Make a FUN and FUNCTIONAL Christmas journal to keep track of all the little details you need to remember this holiday season! No forgetting events or overbuying or wishing you had a place to write down that meaningful quote! 

I don’t know about you, but if I do not write things down, lists and ideas have a tendency to fly away and never be heard from again. I try to flex my memory recall muscles, but carrying on conversations about dinosaurs, diapers, and dinners for years without end has left my mind a little tired.

So, writing things down it is.

On the everyday, I LOVE my little planner, with its perfect arrangement of calendar pages and notebook pages for all my lists and ideas. But in December, I like to have something special–a planner that makes me feel even more festive and excited than I already am. 

I also MUST have a place to write down the gifts on my list this year and all the little things I pick up for stockings in the next few weeks. Just this week I was at Aldi (my favorite place for stocking stuffers) trying to remember what I had already purchased and wishing I had my Christmas planner with me!

The first time I made a Christmas Planner was with my friend Courtney’s help while we were in MOPS together. I still have that planner. Which is actually another reason why I love making these Christmas planners– they are a record of all the little details I am likely to forget.

The food. The gifts. The outings. The projects. It’s all there, kept waiting to be reminisced and remembered.

So last night I made my Christmas planner for this season. And by night, I mean 2AM. Please don’t ask me why I voluntarily stayed up that late. It’s just that when the twinkle lights go up, and my kids go down (to bed), the holiday mojo starts to work and I lose all sense of needing sleep. The call of crafts and gift wrap and solitude is too strong to resist.

Which also means you’ll have to excuse the harsh lighting in some of these pictures. As I mentioned, the sun had long gone by this point.

Keep reading to see how to quickly and easily make your own DIY Christmas Journal, and then tell me what you are most looking forward to this season in the comments!

DIY Christmas Journal

Making a Christmas journal is easy and you really do not need many supplies. A small journal (I like these), modge podge (always good to have on hand!), cardstock, and holiday scrapbook paper are musts. It also helps to have craft scissors and a paper cutter for better cutting.

I am a HUGE fan of keeping things simple, so when I realized that I did not have holiday scrapbook paper on hand when I wanted to make my Christmas journal, I chose making what I had (wrapping paper) work instead of going out to the store. I was able to get it done quickly and did not have to spend anything extra.

Step 1: Make It Pretty

• Cut out your paper so that it is about an inch bigger than your notebook on all sides.
• Use a foam brush to coat the cover of the notebook with a thin layer of mod podge. Adhere the paper to the notebook and gently smooth the paper down so there are no bumps or bubbles.
• Make a short cut into the overhanging paper at the spine of the book so that you can fold up the paper around the edges. Adhere with mod podge.
• Cut out strips and circles and make the cover of your Christmas planner. You can be as creative as you’d like! (This is where fun scissors and punches come in handy!) I used a combination of wrapping paper and colored cardstock.
• Label your planner– don’t forget the year! You’ll want that on your notebook in years to come.
• Go over the cover of your Christmas journal with another thin coat of mod podge when you finish the design.

Step 2: Make It Functional

• Add the tabs to your journal by cutting a small square of cardstock, and folding it in half. Label the tab and use a stapler or mini hot glue gun to attach it to the page.  In a small notebook like mine, you can leave 3-4 pages in each section, which is plenty for me. Paint a thin coat of mod podge over the front of the tab.
• Your tabs can be custom, or you can copy mine: {Calendar, The List, T0-Do, The Menu, Advent} I am using the Advent section as a seasonal commonplace journal.
• Add small envelopes for receipts and other important paper scraps.

Step 3: Fill It In

This is the most fun part! Make your lists, plan out your month, brainstorm holiday menu plans and must-try recipes (white chocolate fudge bites anyone??!!). Use your favorite colored pens (these are mine— cheap and all the colors I need).

 

More holiday posts you should check out ::

 

What are you looking forward to this season? 

How do you keep track of all your holiday details?