Happy December! My goodness! Here we are smack dab in the Holiday Season! But before I get into all the goodness thats in store let me first say that Aaron and I had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the day with Aaron's parent's and one of his brothers. We cooked the entire meal and had a great time doing it. Seriously...we LOVED cooking the family meal. It was a big change because we always just cook for the two of us. Occasionally Walt will pop in and ask if we have anything, and we enjoy serving him up some good stuff...but getting the whole Thanksgiving meal ready felt refreshingly "normal" for us. See...here's the thing...me and Aaron live a far from "normal" life...so when we get to do normal stuff its like this breath of fresh air. It grounds us...makes us feel "in-step" with others. Of course this is a luxury only to those who live a decidedly "out-of-step" lifestyle. (a grass is always greener sort of thing I guess)
We were proud of ourselves for prepping all the ingredients ahead of time and having the whole meal come together perfectly on schedule. And from what we gathered reaction-wise...everyone enjoyed the meal. We offered to do the Christmas Day meal as well. Can't wait for that!
And again, the whole feeling in-step with the world was totally enhanced by everyone sharing their Thanksgiving Day experiences online. So cool to go on Instagram to see everyone's pics of pies, and beautiful table settings, and husbands passed out.
And jeeez...it was the first day of Hanukkah! I have to say I'll gladly take all of your latkes and applesauce and sour cream!
So yes...now here we are...it is December 1st! I've got not even a smidge of the bah humbug gene. I've been witnessing peeps put their trees up for weeks now...and I'd never ever accuse anyone of jumping the gun. Decorate as early and as often as you want!! To each their own. And I love the tradition of families decorating for Christmas as a family on Thanksgiving after dinner. I saw lots of folks sharing pics of that. Pretty great idea!
Last night we went to see Hunger Games with Walt & Val...it was a great time. Very happy that Walt took some time away from engines and tools for a little family fun. I think it's easier to get him to break away if you lump it all in with a holiday. Despite his gasoline and grease tinted exterior he's got a good amount of "little boy" left in him that loves family holiday time. Today us four are going down to visit my other brother and his wife and our niece Olivia...yep, the little gal we had over for a visit last week. Looking forward to it.
A big reason for posting today is to see who is doing a December Daily? Our hands are raised over here! We are super excited about it. We love to browse the December Daily hashtag on instagram, and love to check out all the inspiration on Pinterest. We also love that December Daily albums and books have kinda taken on a life of their own. The lines have blurred...it's no longer just photos, or just for scrapbookers. Art Journalers are joining in the fun, and there are so many creative takes on the concept!
We know that this is already a very busy time of year, and so often we hear about gals starting their books and just not having the time to finish and feeling defeated.
No way! Do not let that happen. Make the process pressure free. Me and Aar can't stand stress and we try to approach every project with ZERO pressure. Set your own guidelines. Adhere to no one elses expectations. Do it because you want to and love to. No rules. Chip away. If you have time to sit down to start pages, maybe do a few in one day and just leave some spots to pop in photos next week...or even after the holiday!
Soon we'll blog some of our tips and tricks for pulling off something fun, easy, and beautiful.
For our book (seen above in it's raw state) we went with a small horizontal chipboard album with scallop shaped tabs. Keeping it small makes it less of a big deal (ha! literally!)...and we also love tiny things. So a little book of Holiday eye candy will be such a fun keepsake to look back at in years to come. A cute little time capsule.
We gathered up some favorite papers, and trims, and ribbons, and twines, and washi tapes, and other happy bits. Of course we are using the classic Jenny & Aaron pink and aqua, and cream, with bits of black...but we love love love adding tiny bits of red to make it festive...and some evergreen!
We'll share our pages and tips and ideas as we go. And we'd LOVE to see your pages!
So go gather some goodies. Don't over think it. Take today to choose a color palette, the size and shape of your book, and maybe start a pinterest board or just browse for ideas. Set aside an hour or even 30 or 20 minutes a day to escape into some holiday crafting. Or pick a day on the weekend to do a few pages.
You can win the above holiday paper and ephemera pack!
After all this talk (or "jibba jabba", as Mr. T would say) you might have forgotten that I mentioned that this post contains a fabulous Giveaway!
As you may well know...I love to share what I know and what I love with all of you guys. But I just may have one remaining best kept secret that I have yet to reveal. Oh well, I guess it's finally time to let the cat out of the bag...
Our faaaavorite source for the most perfect vintage papers, and trims, and perfectly edited ephemera packs is our long time friend Lisa Cook! Lisa is a born curator. Her paper packs set the mood, tell a story, and never fail to capture a gorgeous little world within a cellophane sleeve. Armed with one of her packs you cannot go wrong creating an incredible art journal page, assemblage, or collage.
Well Lisa is generously giving away one of the most amazing vintage Holiday paper/ephemera packs right now!! I could just die over this collection. It makes me so so happy! Isn't it amazing?! Don't you want to get your hands on it? Well all you have to do to enter is be a follower of the Everyday is a Holiday blog, and Lisa's blog or etsy shop. And then leave a comment below telling us that you are! The lucky winner will be chosen December 8th!
Good Luck!
Happy December friends!!
xo Jenny & Aaron