December Daily- Foundation Pages

I am so excited for my December Daily this year! I feel like this is going to be the year that I finally catch on and get it working for me. It's only November 6th and I already have my foundation pages printed, cut, mostly embellished, and sitting inside my album waiting for the wonderful stories that will fill them come December.
I had decided when I took on this project this year that I was going to go for a more simple approach than I have in years past, as I think I get too caught up in the making it perfect and never finish it. I opted for a smaller size album of 5x7 for that reason; less space means less embellishments, less embellishment means simplicity, simplicity means SUCCESS.

I hadn't entirely decided on what my foundation pages would look like until yesterday when Ali Edwards posted her foundation pages for the year. I was instantly drawn to them and knew I had to duplicate it. It was just the simplicity I was looking for. You can see an example of it to the right, isn't it so simple and beautiful? Love, Love, Love it. You can check out more of her foundation pages here.

So off I went to create my own similar design to fit my 5x7 album. After a few hours of painstakingly playing around in Illustrator (my computer is on it's last legs and is VERY slow when I am working on graphic intensive projects), I came up with this:

I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I wanted to have them all be on the bottom (Ali varied hers a little more), which made it easier for me. I then printed them off and set to work using the crop marks to cut them down to size. I then added some washi tape to many of the pages. Getting my inspiration once again from Ali.

 I love these beautiful Washi tapes from Downtown Tape. They are so wonderful and versatile. If I got a stocking full of washi tape this year I think I would be one happy girl!

Again, the pages are super simple, the top space will either house a photo, or some journaling, or embellishments, or memorabilia from each day, likely a bit of all of it. I am so happy that I have it close to finished for December!

Now here is a fun chance for anyone who is reading! I've got some leftover supplies for these foundation pages, enough to make a set for one of you! If you are interested in participating in December Daily this year this is a great way to get started!
So what do you have to do to win it? Enter using the rafflecopter form below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween is coming

Today I want to do a quick re-cap of our recent Halloween Party.
It had been a while since we had hosted a party, and I was itching for something to focus my energy on, and I needed a social opportunity,so why not? Let's start with the place settings.

The table cloth is some upholstery material I found on sale at Hancock Fabrics. Got it for $3 a yard, such a steal for such a beautiful fabric!! I bought the beautiful purple chargers at Micheal's on Clearance. They were only .49!! On top of that is a fun thin plastic paper with a damask print. I also picked them up at Micheal's on clearance, for .29 each, they were originally $2.49!! The black ruffle plates were borrowed from my mom (you can check out her blog here!), as were the adorable small halloween plates. She and I found them at Roberts when they were closing. Paid $1 for each, they had been $12! Score! They are topped off with cute caramel apples, made from the tiniest apples we could find (close-up Right). Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the table.

On the wall I hung some creepy Silhouettes of Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein. I cut these out using my Silhouette machine. I stretched some dollar store spider webbing over the frames for some extra creepiness! The shelf has some found objects from around the house, including some dead flowers. They were Anniversary flowers from my husband, and were the perfect deadness by the time of our party!

My trick or treat banner I made to liven up the window space. Used Sparkly purple, black, and silver cardstock I got on sale, plus cut a few letters from one of the thin plastic sheets I had used for the table settings. It was a quick project, and I love how it turned out. My boys even helped me with it! They love helping with crafts, which can be a challenge at times.

Here is a shot of the whole table! Love how it all came together!

There are a couple other things I want to share about this party, but I think I will save them for another post! Can't give it all away! I am going to talk about my faux chandelier that is peeking through in a couple of these photos in a post sometime next week. So be on the look out for that!