Yay! It’s Saturday. I say get your chores done and then carve out some time to play.

I have learned that the holidays can either be the most joyful time of year, or the most stressful. I can choose to look at my various lists as stressful preparations or I can simply flip a mental switch and choose to see those preparations as joyful anticipations that bring an indescribable magic into my home. And yes, I believe it really is as simple as choosing to see differently.

The *extrememly easy* project I introduced to you in my Thursday post is designed to help you flip that switch, remember the simple joys of seasons past and recreate those feelings again.

This little 4×6 Memory Advent album will give you a daily dose of holiday memories to remind you that our lists stem from the LOVE we have for our families and the meaning of Christmas.

Most 4×6 photo albums have 26 two-sided pages. These pages will easily display …

*24* photos from Decembers past, sandwiched between *1* current family photo and *1* final snapshot. The cover of your photo album will feature a frame of some kind and the very first page will display a quote about Christmas.

Begin, by slipping your 24 photos (in random order) into the right side of each two-page spread as you flip through your album. On the opposite side, insert a 4×6 piece of pattern paper. DO NOT make this step more difficult than it needs to be. Pretty please, don’t try and *order* your photos or your papers.

I chose one “Christmas” photo from Geoff’s past and one photo from mine for the first two pages. I slipped the other 22 photos into my album in perfectly random order.

PLEASE note that these are very everyday, ordinary snapshots. This album is NOT about displaying your best photos. It is about displaying some of your best memories triggered by very everyday, ordinary snapshots.

This *Memory Advent* is about counting each day with a memory of some specific event, some little detail or some annual tradition.

This *Memory Advent* is about YOU looking back at the perfection in imperfect moments, captured in imperfect light by an imperfect photographer.

So, you might be asking where the actual memories come into play? Great question.

In addition to 24 photos, you will need 24  pieces of white cardstock (3 1/2″ x 6″) with a tab on top.

These memory cards slip into your *Memory Advent* behind each piece of pattern paper. As you count down the days to Christmas, you will remove one memory card and write on it. Once a memory has been recorded, you’ll slip the memory card back into the album on top of the piece of pattern paper. You get to choose when and how you you record your daily memories. Perhaps you’ll gather as a family first thing in the morning or just before bed; maybe you’ll pull aside one or two family members at different times during the day. You might talk together about the memory you’ll write or allow one person to voice a specific recollection triggered by the daily photo. You might assign one family scribe or take turns writing out each memory.

HOW you carry out and use  your *Memory Advent* is entirely up to you!

I found the little felt frame on the front of my album in the dollar section of Target last year. You could make your own, or use some other little frame. I created a very basic pdf file that features both text for a cover title and quote for your title page. I’m still trying to figure out how to attach this pdf to my post. I’ll keep working on that and get it to you somehow! If you know how to post a pdf to your wordpress blog — by all means, leave me a comment.

BONUS project.

I’m always learning from my mistakes. When I sat down to create my original set of pattern paper pages, I attached a chipboard number to each one, not realizing that the added thickness of 24 *thick* numbers would NOT fit in my little photo album.

I decided to turn these adorable little pages into an *Activity Advent* that I will use to schedule FUN “things to do” with my children.

I simply adhered each piece of pattern paper to a white cardstock, stiched around the edges and attached a small envelope to the back. Punch a hole in one corner and slip them onto a BIG binder ring and you’ve got an adorable companion piece to your photo album.

I will fill each envelope with something to do, from calling a family member to reading a specific story or baking a treat. You get the idea!

I’m loving both of my little advents and am now filled with happy anticipation of December first!

Leave me a comment, ask me a question … OR just get busy and have fun playing with this idea.

Tags: Christmas

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 9:16 am and is filed under Project, holiday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.