49494/American-Crafts-CHRISTMAS-ROLLER/Detail

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  5. Thank you so much for the list prompts! This is exactly the kind of project I want to do this December. I can't wait to get started!

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  6. thank you so much for sharing the dec daily prompts!

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  7. thank you SO much for sharing these prompts! this is just perfect for the album i'm creating - colors and all:) love your style and am so glad ali featured you as you're now on my blogroll...

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  8. eeeek thanks again girl for sharing these, cannot wait to use them in my December projects somehow!!!

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  9. As I said on Instagram: Thank you so much for your inspiration!

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  10. I Think I Read This Blog Post 3x Just To Make Sure I Didn't Miss Anything.. It Is Full Of So Much Inspiration & Fabulous Tips! Congrats On Being Featured On Ali's Blog.. You Deserve It Girl! I'm So Happy That You Are Sharing Your Approach To Dec. Daily With Everyone & I'm Even More Excited That You Are Doing A 30 Days Of List Format (I'm Sure You Already Know How Much I Love Your Last 30 Days Of List Album!) && I Could Give You A Huge Hug For Making The List Available To Everyone To Print Out! You Have No Idea How Helpful That Is To Those Of Us That Are Doing The Dec. Daily For The First Time (Like Me!) I Was Worried I Spent So Much Money On The SC Kit That I Wouldn't Finish My Kit Before I Even Started! Now I Feel Confident That I Can Do It & Keep It Simple, && Actally Complete It While Having Fun && Still Enjoying The Holidays! Thanks Again!! I Can't Wait To See Your Beautiful Creations Thru Out The Month! *Hugs!

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  11. Thank you for the prompts for December! I could maybe use them for my blog next month.

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  12. I found you through Ali's blog, your album is simply adorable!! I am doing December Daily for the first time this year & am a little worried about the premade album format, but I'm hoping it works. So far I have had tons of fun preparing my album!! I can't wait to see how your projects evolve :)

    Linda

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  13. love this! found it through two peas.

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  14. thank you so much for this! i am going to do a DD but was trying to figure out how i wanted to do it. now i know! whew!

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  15. thanks for sharing your prompts! I'm going to give it a go too! :D

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  16. Your album is gorgeous. :) Thanks so much for sharing the prompts. I'll definitely use them when I'm stuck. :D

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  17. Thank you for sharing your lists! I will definitely use them to help inspire my December Daily. I love the 30 Days of Lists projects too. Happy December-ing!

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  18. Love the grey/white prompts.... i used them today in my foundation pages!
    here's some of my foundation pages so far,
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnieroseippity/sets/72157632116987844/

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  19. This has helped me tremendously!! I want to do a December Daily but have felt totatlly at a loss! I love your ideas of daily lists since I'm a list-maker myself! BTW I lOVE YOUR BLOG! I'm now your newest follower!

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  20. Love the idea for the 12 Joys album! Thanks so much for sharing the prompts, they will be very fun to use :)

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  21. This is brilliant! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. This is my first December Daily attempt and I have a bit of a "deer in headlights" kind of thing going on. Your prompts will be so much help!

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  22. I loved doing the sept 30 List, i will be using these in my "Project December" (Project Life adapation of december daily). thanks for sharing your lists

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  23. Amazing - thanks for sharing, and for the inspiration.

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  24. Beautiful and inspiring! I hope to start one next year :)

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  25. Thank you for sharing! I'm printing these out right now. LOVE them. :)

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  26. Thank you so much for sharing your DD prompts, they're awesome!

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  27. Loved the prompts, very helpful. Thanks so much!...

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