December Daily - let's begin

After a busy Thanksgiving weekend of travel and spending time with lots of family, I have been working on creating the foundation pages for my annual December Daily journal. 

I decided to switch it up a bit this year and change from a traveler's notebook style to a gutted hardcover book. I found a red book with a black spine at the dollar store to use.  I gathered different pieces of Christmas scrapbook paper and white mixed-media paper, folded them and sewed three signatures into the book spine using an easy three-hole pamphlet stitch. Here's the cover - I plan on keeping the red and black and will lightly decorate it when I'm finished so it won't get ruined.

This is the inside front cover. I  used scrapbook paper, acrylic words I bought last year at Tuesday Morning and some alpha stickers.

On the right is the first page. I used very old scrapbook paper for the background, a red doily and a tag pocket that I think I received in a swap a few years ago.

I made a slanted pocket on the left page using scrapbook papers (I'm trying to use up lots of old stash). I added a few handmade tags to the pocket, one listing my goals for December.

The right page is for the first day of December. I used a journaling card attached on the left with a washi tape hinge to document our Thanksgiving weekend, even though that was at the end of Nov.

These are the two tags I made for the pocket. The one on the left is an old receipt with washi tape across the top with a fabric flower and part of a napkin collaged on the bottom. The goals tag is cut from a piece of scrapbook paper that already had the lines and the design. I used alpha stickers for the title.

For Day 2 I made a side pocket on the left with two tags and a postcard I used for journaling. Between the pages is a poinsettia napkin.

On Day 3 not much was going on so I typed out an old German legend about the Christmas tree.  The tree embellishment at the bottom is 3D and was from a swap awhile ago. (I love being able to use old bits and pieces in this journal!) The number is on a little tag that dangles from the flower at the top of the tree.

Here's Day 4. It was my son-in-law's birthday so I used a journal card flip and underneath added photos of his little family celebration.  The horizontal strip is actually printed twill ribbon I found last year.

I'll be back with more in a few days!