Home December Journal Tutorial

Hello friends! It is time to share one of my favorite projects each year. My December journal, inspired by Ali Edwards concept of documenting the month of December. I have been doing this since 2012, making this my twelfth December daily journal.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This year I made a journal celebrating Christmas at home and using traditional Christmas colors. The book is about 6.5 x 5 in and my December Countdown Tags (which I will share soon) will also go into it. The cover is a window from Tim Holtz idea-ology Baseboards and Transparencies, with an added red door on top. 

These are the pieces used for the cover. The back is a Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board cut into the same size as the green window.

The mat board was covered with Tim Holtz Christmas Backdrops paper. Sand the edges.

Ink the edges with brown ink.

White emboss snowflakes at the top of the door. As you can see, I turned the baseboard piece around because I wanted the larger windows at the top.

Color Simon Says Stamp Acetate with alcohol ink.

Stamp stars from Jolly Holiday with black Stazon ink.

Sand and ink the edges of various ephemera and baseboard pieces. I also stamped sentiments and cut into strips. The gold letters were die cut with Tim Holtz Emporium dies from gold kraft stock paper. 

Glue the door to the background with matte medium. Apply some matte medium to the windows and sprinkle Rock Candy glitter on top, to create frost.

I used a mix of my favorite papers and stamped some of them with Simon Says Stamp Ledger Paper Background and Red Geranium ink.

Punch holes with a Crop-a-dile and bind with rings.

I sanded the edges of quote strips from Tim's Christmas Baseboards & Transparencies. Ink and glue to the background.

Glue ephemera here and there.

I used 24 as a number instead of 25, since the main family celebration during Christmas in Sweden takes place on Christmas Eve.

Apply glue to the candy sticks and cover with Rock Candy glitter. Apply Texture Paste to the base of the book as snow, sprinkle with Rock Candy.

The first page in the journal is a card from Christmas ephemera and the second page is a piece of Christmas Backdrops. I wanted the tree and the holly to show through the windows.

Here you can see that the tree is visible through the window to the left. 

I will add a photo to the panel to the right.

Using a mix of papers adds interest and I am also planning to write with different types of pens. My December Countdown tags will be added to the pages, and some photos too, although I do not use that many photos in my December Journals. The focus is on the text.

Matte medium and Rock Candy is a fun way of adding frost to windows.

I might add more pages to the journal if needed and in that case it is possible to change to bigger binder rings. These are Tim Holtz Mini Book Rings.

I am looking forward to filling my journal with Christmas memories.

You can find my previous Christmas Daily journals here:

2022 - Folio December Journal

2021 - Snowy Hills December Journal

2020 - Peaceful Winter December Journal

2019 - Snowy Mountains December Daily

2018 - Birch Forest December Daily
2017 - Narnia December Daily
2016 - Winter Village December Daily video
2015 - Believe December Daily
2014 - December Daily
2013 - Christmas Daily
2012 - December Mini-book

 

Thank you for visiting my blog! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.