December Daily 2015

Hi, everyone :-)

I have tried to create a December Daily for several years now. Probably for as long as Ali Edwards have actually made one :-D

So, this year I am going to make it happen, and I enlist you, my readers, to help me with it.

1) Assign a place to "make it happen". You need what you need to make art journals, scrap books, or any paper crafting. To me that means a table with reasonable bare working surface, a chair that is OK to sit on for hours and all my tools and materials available and close-by.
I have already a work place, which I intend to use for this, too.

2) Make a plan for your December Daily. Look at pictures, and pic some 20 that you find wonderful, the photos that made you want to make DD yourself. And then just decide. If you don't like it, you can always make a new one next year. But remember, "done is better than perfect". You should see what I have inside my head! The awesomeness would break the Internet! Like all fantasies...
So - pick a format and go for it. It's just 31 days. You can do it.

- choose color scheme
- collect some ephemera, embellishments etc.
-- you will need numbers, from 1 to 31
-- you might want some ribbon and string.
-- Christmas wrapping materials are great - wrapping paper and ribbon
-- any paper scraps in your chosen color scheme. If it's red and green, the junk mail, catalogues etc. will be full of these colors.
-- I like anything glittery for Yule.
-- anything flat can be used, like flat ornaments, buttons, crocheted shapes, cupcake toppers and drink sticks, napkins, paint chips, sequins, post cards, paper scraps... Found objects are a nice, unusual addition, and there's usually something in junkmail at this time of the year, that can be used. There's also interesting things used as packing material.
-- I think snowflakes are perfect for DD and paper doilies look very much like snow.
-- I also like transparencies. It could be plastic or tissue paper. You can make your own printed tissue paper and washi tape.
-- I like metal embellishments. You can make quite a lot yourself, from old cans and tins or with aluminium foil.
-- I also like wood vaneer. It's not difficult to make fake wood.
-- You can fake almost any material. There's tutorials online on how to make fake wood, stone, metal, enamel etc.
- get some stamps and stencils.
- I like my albums layered. So learn to make different minialbums and tip-ins. Lapbook community has tons of tutorials on how to make interesting things to add more surface and layers, like minibooks, flaps and folders.

3) Make the album or covers or what ever you decided on. Get the empty journal. Get the photo album. Get what ever it is you decided.
Get the empty pages or make some sort of note or draw a sketch of each empty page as placeholder for when you get the actual page. Some might want to use this year's holiday greeting cards or junkmail as pages. You need to have some sort of marking of that "here is a page".

4) Have a sketchy plan on what you want to have on each page. With "sketchy", I mean "this page is going to be about our trip to fetch the tree" or "this page is going to be about holiday baking".
There are tons of lists and suggestions on what to put on pages, just search "December Daily", "December photo a day", "December journal prompts"  and "December project life", etc.

5) Get into habit of taking at least one photo each day. If you don't have a camera, or if you don't want photos, you can skip this step. But don't expect that on December 1st you wake up with an irresistible lust to take photos, if you haven't done it in November. Make yourself take at least one photo each day, from today.
Remember, NO-ONE DOESN'T NEED TO SEE YOUR PHOTOS. Not even you. You can delete them right after shooting them. But if you want photos, you need to take photos, and the only way of getting better with it, is to do it.

6) Look at the embellishments and backgrounds of people's DDs and start collecting that kind of things. Most people seem to have a basket to store these things. You need a box or basket or tray big enough to hold your December Daily album and a couple of boxes, bowls or cups to hold the "small stuffs", like stickers and gold flakes and buttons etc.

Now you are ready for December.

Stocking stuffers for the not-girly-girl women

Here's a great list: 50 awesome stocking stuffers that don't suck under 10 dollars

These are a bit suck-y: Stocking stuffers for her

* Don't buy her make-up, nail polish or perfume if you are not 100% sure of what she uses. Some women - like me - use no make-up, and finding make-up in my stocking is saying "I don't know you at all". You do NOT want to say THAT to your girlfriend.

* give her a gift certificate to a book store rather than a book. Especially a book you are told about by people suggesting you what to give as a gift...

* I hate digital watches. And metal wrist bands on watches. So if you plan on giving her jewellery, check what she uses. I don't use much jewellery. I use earrings and sometimes necklaces and brooches, but rings? bracelets? No. I don't use a watch either.

* Don't assume she loves chocolate because she is a woman. Find out what is her favourite candy. I would be happier for a box of salt liquorice than smoked chocolate.

* Candles... well... if that's not the only thing. But find out which smells she prefers, because there are smells people don't like, and it's highly personal and subjective. the same goes with incense. Also, if you plan buying her incense, see that she has something to burn it in. And not everyone likes incense.

* The only machines you can give to your girlfriend/wife are about fun. Do not give her a fabric steamer. It doesn't matter how expensive it is, if she needs it, if she wouldn't ever buy one for herself, because when you give her a household appliance, anything to do with household chores, like cleaning, cooking, ironing etc. you are telling her that you expect her to be a good little 50s housewife. AND by giving her a fabric steamer, you are saying "I have noticed you are a bit sloppy with your clothes".

* iPhone cover... Does she even have an iPhone? And what kind of patterns does she like? What kind of patterns does she use in her clothing, home, stationary? Giving ME an iPhone cover with cutesie flowers is saying "I don't know you at all, but I expect you to be a girly girl who likes pink and flowers and a modern, trendy girl who has an iPhone like everyone else." OK, then. Go find a girl that fits that cover, because I'm not her.

* "Adult coloring books are officially a thing and whether she admits it or not, there’s a good chance she wouldn’t hate getting her hands on one."
No, I wouldn't. And if you listen more to the guys at "ask men" than your girlfriend, I think you should date them, and not me.

* I don't use scarfs. I use shawls. Give me a pashmina, not a "geo print blanket scarf". That's ugly and not in my colors. You should know me well enough to at least know what kind of colors I like!
So, with this as with everything else; accessories are a great stocking stuffer, BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT SHE LIKES.
If she doesn't use gloves, it's stupid to buy her them.
If she doesn't use hats, don't buy her one. If she doesn't use handbags, don't buy her one.
If she does, tell the store clerk what kind of handbags you have seen her use. They come in a lot of different styles, materials, brands etc. You don't want to buy her wrong kind.

So, what to buy, then?

* travel trinkets, like baggage tags and passport case, are great gifts, because they are telling her that you expect to take her to see the world. Unless, of course, she hates traveling :-D

* experiences - it could be a hot balloon ride or day at a spa, but I was thinking about "movie night" or "date night" kind of things :-D An exotic cookbook with necessary spices.

* if you can't think of anything, go to Pinterest and search "wish list" at boards...