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Holiday Memory Keeping and Celebrating the Good


Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com   I’m curious, how do you feel about the holidays? Are you someone who starts their Christmas shopping in June and just can’t fit enough Christmas trees in your house? Or are the Holidays not your favorite time of the year? I admit to having slightly conflicted feelings about the holidays, Christmas especially.

You see it can be SO MUCH WORK, especially for Moms. There always seem to be so many things going on at the same time, and it gets a bit hard for me to juggle them all. Many times I’ve experienced a bit of holiday letdown and been left wondering if I did the whole thing “right.” Was I in a good enough mood the whole time?  Did all of my friends feel my love and appreciation for them? Did my husband and kids have a great holiday experience? Is the ballet teacher going to yell at me again for being late again? (Ok… kidding with that last one, but only slightly *wink*.)  

Many years ago we experienced a pregnancy loss on Christmas Eve, and I spent that day in the hospital. While it made me ever so grateful for the things about Christmas that you cannot buy, I admit that it did put a bit of a damper on the holiday for a few years.   Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com   One of the things that I love to do at Christmas is make family memory albums. It helps me to remember all of the happy, wonderful parts of the holiday, and my kids and I enjoy looking back at how our lives have changed over the years. I know that even with all of the stress and hustle bustle of Christmas, what’s really important are the memories that we make with each other. It’s one of the things that helps me to celebrate the good at Christmastime. You can see some of my past albums here and here. I want to keep those memories, not just in my head but written down and documented somewhere for my kids to see when they are old and grown. Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com Making a holiday memory album doesn’t have to be complicated and is actually really fun! So…people, get those photos off your phone! Print them and put them out somewhere for everyone to enjoy.

Today I’m going to share with you a very simple tutorial for making a family memory album.  You can embellish it more if you like or just take the idea of a Christmas memory album and do it in a way that works for your family.

If you’d like to make one, you’ll need:

two 6.5″x6″ pieces of chipboard (you can buy it at the store or cut up an old cereal box),

several pieces of 6″x6″ scrapbook paper, plus four 6.5″x6″ sized pieces for the front and back covers.

Binder Rings Photos trimmed to 4″x4″ (or just print your Instagram photos, as they are already square).

White card stock cut to 4.5″ x 4.5.”

Glue Stick. X-Acto Knife.

Heavy-duty Hole Punch.

Embellishments. 

Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com

To make the front and back cover of the album, just use a glue stick to glue the scrapbook paper to the front and back sides of the chipboard pieces.  Use your X-Acto knife to trim off any excess paper from the chipboard.   Then punch two holes in the front cover. Use these holes as a guide and punch the back cover and the inside pages all in the same place.

Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com

Now just glue the photos onto the white cardstock squares and then glue those to the inside album pages. Easy peasy. You can embellish as you like and use as many photos as you want.

Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com

I included a journal entry as the first page of the album, and then left the rest just for photos.

Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com Simple Christmas Photo Album Tutorial on polkadotchair.com   

New York Life (@NewYorkLife) wants to help everyone remember to celebrate the good this Holiday season.   Tweet your favorite Holiday memory or tradition and use the hashtag #KeepGoodGoing and #FeedingAMillion and they will donate 25 meals to Feeding America.

Lets celebrate and bombard twitter with happy holiday memories all season! Don’t tweet? Visit New York Life’s website and upload a photo of how you #KeepGoodGood during the holidays.

In addition to the donation to Feeding America, New York Life is giving away a $50 gift card and a $50 donation in the winner’s name to Feeding America on behalf of BlogHer. 

For a chance to win, tell me about a holiday tradition your family celebrates!

*Through 1/9/15, New York Life will donate $2.50 for each approved post, with a minimum of $25K & a maximum of $100K. 
See full terms and conditions at NewYorkLife.com/CelebratingGood. Find info about Feeding America at feedingamerica.org.

 

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. 

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the [email protected] email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 12/1/2014 – 12/31/2014.

Be sure to visit the New York Life brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

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  • Who’s up for a Summer Quilt Along? After a couple of delays (can you say Typhoon?) we are ready to launch the #LetsStayHomeQuilt Along! It will run for 8 weeks this summer and at the end you’ll have a finished quilt! I’ll be popping into my IG stories along the way to help you out and we even have a series of video tutorials to share! So if you’re brand new to quilting you can totally do this 👊🏻! All the details are in the link in my bio. Just click the link to the home page. . . . #summerquilt #rileyblakedesigns #foxfarmfabric #quiltalong #melissamortenson #polkadotchair #quiltersofinstagram #quiltsofinstagram
  • I want to invite you guys to join me in a class at the Garden of Quilts festival this September. 🧵 ✂️ It’s taking place at Thanksgiving Point in Utah and I could not be more excited to be teaching. I’ll be teaching two classes. . ONE: My Santa’s Hat Shop Quilt. I’ll show you how to foundation paper piece the blocks - it’s so easy you can do it even if you new to FPP (these cute blocks were made by @the_tattooed_quilter ). . . TWO: I’ll show you how to make these fun storage bins (swipe for the photo) They are made with foam and are so useful! I have several in my house and they are great for storing everything from sewing projects to makeup. . . I’ve added a link in my bio for all of the details about the classes. I’ll also add swipe up links to my stories today. I hope I see some of you there! ❤️ Patterns are tagged in the photos -
  • Yesterday was my daughters high school graduation. Her twin brother (who is younger than her) graduated 2 weeks ago (confused yet? Cause sometimes keeping track of all of it confuses me 😂). All 3 of our kids have now graduated and sometime in the next few months we will be empty nesters. . No more car pools, choir concerts, early morning seminary or late night sports practices. There are some things I won’t miss (like planning our life around the school schedule) and some things I will miss tremendously! I know that this parenting thing never ends and we are only transitioning to a different type of “parenting stress” but I’m looking forward to what it brings. . However I have to admit that part of me is terrified about this next phase. It seems a bit lonely - but more time to sew I guess 🤷🏼‍♀️😂.?
  • Spent yesterday evening at a home show at @nortoncommonsky . I shared some of my favorite details on stories. Like this gorgeous window vignette by @gretchenblack . Each home had so many AMAZING details and the “creative” part of my brain was so happy. Also for everyone that asked- we are not moving 😂. My kids graduated high school this year / I think moving on top of that would cause me to have a nervous breakdown. Too many changes at once! 😂😂
  • Block 3 in the #justforfunquilt just posted! You can click the link in my bio to find it. I’m calling this block Sunshine and Stars ☀️ 🌟 since it reminds me of a beach umbrella. 🏖 If you’re new- the Just for Fun Quilt is a block of the month that is running on my blog during 2019. It’s free and I’d love to have you participate! I’m going to try to do a Insta Story Q&A later today if you have questions about the Quilt Along. . . #quiltingtutorial #quiltsofinstagram #quiltblock #rileyblake #rileyblakedesigns #blossomfabric
  • Was anyone else absolutely smitten with Gilbert Blythe growing up? I think at one point I convinced myself I was going to marry him 😂😂😂. Riley Blake has a new Anne of Green Gables fabric line (by @zippyboro ) and I jumped at the chance to make something with it! I LOVED those books and the tv show so much growing up. I decided to update my Reading Pillow pattern (I posted the first one waaay back in 2011) - a lot of you guys have asked for a basic pattern over the years (no piping or zippers) and I’m happy to oblige. I also added a second size option too! Hop on over to the blog for more info - you can also now buy a printable pattern (with 5 different pillow patterns in TVs shop). Just click the link in my bio. . . #rileyblake #rileyblakedesigns #readingpillow #readingpillows #kindredspiritsfabric #sewistsofinstagram #quiltsofinstagram #sewingtutorial

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mami2jcn says

    December 1, 2014 at 7:40 PM

    We decorate the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and go to a local farm to look at their Christmas light display.

    Reply

  8. Sharon Collins says

    December 2, 2014 at 12:24 AM

    I love Christmas. I always decorated the entire house with my hubby’s help. We have only had one big tree since 2006. We were moving in 2007. I was delayed 18 months going home from the military. There won’t be one this year because our kitchen is being gutted and our master bath is partially gutted. When this is all done I will go back to Christmas crazy.

    I had a daughter on a cold Christmas Eve morning almost 41 years ago. We celebrated her birthday day on Christmas Eve. Then had our Christmas om Christmas. She’s still spoiled from those days but it’s not her fault she arrived on December 24th. She made a great gift for my grandparents who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Christmas Day.

    I love Christmas. I need room for all my decorations.

    Reply

  9. Julie Wood says

    December 2, 2014 at 9:16 AM

    We love Listening to Christmas Music! We all love getting together making hot chocolate and driving to the Tree Farm to pick up our Christmas tree. We love driving around our town looking at all the light displays-and we have so much fun making our Holiday Cutout Cookies!

    Reply

  12. Natalie says

    December 3, 2014 at 1:13 PM

    We have a lot of traditions. Every year we get a real Christmas tree and decorate it while listening to Christmas music. We also decorate a gingerbread house every year.

    Reply

  17. Madeline says

    December 6, 2014 at 3:47 PM

    Our daughter’s b-day is in December, so right after her party, after family and friends leave, we always decorate the house together for Christmas. Then we have all of our family over again for Christmas Day lunch.

    Reply

  19. Jessie C. says

    December 7, 2014 at 10:31 PM

    A holiday tradition that my family celebrates is baking gingerbread and sugar cookies together.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

    Reply

  34. Susan Smith says

    December 18, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    Our favorite holiday tradition is on Christmas Eve we drive around looking at Christmas lights and then
    come home, drink eggnog and open one present.

    Reply

  46. Lisa Brown says

    December 28, 2014 at 11:20 AM

    I don’t have traditions right now, no kids, just my husband and i. we do have a nice christmas dinner for two 🙂

    Reply

  48. Betty C says

    December 28, 2014 at 12:26 PM

    When the children were young we had fun with making Christmas cookies, driving around to look at lights and decorating. Now that they are adults I don’t really do anything special. I don’t decorate and the children have developed their own traditions.

    Reply

  53. Ellie Wright says

    December 30, 2014 at 4:04 PM

    My favorite tradition is having a treasure hunt on Christmas morning for the kids. We leave clues around the house they follow to find their big gift.

    Reply

  58. Margaret Smith says

    December 30, 2014 at 5:02 PM

    One of our family traditions is the we go to Mass on Christmas eve and meet up with my brother and his family and my Father. We’ve done this for years and after mass, everyone comes to our house for a light dinner.

    Reply

  60. Denise L says

    December 30, 2014 at 5:31 PM

    When our extended family gathers on Christmas Eve, the youngest child places the baby Jesus in the Nativity Scene.

    Reply

  62. Stephanie Larison says

    December 30, 2014 at 6:15 PM

    We put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, and baking & decorate sugar cookies with the kids.

    Reply

  66. Cori Westphal says

    December 30, 2014 at 8:57 PM

    Every year I take a pic of the kids and let them make an ornament out of it! Fun!

    coriwestphal at msn dot com

    Reply

  67. Theresa Smith says

    December 30, 2014 at 9:10 PM

    We take a name from the sharing tree and donate a gift to a child every year. We bake Christmas cookies with the kids and give some as gifts to those who don’t bake. We open one present on Christmas Eve and we have a ham dinner on Christmas.

    Reply

  71. Rosanne says

    December 30, 2014 at 11:35 PM

    We have a Christmas Eve dinner for 14, a gift opening in the morning, brunch and then open house Christmas dinner for 20-25.

    Reply

  77. joni says

    December 31, 2014 at 4:56 AM

    On Christmas morning, we put a lit candle in a cupcake and we place it in front of the manger and sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus.

    Reply

  82. Chi Shannon says

    December 31, 2014 at 11:19 AM

    One of my favorite holiday traditions is when we pack up in the car close to Christmas and drive around town, looking at all the lights and decorations that people have put up 🙂

    Reply

  83. Debbi Wellenstein says

    December 31, 2014 at 11:52 AM

    We usually have our Christmas two to three days early, as our sons travel to other relatives on Christmas Day. My husband and I go out to dinner on Christmas eve.

    Reply

  85. angie says

    December 31, 2014 at 2:05 PM

    I love our tradition of decorating our Winter Solstice tree with nature themed ornament and lights that look like snowballs. Bringing nature inside our homes for a month always makes me appreciate the Solstice even more.

    Reply

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