Christmas Decoration Binder

I love Christmas. I love Christmas Decorations.  I love decorating for Christmas.  I love buying new Christmas Decorations.  The problem is …(is it a problem?) I have a lot of Christmas Decorations already.  Every year in the Fall I tell my sister to stop me from buying any more Christmas Decorations.  (As you probably can guess, she doesn’t like this job.)  Then the Holiday displays pop up in stores and I start seeing Christmas stuff that I MUST add to my collection.  A few years ago, I realized that every once in a while I would buy something new that was similar something I already had.  So I had they idea to create a Christmas Decoration Binder. This organizational tool is so great … it is so easy to refer to the binder to make sure an ornament isn’t a duplicate of what I already have before I buy it.  I have to say, it has been invaluable and was pretty easy to put together.

How to Make a Christmas Decoration Binder

Project Supplies:

• Plastic Binder
• Fabric
• Tacky Glue
• Glue Dots
• Scrapbook paper
• Card Stock
• Digital Camera
• Printed Photos of your Christmas Decorations

STEP ONE:  Photograph your Christmas Decorations

The first thing I did was take a photograph of every one of my Christmas Decorations with my digital camera.  This was the most time consuming part of the project.  I did it as I put my Christmas Decorations away after Christmas.  I setup a photo station with two pieces of white poster board and as I removed each decoration from my house, I took a picture of it before I put it away in its box.   I didn’t do anything fancy with the setup or the lighting, these photos are informational only.  Once I was done photographing everything, I picked out the best shot for each decoration and ordered a print for each decoration at the CVS photo center.

STEP TWO:  Make a Fabric-Covered Binder

I wanted something a little fancier for my Christmas Decoration Binder than a red plastic notebook binder.  So I covered an old binder with Christmas Fabric.

For this part of the project you will need a binder, Christmas Fabric and Glue.

Here is the Tutorial I used for covering a plastic binder with fabric.   The only thing I did differently is that I used tacky glue applied with a craft brush instead of using Spray Adhesive which I find very messy.

As a finishing touch, I added a Martha Stewart Adhesive Book Plate to the spine of the binder.

STEP THREE:  Assemble the Decoration pages

I’m not a scrapbooker but I assembled my Christmas Decoration Binder using scrapbooking supplies. I cut 8″x10″ pages from a 12″x12″ Holiday scrapbook paper pack using my paper cutter.  I cut smaller rectangle picture “frames” out of red and white cardstock.

Using Glue Dots, I affixed the pictures of my Christmas decorations on the holiday scrapbook paper.  I grouped like decorations together, like these Santa Christmas Tree Ornaments.

I arranged my decorations in the Christmas Decoration Binder by “category.”  I created these tabs using 12″x12″ cardstock.  I traced the tabs using regular binder tabs as a template and then cut-out the pattern with scissors.

I also added some embellishments to the tabbed dividers.

When I was done with the pages I laminated a front and back page together.  To be honest I might leave this part out if I did this project again.  I like that the pages are protected from rips but the laminating plastic makes the binder very bulky.

I keep my Christmas Decoration Binder on a shelf in my house, not stored away with my Christmas Decorations.  It’s a handy reference when I start thinking about Christmas crafts and decorations in late summer and early fall.  I don’t know how I lived without this for so long!  This project is definitely worth the effort if you have a large Christmas Decoration collection!

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