Hello Tatertots & Jello!
I am so HAPPY to be here today… I will never get used to the fact that I get to hang out with Jen and with you wonderful people every single month!
Believe me… Dreams Come True!
Talking about dreams…the theme for 2012 in our family will be DREAM BIG!
Wait!
I am going too fast I better introduce myself…
{ I almost forgot with the excitement}
I am Desirée and I blog at The 36th Avenue.
I am going to share with you the TUTORIAL of my favorite item inside of our New Year’s Kit.
The 2012 MONTHLY Journal…
New Year Eve was a HUGE part of my life growing up and it has been a HUGE part of my own family since we got married…
I am over excited this year!
Since my kids are old enough to read and write I was able to add this little journal to the kit.
You’ll find these note books pretty much anywhere. I found ours at Wal-Mart.
These are the small ones… about the size of your hand.
The Tutorial
1
The Front and Back Covers.
The first thing I did was to trace the shape of the cover { from the end side until the black line } into a piece of craft paper.
Cut it and glue it and then repeat the same step for the back of it.
2
The Tabs.
For the tabs you’ll need to cut 12 strips of paper 1″ x 7″ each.
After you have them divide your Small Composition Book in 13 parts.
You may want to do this with the strips before you even glue them… To get a general idea.
{ I eye balled this part }
The sections will be small but that is all you’ll need since it is a one entry for month type of journal.
Fold your strips in half {2}.
Glue the strip to the front page of the section you are working on {3}.
Then turn the page and glue the other side of the strip to the other side of the page {4}.
By the end you’ll have 12 tabs and 13 sections.
The first section won’t have a tab.
After I had all the tabs in place I numbered each of them from 1 to 12.
{ each tab for one month of the year }
3
The Inside
I wanted to make these journals special.
Not just a notebook but a keepsake where my kids can come back perhaps many years from now and remember the moment.
{ I still have my first journal from back when I was 8 }
In the front page of the book we wrote a small personal note to each of them… according to their age.
I made a small book mark just for fun and I cut some numbers and I added the year… 2012!
Can you believe it? Where did 2011 go?
After this I was almost done…
In the second and third page I added a few questions for them to fill up on New Years Eve as…
Who did you spend New Year’s Eve with?
What did you eat?
Where were you at?
Who was your favorite singer this year?
What is the name of your best friend?
You get the point… things that they can look back and say:
“Oh my GOSH! I remember that!”
or…
“Oh my GOSH I completely have forgotten about that!”
The last step was to write the name of each month on each section…
And this was it… I was done!
…Well, done with this part 
I am looking forward to make my own entry each month during the New Year in my own little journal.
I can’t wait… 2012 sounds great to me!
Remember… DREAM BIG!
Thank You Jen once again for having me…
I love you my friend!
Desiree!! You are absolutely amazing my friend. I am so so thrilled to have you as a monthly contributor here. I love you AND your ideas!!!
If you don’t follow The 36th Avenue — you need to. Desiree is amazing.
And Desiree’s Enjoy the Ride pillows are so pretty and fun!!
Be sure to follow along with Desiree over at The 36th Avenue!!
xoxo
TWO more days!!!!
And speaking of New Years Eve — I am running a special series all next week with TONS of New Years Eve ideas!!! I hope you can stop by 
Been in bed for a week with bronchitis and discovered this magical world of blogging, diy, Pinterest and I’m hooked! I’ve crafted for 40 years, but just thought I WAS having fun with my little ones. Soooo happy to see all of this is alive and thriving! I’ve seen Tatertots and Jello referred to all week and I’ve brought the new year in with you and have loved it……..thanks and Happy 2012!
Yaya of 3 angels
That is so cute and thoughtful! I’m featuring it on my “Top 10 New Years Ideas” post!
I’m a quilter, and I’ve GOT TO KNOW where you purchased the paper for the cover of the monthly book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please tell me it was recently at Michael’s, Joanne’s or even A.C. Moore?
Thanks a million, and happy 2010
Kate
Very neat ideas!! I love the idea of staying at home but still making it special! I can’t wait to spend New Year’s Eve with my daughter and some close friends.
This idea is fantastic! I love the cute paper you used and how bright and colorful it is. With me missing spring as much as I do right now, I love that the colors all remind me of flowers and sunlight. The whole blog looks great and I’ll have to look when I’m done here.
Thanks for sharing this. I know your children will really love playing with these and looking back on their year. 
My grandchildren are just learning to read so it is a perfect time to begin writing in a journey along with artwork to explain the words they can’t spell.
You keep me young!!!
cute ideas!!!
what a fun post! thanks for sharing – i am now a new fan of you both! Happy Holidays!!
What a great idea for your family. I have written in journals for years but never thought to make one for my child (who is all grown up now). I have kept a yearly journal FOR him for the last 28 years.
LOVE. I want one for myself. I am not very good at journaling. You are such a fun Mom!
LOVE this idea!!!
since my one and only child is graduating in the fall, I may need to have more children just to get in all these new traditions!!!
This is such a great idea, i realy love it.
thanks for sharing. Enjoy your holidays.
Eveline