December Daily 2014

If you happen to follow me on Instagram (chopstix09), you may have noticed an increase in posts in the last week or so. This is because of how I've decided to do my December Daily this year. I think this will be my 4th attempt at doing December Daily, and hopefully the 2nd time I'll actually finish the whole album. December Daily is a concept developed by Ali Edwards. You can check out her website and awesome work here. Here's how she describes December Daily:

"December Daily® is a December mini-album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. The simple goal is to capture the spirit of December via one story per day."

For me, December Daily is about capturing all things Christmas-related as well as daily happenings for the month. I actually start mine a few days early because I like to include Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

So what's with all the Instagram posts? In an attempt to streamline the process into something I can actually manage while attending school, being an RA, and working, I've decided to utilize one of W R Memory Keepers Instagram albums.(I've been looking for a way to scrap in one of these cute little albums since they came out anyway!) They hold 4"x4" photos. I purchased the light blue one and embellished it with some ribbon, a metal piece and a snowflake sticker.

Here's a look at my cover page:










Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll actually finish this year. Follow me on Instagram if you want to see how I do!
http://instagram.com/chopstix09/

Secret Santa Questionnaire

Just a litte questionnaire for the dorm gals to get our secret Santa event going. I looked at some reference images to draw the Santa, then colored him in Photoshop. Flyer was done in InDesign. 

Christmas Illos

A couple of sketches inspired by our Scripture readings the last two weeks at church. We've been camped out in Luke 2.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." 

- Luke 2:8-20

Christmas Shoeboxes

Some of the OCC boxes collected at BCM.

At our house we follow the rule of no-Christmas-stuff-until-the-day-after-Thanksgiving, but there is one big exception. Operation Christmas Child. click here to read more about it. Basically, you pick a gender/age group (2-4, 5-9, 10-14 & boy or girl) and fill a box with all sorts of things from hygiene items to school supplies to toys. The boxes are then collected and shipped around the world to kids in need. I think this is our 4th or 5th year participating, and we always have lots of fun with it. Mom & I usually go shopping for the boxes together and have fun picking out stuff. I enjoy it because I get to pick out school supplies (some of my favorite things!) and buy toys, which I normally don't get to do because I'm the youngest in my immediate family. There's also the fun challenge of seeing just how much stuff you can get in that one little shoebox!

All the stuff to go in the boxes! I chose to do 2 boxes: one for a boy & one for a girl, both 10-14.

With the help of Pinterest, I made up
a little fishing kit for my 10-14 yr old
boy box.

I put in a custom note for my kids.
Maybe one of them will write me back.
Find a similar template HERE.

This year I found even more ideas of what to put in the boxes thanks to Pinterest - if you search for 'Operation Christmas Child' it comes up with all kinds of stuff. I also ran across this blog Clip with a Purpose that has the motherload of ideas and info about what to put in the boxes, as well as tips for buying stuff year-round (when it's on sale) so you can get even more stuff to put in the boxes! I will definitely be doing that this coming year. Of course it's awesome to know that somewhere the box I pack is going to make some kid's day. This will be the third year I've put special tracking labels on our boxes, and I can't wait to see where they end up this year. Last year our boxes went to the Dem. Republic of Congo, and the year before that they ended up in Ukraine!

If you've never participated in Operation Christmas Child, I encourage you to do it in 2014. It's easy and super fun, and it blesses a child who really needs it!

Ready to go shoeboxes! Where will they end up?!