Countdown to Christmas- December Planner

Tomorrow is the 1st of December! Can you believe it?! Are you ready?

I'm not... but I'm trying to be better prepared. Today I want to show you one of my little tricks for (hopefully) keeping me better prepared and organized for Christmas this year. 

I bought a Pink Paislee Portfolio album from Noel a few months ago, and saved it for now. (She's out of stock on it right now, but she has several other albums that would work well!) 

I decorated the cover with the Glad Tidings kit (sold out except for the paper only pack- which is still pretty dang awesome.)

On the cover, I used one of the beautiful designs by Rhonna Farrer for My Mind's Eye. Because my album is smaller than 12x12, I cut part of the design off of the rest of the page and incorporated it into this part of the design because it was all so lovely! (You can see it in the little bird & "all is bright" tag below.) I love that this album has a protective sleeve around the outside.... normally I would take it off, but because I plan on carrying this album around with me, I'm keeping it on to help it be sturdier.

I used one of the inside photo sleeve inserts to make a quick little cover sheet. I may add to this... I don't feel like it's quite "done" yet. Or I may leave it. We'll see. I did put some sequins in one clear pocket and then tape it shut with decorative tape. I love that fun little element! 

Then- the insides! I made some printables to share with you today! I'm not a pro at this but I wanted something customized and couldn't find what I wanted. You could print these on whatever you wanted- I chose kraft cardstock and cut it down to size. 

The next set of pages are pocket pages- I cut paper the right width, but longer than the album, so I could fold up the excess and make pockets. Thank goodness for pretty double sided papers!

The page on the right is for me to jot down anything handmade that I would like to make for our own family traditions or decorations...

and the next page is for handmade gifts or wrapping items. 

The pocket pages will become useful when I stick in other notes, receipts, coupons, and odds & ends as we go through the month. 

I plan to use the rest of the album as a memory album- not exactly a December Daily, but something akin to it with a little less structure. I'm really excited to see how this evolves for me and I plan to share it with you!

If you're interested in using any of these printables, here they are linked below! 

Week By Week PDF: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoec2lBNHMtQl9lSFE

To Do List: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeeVdLdkRZNndPLTg

Shopping List: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeRGhHSTJUSkVzazQ

Handmade Gifts: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoebVJwTFUwS2F3Rm8

Handmade Decor: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeSjJsMDFqM1lCTk0

Event Food Planner (with spot below to attach recipe card!): https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByynLz6eGtoeMWlueXV6dERuTVU