December Daily 2018 Flip Through

 

Since I am diving right into Christmas, I thought I would share my December Daily album from last year.  In my next post, on Monday, I'll be sharing my 2019 foundation pages (The pages I set up before the holiday craziness begins.)

For those that don't  know, December Daily is a mini album that takes you through the 25 days leading up to Christmas.  Some do longer than 25 days.  Some do it daily.  Others just tell 25 stories of  December. 

My December Daily Last year started on the first and ended on the 25th.  I did pull one November story in to the album.  My daughter was in the nutcracker at the end of November and I really felt like it belonged in the December Daily book!  Cutest little mouse ever! 

In the past, I had one 12x12 album that housed a few pages from each Christmas. I started it the year my husband and I were married. We love getting it out and looking back.  After Olivia and Owen were born I continued the tradition but...as they have gotten older I realized that this only captures Christmas Eve and Christmas day. 

                                                        12 X 12 Album Flip Through

There is so much more magic all through the month of December that I was missing.  In fact,  as Olivia has grown and she can now tell me her favorite Christmas memories, most of them came from the weeks leading up to the big day.  After that realization, I knew my method needed a little change.

This lead me down the rabbit hole where I discovered all of these amazing people posting about December Daily.  On my quest to learn more about this project, I discovered Ali Edward's.  Her Site and Blog are basically the December Daily holy grail.  Oh my goodness!  It was just what I had been looking for.  Ali has beautiful designs she and her team come up with each year.  There is a big launch in September and  you can simply buy her kit and an album and get started. 


(Side note, her monthly kit subscriptions for telling your story are also incredible and such a beautiful way to tell your story.  But, that is an entirely different rabbit hole.)

Anyway, last year I jumped on the December Daily train and I LOVED IT!  It was just the change I wanted and needed.  It made me focus on the holiday as a big picture and not get bogged down in all the prep for just one day.  I also found that it made me really intentional and weed out all of the extra distraction so we could just focus on the best events and the best family time.

The best part was how the kids tried to come up with the best story to tell each day.  It made us all look for the positive and stay present. They especially liked choosing their favorite elf images for this layout. 

Now, I know a lot of people cringe at the thought of grubby hands and children going through their albums.  I get it,  They are a labor of love and you want them to last.  However, for me, it gives me the greatest joy when I see my kids pouring over a scrapbook reliving memories.  I make them with this goal in mind.  I want them to be touched and for kids and adults to interact with the albums.  They learned from an early age to wash hands first, lay the books flat and how to turn pages gently.  Honestly they respect and cherish the books.  I mean, they are a giant storybook and the kids are the main characters.  What's not to love? 

Each year I pack the Christmas albums away with the holiday decorations.  When they come out the kids go straight to them and start talking and asking questions.  It makes my mama heart happy.

Last year I used An assortment of Ali Edwards items and the Simple Stories Merry and Bright Collection.  The album I used was the Merry and Bright Album.  It was nice and sturdy 6x8 album and had a great 2.5 inch set of rings.  I also used a few random things from my stash.

2018 Flip Through

 Below are some close up pictures of some of the smaller details.

Thank you for watching! Id love to hear from you! What's your best memory of Christmas as a child?

Go get Messy!