'Tis the Season

I know it might seem too soon to start thinking about Christmas already but depending on how you like to celebrate the season, it's never too soon to get prepared. Last year, I took Shimelle's class and I loved putting an album together throughout the month. It was definitely one of my favorite projects. You can see my album here.

So, when I saw Ali Edward's post on her December daily preparation it reminded me that it's time to start thinking about this holiday season. This year, I am planning to follow along with Ali and create my own December daily album. I might or might not use Shimelle's prompts but I will make a daily page in the month of December. Since, for me, New Year's is a bigger holiday than Christmas, I plan to have my album go all the way to the end of the month but you are always free to do what works for you.

The trick to actually doing a page a day in December is to plan ahead as much as possible so that you have everything you need to create at your fingertips and as much of the album put together ahead of time as possible. In an effort to get myself organized, I've decided to go perusing the AMM store. In case you're thinking of doing a December Daily as well, I figured I'll share my findings with you and maybe in the comments you can share yours with me.

Let's start with albums: Last year Ali did an acrylic album with lots of odds and ends pages. I am not sure I want to go with acrylic but I like the odds and ends idea so I figure I can start with something like this tabbed BasicGrey album and add pages from other BG albums or even some Cosmo ones. Or I can go more traditional and pick one of these Boho albums. I could even go completely untraditional and use one of these stunning easel albums.



I am still not sure of my album, but my current hunch is to go with something like the BasicGrey one. What do you think?

Once I pick my album, the next set is to get my papers and embellishments together. Embellishments are easier for me since I sort everything by color. So I usually start with the paper. Here are some gems I found at the store: (Clicking on any of the photos will link you back to that paper line or product.)




and what holiday book is complete without some glimmer, ribbon, and some bling.




The thing is, I am not Christian, so I am not officially supposed to celebrate Christmas. But I grew up in a country where we celebrate New Year's and we put up trees and do a lot of what Americans do for Christmas so I generally celebrate the month in my own way. If you're less traditional like I am, you don't have to use these products, you can choose your own colors and your own style. The idea is just to celebrate the holidays and to do in-the-moment scrapbooking which is really very special.

One last note, last year, I had one continuing theme in all my pages, a small metal Christmas tree with a stamped ornament with that day's date on it. I found that having that small continuing theme really helped me and makes the album look more pleasant (at least to me!)

So what do you think? Are you ready to join in and do your own December Daily? Have you found some gems at the AMM store?