December Daily - Days 5-11

First of all, this happened yesterday. Isn't he a cutie? He's seven and losing his teeth late. He had only lost two until a few weeks ago when he lost one of the top teeth. We teased him that he needed to lose one more so he could sing the Christmas song. Well, yesterday the other one came out and he was so happy!

(with little brother's accompaniment in the background)

Now that we're over the cuteness factor, here is Day 5 in my December Daily.

I used some very old paper (from Recollections!) and other bits I've been saving. I love that I can use up lots of these little pieces - I'm trying not to buy anything new for this book!

Day 6 

The background of this page is from a gift bag. The stripes are from the gusseted edges. I cut out the truck at the top from a gift tag and used washi tape at the bottom. (Not much happened this day so I just wrote on the margin about how popular the red truck is this season. I love it.)

Day 7

Again, I've used many OLD bits and pieces. The tree is an extra from a class I taught years ago; the little green pocket is left over from when I made the grand boys their advent calendar boxes a few years ago; the Christmas embellishment is really old! I did buy a pack of the poinsettia doilies this year from Dollar Tree. It makes a nice "tip in."

Day 8

Again I used some old scrapbook paper for the background and the banner. The piece didn't quite fit, so I made a ruffle from tissue paper for a border. The little pocket came in a card from a friend which held an ATCoin for a swap. It's perfect for a tag I made from scraps and used to journal on the back.

On the right is a folded page making a tuck spot for a journal card I made (I will do a future post about those).

Day 9

At the left you can see the back of the folded page. I used a border that came off a card I received and some gold washi tape. 

 Page 9 has a scalloped-edge border pocket with another handmade journal card tucked in. The little bird embellishment is a gift tag attached with a paper clip.

Day 10

This page has a bottom pocket as well as a "belly band" of a burlap ribbon. This day we met up with friends for a holiday dinner and I used a blank Christmas card for journaling, tucked into the pocket.

There's a clear tip-in "shaker" between this page and the next. I used a piece of page protector, sewed around the edges and filled with some Christmas confetti and sequins.

Day 11

I received photos from my daughters of the grand boys' letters to Santa, so I copied them and attached them inside this little striped file folder. It's held shut with a little Christmas owl clothespin. When I took this picture, I hadn't received the photos of Drew without his teeth, so I added that inside the folder later.

For those of you who think you lead a boring life and wouldn't have anything to journal about, think again. The joy is in the making of the journal as well as documenting even everyday things.  It can be as simple as "I went to the PO" or "had a haircut." Years from now it will be fun to look through these!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a weekend with a few art friends. One friend is hosting a "craft tea" on Saturday and several of us are spending a few days with her working on art projects.