A Note from Donna
Last year my family traveled to New Jersey to spend Christmas with my in-laws. We were all very excited about our trip—my husband because he hadn’t been home in a few years, Gabe because there was the possibility of snow and I was looking forward to all the lovely Italian-American food we’d be eating so characteristic of where my husband grew up (like cannolis, real cannolis. I planned on having way too many cannolis). While we were there we did our best to get the most from each day. We had an amazing time and my husband and I agreed that it was one of the happiest Christmases either of us had
ever had. When I got home from our trip I was inspired to put together an album of our trip. And then, can I let you in on a secret? I never did. I did make a few layouts from our time there, but the album I imagined in my head never came to be.
This year we’ll be traveling to New Jersey again, and this time around I’m coming prepared. I’ve made a very simple 4x6 album in advance so that I can record the details of our trip as they happen:
The album is broken into three tabbed sections: family, food and fun. I’ve left the pages blank and included spaces to record journaling. On some pages where the paper is more decorative I’ve placed a journaling spot, a tag or die-cut:
On the pages where the paper is plainer I stamped journaling lines:
Finally, I also included a couple of envelopes in my album to store ephemera from our trip such as receipts, tickets or business cards from the various places we plan on visiting:
Once I get home all I need to do is print my favorite photos from our trip and place them in the album. I won’t need to worry about forgetting the details of our trip or about making a big elaborate album—if I don’t want to. And if I do want to tell more detailed stories through layouts or make a larger album later on I’ll already have journaling and memorabilia for my stories.
With that taken care of I’m ready for our trip—bring on the cannolis!
Merry Christmas!!
A Note from Jody D-P
Want to keep Christmas memory-keeping simple? Make a basic album ahead of time—this is just a $1.00 album that has been dressed up with patterned paper and space for minimal journaling. They make great gifts for friends who might be traveling for the holidays, too!
Slip one of these in your suitcase or carry-on and you'll be set to jot down memories as they happen!
A special thank you to My Mind's Eye and SEI for their generous sponsorship of our second annual WCS For the Holidays celebration!
