Journal Your Christmas - Dec 21 and More Secret Hollow Books

Aaagggg!  The December 21 prompt for Shimelle' Journal Your Christmas project is to snap a picture of your house as it is right now!  Well, I couldn't bring myself to share my messiness as I rushed through work, gift wrapping, holiday crafting, and last-day-of-school-before-the-holidays that day.  So, I decided to focus on my craft table (instead of my kitchen table) as it was at that moment!  It was more fun to look at than my kitchen table any way!

I cut a tag from the paper print and journaled the day's events on the back.  The picture is my work space as I created a Santa on a tractor to go inside a secret hollow book that will be the packaging for a gift card.

Yes, this was a very simple page-- simple out of necessity as it is crunch time!  I suspect the rest of the pages will be very simple as holiday activities kick into full gear, I am still making gifts, and now we add extra masses and the round of Christmas visits begin!  So many kinds of fun but definitely not enough hours in the day!

So, what was going on in my craft room that day?  The same thing that has been going since just a few minutes ago:  secret hollow books were being created for gift cards!

Personally, I love gift cards-- I like getting them and giving them, but they are so impersonal and can seem to be so last minute.  To make them more thoughtful and to combine them with something handmade and personal, I used what I learned last month when I made my first secret hollow book to create a presentation for them.

To see my tutorial on making this type of project, along with my cut sizes and links to where I originally found this idea, click here!  Using the same cut sizes for the book I created before, I made these.  The gift cards are attached with Velcro so they can be removed without damaging the book.

Santa on a Tractor--
I used Country Life and hand-cut Santa's suit to cover the body.  The head is from Christmas (solutions).

Santa on Vacation--
Santa is from Jolly Holiday.  The sun is from Doodlecharms.

Mrs. Claus Waiting for Santa--
These images are from Quilted Christmas.

Birdies at Christmas--
This image is from Winter Frolic.  The tag is from 3 Birds on Parade.

So I still haven't created yesterday's journal page yet... and we have our first holiday dinner this afternoon and I have lots of cooking and baking to do for it!  Hopefully tonight, I can steal away long enough to get caught up!

Well, I have to get cookies in the oven and yes, I still have sewing to do, not because there is so much of it, but because I have been busy doing so many other things instead.  It is starting to seem entirely possible that some of the little doll outfits I have in mind will not be completed by the 25th.  *sigh*

Thank you for checking my blog post today!  Christmas is almost here!!

Journal Your Christmas - Dec 20 - My Favorite Nativity Scene

I love nativity scenes!  The first one I owned was one I made decades ago.  My mom and I took ceramics classes together for a whisper of time when I was in middle school.  I made a 5-piece set-- well with that kind of ceramics, it is more honest to say that I sanded off the seams and painted a 5-piece set.  I always wanted to be sure I had one I guess.  It was my only set for years.  When I got my first apartment, I bought a much larger set, complete with a creche structure, from a department store.  Then, I bought a painted wooden set -- perfect for children to play with-- when I was in my 20s.  

...But my favorite is one I received last Christmas -- or was it the Christmas before that?-- from my mom.  It is a hand-made set that she bought at a little store for me.  I love it and left it out for a long time after Christmas, thinking I might just leave it out all year long.

I love all the detailed folk art painting on the figures.  I love the way that Mary and the Angel have their hands folded for prayer.  It is a curious set too-- Joseph looks a bit like a Wise Man with a gift in his hands, there are "extra" people aside from the Wise Men and the shepherd, and the shepherd seems to be holding an invisible shepherds crook.  I think this is what makes it as special as the painting and details.  

This was the subject of my December 20 page of my Christmas journal.  I messed with the lighting a bit to make the tree with bokeh lights in the background more white and less colorful and, in the process, washed out a lot of color from my set.  I loved it with the papers I wanted to use though, so I ran with it!

I made a little file folder that tucks in behind the picture to journal the day's events.

Today is my daughter's last day of school and I still have more sewing to do for her gift.  I suppose middle-of-the-night sewing will be on my agenda for the next couple of nights.  I hope you are in better shape with your crafting than I am!

Thank you for checking my blog post today!

Journal Your Christmas - Dec 19 Candy-Grams! and How to Wrap a Subscription

Earlier in the month, one of Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas prompts suggested showing this year's Christmas cards.  Well, I only just yesterday finished mine so......

This year's cards are actually Candy-Grams.  I found giant Godiva candy bars (salted caramel milk chocolate ones at that) and mailed those.  I gave them a cuteness makeover with Rudolph Bear.

I had an extra tag and used that on my left side.

I got them in the mail only yesterday.  I really should have made New Year's Candy-Grams instead I think. 

In the evening, I made more for my daughter's class for Friday's party using XL Hershey bars.  Her school doesn't allow the use of reindeer or Santa images so I used a simple snowflake.  Since the kids tend to tear into my packaging, I thought that was a smarter solution than to use an intricate, multi-piece cut.

The other silly thing I wanted to share was my solution for how to wrap a magazine subscription.  Tops on my father-in-law's wish list was a subscription to a tractor pull magazine.  I know the owner and they just don't offer any kind of card or 'wrappable' announcement so I made a mini magazine and placed it in a gift card box.  The note inside the mini-mag told the news of the gift.

Back to sewing today before work.  Yikes -- only five more days until Christmas!  So much more to do!  Thanks for checking my blog post today.  I hope you are on schedule with your Christmas gift crafting!

Journal Your Christmas - Dec 17 and 18

My Christmas journal continues!  As the holiday events take over our days, I use fewer of Shimelle's prompts and photography focus tips because I want to share different things that are meaningful to me.  Despite that, I am archiving her fantastic information for a future Christmas journal.

Here's December 17:

This day's photos are of my kiddo in her room with her pink feather tree.  She receives a special ornament from me each year that symbolizes her year or interests at the time. Those along with ornaments that she is given from others have made her ornament collection outgrow her tree (so many that are not hanging up), but she still loves her little tree.

A jounaling tag allowed me to note the events of the day.  I liked the cheerfulness of this page-- so much like my daughter!

Yesterday, I packaged this year's ornament for her.  I always put a note with all of her ornaments so that she can remember who gave each one to her and the year given.  I made the packaging for this from a matchbook style box and put my note on the back of the tag.  I envision that when she leaves home many years from now, she will have a whole box of keepsakes and memories that will enable her to have Christmas even if she is far from family.

On to December 18:

My last blog post included pictures of my daughter yesterday morning, dressed as a Christmas angel for a school event.  I knew I would be using one of those for that day's journal page!

I was able to go to her school and snap a few pictures of her with her two best friends in the choir of angels.  Hark!  These herald angels had a lot of fun!  (And so did I!)

I took so many pictures of those sweet girls that it was hard to pick just these two.  (I was the momarazzi yesterday.)

Two time-consuming, Christmas projects to finish today.  I'm off to my craft room before I have to work!  Thank you for checking my blog post today.

Need a Quick Gift? Photos!

Today marks one week 'til Christmas-- no pressure!  I am still sewing, papercrafting, journaling, so I am really feeling the stress.  This morning before my family got up, I spent a short time in my craft room making photo books.

So the extra good news for last minute crafters:  You can, for the same cheap price of a 4x6 print, create a collage and add text!  Instant cover design!

I caught a deal on photo processing and used my Bind It All, artist board, a couple of sheets of decorative paper, and Mod Podge to make brag books.  Fun, fast, and another use for all the Christmas journal pictures I have been taking this month... and a trip down Memory Lane to look through snapshots taken earlier in the year!

So...I am off to my daughter's school where she will be a Christmas angel in her class nativity scene today. (Her school is kindergarten through 12th grade and is broken up into upper and lower grades.  The event today is a competition where the upper students vote on the best lower grade Christmas displays and the lower grade students vote on the best upper grade Christmas displays.  The children become actors in the displays-- some are religious and some are not.  There's lots of bribing with candy and sweets as the judges walk by-- it really is funny.  The children chant their grade number as students do their voting.  It gets crazy!  

This is my Christmas angel...with her cat.

Thank you for checking my blog post today.  

Journal Your Christmas - Dec 16

We had a fun and busy weekend, but worries always find their way to me somehow.  The mass readings and homily yesterday were particularly helpful so I used one of the verses on this day's page.

My sweet daughter loves to help in the kitchen.  This weekend we made cookies.  Did you know that Nestle's Toll House makes DARK CHOCOLATE morsels???!!!

A secondary tag on the right side allowed me to journal the day.

Thank you for checking my blog post today.  My Christmas cards didn't get done so I am hoping for a few extra hours today to get them done...

Journal Your Christmas - Dec 13, 14, 15

As I hurriedly continue my gift making this month, I am still journaling my Christmas... sometimes with Shimelle's prompts, sometimes with prompts from our daily lives.

Here's December 13:

This day's pages include a Xerox copy of my daughter's letter to Santa.  (The original was obviously mailed to the North Pole and was unavailable to use.)  I created a pocket for that letter and a flap that will eventually hold a picture of some of the doll dresses I have been sewing for her.  I will add that picture after Christmas since she is so interested in this journal; I can't risk her seeing the picture.  The daily sewing has been such a big part of my time that I really wanted to include it and only on the 13th realized that I could add the picture later.  Here's how it will look once the picture is adhered:

I included a tag that explained that the picture of 10-month-old Piper was one I found in some of my sewing things on that day.

December 14:

I have seen tons of ideas like this on Pinterest, mostly having to do with the first day of school or a birthday.  I like the idea of capturing my daughter's interests this year.  The journaling tag captured the day's activities.

December 15:

My husband took a picture of me and Piper.  I have so few pictures of the two of us together because I am usually taking the pictures!  I was so happy to have this one.

This day was characterized by an annual Christmas Tea that Piper's ballet school had.  The girls performed seasonal dances with their individual classes and learned which ballet the school will perform in the spring.  We were excited to hear that it will be Cinderella!!  We were told it would be a hybrid of the traditional Cinderella ballet (where Cinderella travels to the Enchanted Garden) and the storybook versions (where Cinderella has a fairy Godmother).  The woman who runs this school creates roles and choreography specific to the older girls' abilities (since they will have the leading roles) and specific to the classes for the younger girls.

During the Christmas Tea, Piper's class danced to the 'Twelve Days of Christmas'.  Piper was Three French Hens.  It was so much fun to watch.

Thank you for checking my blog post today!  Since it is Sunday and my daughter is home, I will be working on Christmas cards-- yes, I still haven't done them.  They have to go in the mail tomorrow or else I will have to make them New Year's cards-- haha!

Happy Third Sunday of Advent!  Christmas is soooooo close!