12 Days of Christmas! I Christmas House Tour Video & Giveaway. {CLOSED}
Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas!
I am SO excited to share with you guys that every day for the next 12 days, I’ll be vlogging (think day in the life, waaaay oversharing, Q+A videos), sharing the video here on Crumbs (and on youtube!) and holding a giveaway of my favorite things!
Here’s a peek at some of the Christmas decor in our home. So sorry if I make you nauseaus with my shaky camera skills and poor editing – I’m still learning! There are a few things I left out because I have constant #mombrain and either forgot or wasn’t able to get it together in time. Things like my favorite mini Lenox nativity set (I have no idea where to place it this year, since Max will shatter it), the Pottery Barn Kids advent/Christmas countdown calendar (that is sewn completely crooked but I refused to send back because I opened it ON the first day of advent and was determined to have a cute calendar… ), our favorite Christmas pillows and outdoor lights, etc. I wanted to wait until everything was perfect, but if I waited, I knew I’d never do it and I’ve wanted to make videos FOREVER now.
The first year we were married, Eddie surprised me and bought a tree, decorated it and made his man cave apartment a winter wonderland for us. It was actually the second tree he bought, because the first was waaaay too big, but final sale. So we ended up with two trees! That year, we put up two trees and bought lots of ornaments at Michael’s and Joann’s. That’s where the majority of our ornaments are from, along with a few Martha Stewart from Macy’s that are about eight years old and some new ones from Michael’s this year that I bought for the white tree.
I bought the white tree last year at Treetopia on sale after Christmas. The copper/blue tree is from Target this year, and by far my favorite one. The red/green decorated tree is from Frontgate and will hopefully last us a million years.
My mom made our house incredibly magical when I was growing up. In fact, she still does and I’m hoping that I can get a video of hers before these 12 days are up! She’d stay up all night for days to turn the house into a Christmas wonderland for my brothers and me. It was the most magical time EVER.
Needless to say, I’ve been a complete Christmas freak since I was a kid. When school started up again, I’d wake up early and go downstairs just so I could sit by the Christmas tree in January before we got on the bus. It was my absolute favorite!
Eddie and I were determined to make our house as Christmasy as we could for Max this year. Eddie decorated gingerbread houses for eight hours because he is a perfectionist, and even set up his own tree downstairs in the basement that I didn’t get to capture. It has been so much fun and I love sitting under the lights every night.
Enjoy! And scroll down for giveaway #1!
GIVEAWAY!
Every day for the next 12 days until Christmas I’ll be giving away some of my favorite things. I want to show every bit of my appreciation for you guys sticking here with me for over seven years, reading the rambles that I write and making my recipes and leaving comments and supporting me 100%. Even when I write horrific run-on sentences and use 34 exclamation points in one post. And say “literally.” Ugh.
THANK YOU so much for being here. You changed my life and I am forever grateful for you.
Today I’m giving away a mirrorless camera! If you read my favorites post, you know I use one all the time and I even shot a few pieces of the video here with mine. I was super excited to giveaway the Samsung nx300 that I always talk about, but unfortunately it’s no longer available. Instead, I’m giving away the comparable Sony alpha a6000, which I’ve even considered switching to. This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated with anyone and is given by me. It is open to EVERYONE EVERYWHERE! Wahoo.
To enter: leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite holiday memory!
For a second entry: SUBSCRIBE to the howsweeteats youtube channel. There is a red button on the right side and you will only be notified when I upload a new video. This is the best way to be notified of a new video/giveaway in these 12 days too! Leave a comment telling me you did so.
For a third entry: follow howsweeteats on instagram. Leave a comment telling me you did so.
The giveaway will only be open for 24 hours (!!) so be sure to enter and share! A winner will be picked at random. Come back for a new video and giveaway tomorrow. xoxo
1,439 Comments on “12 Days of Christmas! I Christmas House Tour Video & Giveaway. {CLOSED}”
I am already subscribed to your YouTube channel!
And I already follow you on Insta! @laviejaime
Putting up our tree for the first time in our first house. It was a basic 6 foot that we used at out apartment. It looked so tiny and cute in our new larger living room!!
I am such a Christmas fan too. I love the decorating & the making of treats & all of the fun Christmas movies!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/
My favourite Christmas memory is that feeling of waking up knowing Father Christmas had visited when I was little and being excited!
Making Christmas cookies!
I follow on instagram: @kelsterpk
My favorite Christmas memory is from the church we went to when I was a child. At Christmas Eve service each person would light their candle and sing Silent Night. It was a very old church and the whole thing seemed so magical. We have artificial candles now and it’s not quite the same!
I follow on Instagram
Ahh favorite Christmas memory is most definitely awaiting Santa’s arrival to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve ! It was so exhilarating! And of course following you on Instagram too :)
Making Christmas cookies with my gran
I am following on Instagram as @callyoubetty.
I am subscribed to you on Youtube as Ali Thorpe.
My favorite memory/tradition is a giveaway of lotto scratch offs every Christmas Eve. You win them by answering holiday trivia :)
Also following on YouTube!
Also following on Insta as @lcparkinson
My mom always had the lights on and holiday music going, all throUgh the Christmas season – school days and weekends- that we woke up to. And my dad would get on the roof Christmas Eve and stomp around like Santa after we returned from family festivities and my mom would rush us to bed – and we were CONVINCED Santa was there. I’m a big believer in holiday magic and making the most of the whole season still
I follow on Instagram as @pnmp44
My favourite holiday memory is decorating the Christmas Tree everybody year with my mom, dad and brother brother. My dad would always make appetizers and fancy hot chocolate and my mom would put on Christmas music and my brother and I would argue about whose homemade decoration was uglier :)
My favourite memory was waking up to seeing a present at the end of my bed and wondering how santa put it there without me waking up!
My favorite holiday memories are always going to cut down a Christmas tree the first Saturday after thanksgiving. We always would stop and get shot chocolate on the way and then wander around for hours only to come back to the first tree we found! ?❤️
Subscribed to YouTube username emzywemzy86
Stopping at my Baba and Pap’s house after Christmas Eve mass for (extra) sweet treats before bed!
Subscribed on YouTube and following on Insta!
I subscribed ?
My favorite holiday memory was actually last year. It was the first holiday without my Dad, so my aunts & uncles wanted to do something nice for my sisters & I. The day after Thanksgiving, I went down to our mailroom and found a package addressed to me from the North Pole with no postage. Someone (still not sure which one, they won’t tell!) drove over an hour to leave me a present. Best part? It was an Elf on the Shelf, which at 34 years old with no kids, I had actually been wanting for myself because I love seeing all the cute little ways to hide him! I got all emotional thinking about someone putting so much effort into making me happy that I did one of those ugly half cry/half laugh things which my husband said sounded like an exorcism, but we both have been hiding the elf for each other all the time!
I follow you on instagram @mrs.youngdietrich
Subscribed to your YouTube channel :)
Already follow on IG! @niconthenet
Christmas Eve at my godparents house!
without a doubt, my absolute favorite holiday memory was the first year we celebrated Christmas in America. I was 10 years old and we got a Christmas tree with a disco ball that projected multiple colors at once at the base of the tree. i thought it was the most American and special thing ever. it makes me really sentimental thinking of that time in my life.
also: GORGEOUS tree. the picture of Max leaning towards it is so touching.
I am also already following you on instagram!
My sister I couldn’t sleep from all the excitement of Christmas morning, so my parents let my sister and I get up and play outside on our play set way past our bedtime.
I follow on Instagram! (I’m michelleash83)
Favourite Holiday Memory: Waking up earlier than we were “allowed” to go downstairs on Christmas Day, and watching old movies with my siblings to pass the time!
Subscribed to your YouTube channel! :)
For me my favourite holiday memory is when I was on a trip to South Africa over Christmas. It was so weird being in the southern hemisphere – and everyone still sent cards with robins on!! But we had barbequed chicken by the pool outside in the boiling hot sun for Christmas dinner. Wouldn’t want to do it every year, but pretty special for a one-off.
I’ve followed on YouTube :) Let me know if you need my details on there
Spending Christmas Eve at my Grand parent’s house with all of my siblings and cousins before everyone grew up!
Also happily following on instagram
My favorite memories are the simplest things: the smell of the tree, the decorations, making cookies with my mom, family and friends over, lots of food ?, nothing fancy, just the most important!
Also following on Instagram! It’s always exciting to see one of your posts ?
I love your decor on the stair railing!!
Every year as a kid, my sister and I would get a new ornament – she’d get a Santa, and I’d get a bear. We are continuing the tradition, and M gets a new bird ornament every year!
Favorite Holiday memory has to be waking up to my grandparents already at my house – they must have left their house in the middle of the night! – and waiting in the hallway till my parents came and told us we could come in! Anticipation!
My favorite memory is making those tedious pie crust cookies with my grandma. My sister and I always spent a day with her making those cookies and listening to Christmas carols. As a kid it was always a chore, but as we grew older it became something we looked forward to every year.
My favorite Christmas memory now is our tradition with our children (currently 5.5yo, 3.5yo, and 8 months). We bake a ton of chocolate chip cookies and walk/wagon stroller saround our neighborhood delivering them to our neighbors on Christmas Eve morning.
I love the holidays so much, it’s hard to pick my favorite memory. My parents always went above and beyond when decorating our house growing up, and they still do. I love going home for Christmas to see my Mom’s decorations and my Dad’s lights.
I follow you on instagram!
I love going on a morning run with my husband – the streets are usually empty and it’s so peaceful. And then I don’t feel bad about eating EVERYTHING later!
I follow on Instagram!
Every year, my dad put the lights on the tree and then we would put up our Christmas ornaments while watching White Christmas. Since we were born, our parents would give us an ornament that was special to us, and we kids would hang “our” ornaments. While I wish my husband would humor me and want to listen to the story behind every ornament as I hang it on my own tree, I am reminded of SO many good memories and continue the tradition of adding an ornament with the hubs!
Every year we would go pick out a tree the day after Thanksgiving and I loved it! We would all pile in the truck and someone always had to sit on someone else’s lap (so unsafe! but, as a kid, so fun!). I loved every part of it: walking through the field to pick a tree, marking trees with gloves so we could remember the ones we liked, cutting it down and then putting it on the shaker (the best!!!), and, of course, the apple cider they gave out at the barn. As it turns out, my in-laws own a Christmas tree farm so now we go out to their place and pick our tree and it feels even more special (even though I buckle my child safely in his own seat :D