Make a Plan for the Holidays – December Daily Planner Crate

December begins tomorrow so we thought a post that would help get you month organized might be a great way to kick things off.  Planners, Agendas and Daily Journals are all the rage right now and oh what fun they are to create.  You can design them as you go or you can plan out the month as Tatiana shares with us today in her December Daily Project.  Getting organized and making a plan the crafty way not only makes things a bit easier, but lets you express your creative style and unleash your crafty needs.

Tatiana here and this fun December Daily Crate is easy to make in just a couple of hours.  Creating a journal, daily, calendar or agenda in a crate is useful and easy to do.  Creating in a crate lets you add and remove items easily, you can jot down notes, add photos and store little goodies.  There is a lot of secret pockets to keep all momentoes and tags to write down all precious December memories, naughty or nice lists, holiday wish lists, recipes, cookie exchange invitations, school party invites and more. Have fun and be creative! When the month is over you will have a crate filled with memories.

7gypsies Crates come in 2 sizes (4″x6″ and ATC or Wallet Size) and in 3 different colors (stained, black and white).  The little wooden crates hold file folders, wallet photos, business cards, appointment cards and more and the larger crates are suited perfectly to hold 4×6 photos, recipe cards, postcards, Christmas cards (slip them in vertically or horizontally), etc.  

Here is what I used:

• Canvas Corp Mix and Match Pad: Jolly Christmas
• Canvas Corp Mini Clothespins – Christmas (25 pieces)
• Tattered Angels Decor & DIY Paint- Rose and Viridian
• Tattered Angels Simply Sheer – Red Rose
• Canvas Corp Hemp Rope 45′ – Lime Green & Red
• Canvas Corp Tall Tags & Ties – White (9)
• Canvas Corp Mini Bags – White (25 Bags)
• Canvas Corp Paper Bags Kraft (12 pieces)
• 7gypsies 4″x6″ Vintage Crate: White
• red and green aquarelle

Tools: sewing machine, paper cutter, scissors, paint brush (optional), black fine tip marker

Step 1:  Cut 32 pieces size 4×6, you will need 5 sheets of 12×12 paper of the Jolly Christmas collection kit.  The pad comes with 10 different papers to choose from or you can pick your 5 favorite holiday papers from any Canvas Corp collections.   The papers all work together, so you can pick the ones you like the best.  Glue together 30 pieces back to back. You will get 15 cards. Leave 2 pieces, they will need be used to cover the front and back cover later.

Step 2:  Making cover of the December Daily. Cut 2 – 4×6 piece of cardboard or thicker chipboard, then cut 2 green burlap pieces from the Jolly Mix and Match a little bit larger than cardboard piece.   Then cut the printed Jolly Fabric a bit smaller than 4″x6″.

 Step 3:  Glue them all together and sew with red threads on sewing machine.  Then glue the back side of the cover with left-over 4″x6″ cards to finish them off.

Step 4:  Now to the embellishments.  From the Jolly Countdown on White, cut all the Countdown numbers and holiday activities.  Then, cut all the icon from the Jolly Christmas on White. This paper looks like the holiday icons have been hand-stamped.

 

aq·ua·relle

ˌäkwəˈrel,ˌak-

noun

1. a style of painting using thin, typically transparent, watercolors.

   • a painting made by using the aquarelle style.

Step 7:  Design each of your 4″x6″ cards with a variety of painted icons, numbers and fun little sayings or tasks.  Like a countdown calendar you can use your daily to even plan a family activity each day as Christmas nears.  You can use the remaining printed papers to make little pockets, back up the little pieces of art or to cover part of the 4″x6″ art.  No two cards need to be alike.  Save a few to make mix media style – see step 8.

The bright green, red, white and black art all work amazing together, making it so easy to create each card.

Step 8:  Making some extra cards in mixed media style.  In your Mix and Match Pad you get a piece of white c-flute.  Cut the sheet into 6 4″x6″ pieces.  You can let the flute be horizontal or vertical, it is up to you. Mist them with Simply Sheer Mist Red rose, add some accents with DIY paints. I used colors Viridian and Rose.

On the back of the white fluted cards use a fine tip black marker to outline the edge with fun wavy lines and little zigs and zags.  Then glue a kraft or white mini bag to the back, making a secret little pocket and clip a few clothespins in place that are perfect for adding photos, little notes or appointment cards.

You should now have 16 cards – two sided, enough to make 31 cards, one for each day or stop at 25 if you are creating your own countdown to Christmas.  Next slip tags, bags, notes, cards, photos in all the little pockets you created.  You can also add your own activities for yourself or the family on the tags.

December is a very busy time for everyone, don’t forget to schedule a little “you time” for crafting, shopping or maybe even a mani-pedi.

Now you can slip each card into your crate in order.  There is extra room to slip in photos, shopping lists, recipe and more.  You can create your cards all at once or make yourself a basket of goodies and create the card for the next day or two giving yourself a little creative time each day.

To see more of Tatiana’s work stop by her blog Ideas Warehouse, where you will find wonderful ideas and beautiful photography.

Jaine Drake shares with us another great December Daily Planner in her Farmhouse Christmas Journal that you will find on her blog Basement Studio.

Happy Creating!!!!

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