Mini Album Monday #20- Countdown to Christmas Album

Years ago I was introduced to the concept of a December Daily album by Ali Edwards. She basically showed how to prepare an album with 25 pages so that you could take one photo a day leading up to Christmas. I loved this idea from the moment I read about it.

Such a simple concept. 

Sit down with some supplies and make an album in a few hours. 

Then just take one photo a day and add it to your already made book. 

Awesome.

I did this project for several years, then I discovered that once I started keeping a month by month album, 

I was pretty much documenting December twice. 

Although I didn't make a December Daily album this year, I'd like to show you how simple they are so that you can make one if you'd like to.

 

First, you'll want to decide on what you'll use for your cover. 

Here are a few suggestions:

the cover of an old book- either a child's Christmas book or a hardback novel

clipboard cut in half- use each half for the front and back covers

Christmas card- choose a beautiful card you've received and let that be your cover

piece of chipboard covered with Christmas pattern paper

Next, you'll want to get out all of your Christmas themed pattern paper. 

Part of the fun of this kind of album is that all the pages are random.

Here are some ideas that you can use for pages:

transparencies (see next photo)

page from a dictionary or old book

ledger paper

small paper bag

baseball card holder

envelopes

large paint chips

Bingo cards

file folder (use as a page or as a template to cut a tab on a page)

cardstock

Then you'll need to add a number to each page for the date. 

I used lots of different stickers and rub ons.

It's hard to see, but this page is actually a transparency with one photo centered on it. I added a piece of pattern paper with journaling on it.

Feel free to use up different Christmas themed stickers and embellishments here and there on the pages. 

You can do this step before adding photos or after adding photos.

Once again, this is a great opportunity to use up stickers and other supplies.

The page on the left is the back of the transparency. The page on the right is from an old dictionary.

I added a caption for each photo. It might seem like it's obvious what's going on in the photo, but it may not be when we're looking at this book years from now.

Some days you may not be doing anything special, so you won't have anything to take a photo of. 

On those days you can think outside the box and take a picture of:

your Christmas tree

your favorite ornament

your living room decorated for Christmas

holiday baking 

your hubby in a Santa hat

a photo from a ride looking at Christmas lights

your loved one holding a flavored coffee from Starbucks

your stack of Christmas cards stamped and addressed

The page above is a piece of leather - it was a sample from a leather store.

I added a copy of a thank you note my son wrote for my in-laws.

Then I used an old playing card to add journaling.

You don't have to add only photos.
 Think about including other things like:

  holiday pictures your child draws or colors

your kid's Christmas wish lists

notes to Santa

your own to-do lists (see last photo)

This page is one of my boy's Christmas lists that I attached to a piece of red velvet.

This page is a piece of old sheet music for Silent Night.

The page on the right is simply a piece of green cardstock. I used a file folder to trace a tab on the side. Then I used a simple shipping tag for journaling. 

See how you can incorporate simple items into this book?

This page is a baseball card holder. 

You can either fit several photos or cut a photo in half and place the two halves in pockets next to each other.

I used an old gift tag to add some journaling in the upper left corner of the page.

I used a pre-printed Bingo card for this page.

This page is just Christmas pattern paper. Notice that I used a whole bunch of word stickers to make a frame around the photo.

 

 I added two to-do lists to this page. They were all holiday chores, so I thought it would be a cute addition.

This book is such fun to make and even more fun to look back on every Christmas. 

I'd love to know if you decide to make one!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10

 This post is linked to Skip to My Lou, Tater Tots and Jello, and Between Naps on the Porch.