Yes, just halfway through the year and I'm thinking of Christmas. I have to, I make a lot of gifts. Time is of the essence and all that. I know there's a large box of handmade jewellery on the shelf and beside it a large box of handmade cards, but each year I think of something special to make family and friends - last year it was junk journals. So far this year I haven't yet decided.
What I can do though is make this year's Christmas Planner. Last year saw a planner cobbled together from an old games board with a lot of festive stickers and inside were four months of planning space. Each month had its own decorative theme to make using the planner enjoyable:
September: Paris (had a lot of Parisian stickers to use up)
October: Autumn/Fall
November: Blues and greens of Winter
December: Traditional red & green Christmas
Each month's section also had a 'duty':
September: Craft ideas plus links to YT 'how-to'
October: Shopping lists for making and baking
November: Gift lists & budgets
December: Christmas card list, Christmas food list, Christmas Day dinner countdown schedule (yes, I time it all)
PARIS...using flat and 3D stickers from high street stationery shops and sub boxes, plus notepaper illustrated with scenes from the city. Sticky notes allowed me to make lists of craft ideas and then scrap those for newer, better ideas.
AUTUMN...beautiful transfer stickers from my sis-in-law included pheasant, pumpkin, late flowers and leaves. Shopping lists for materials to make gifts and ingredients to bake on sticky notes were transferred into my personal planner to have at hand at all times.
WINTER...although there was not a pick of snow when I started to used the November section, the beautiful scrapbooking stickers really got me in the mood for Christmas. I could keep on top of what gifts I'd made and what I had yet to create.
CHRISTMAS...in traditional reds and greens. How many Christmas cards to make, write and post and how many sweetmince pies to make. Presents to wrap, friends to meet. And the Christmas Day dinner schedule - when to put what in the oven.
By using a Christmas Planner instead of a series of notebooks and a page at the back of my recipe book I have a single record of what I made, what we ate and what gifts we received. Something to look back on.
For Christmas 2016 I'd hoped to have designed a planner that I could sell as a downloadable online, complete with illustrations, but it may take me another year of honing my ideas. I began last year by looking at what was for sale on etsy & amazon and ended putting together pages from an undated planner pad, page markers, sticky notes and stickers, all held together with lashings of sticky tape.
This Christmas might see a better organised book. I may keep the lists, craft and gift info at the back as I remember flicking back and forth to find the info. I'd like both sides of the pages to be printed - the ready bought planner pad wasn't. And to any crafter out there thinking of Christmas...yes, I'm running late!!
Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit
All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.
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