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!Â
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 didn’t follow/subscribe on You-Tube/Instagram as I don’t have accounts on these, however I would still love to win :-)
Oh and PS – I follow along on Instagram and YouTube:-)
Coming downstairs to fully decorated house, we used to believe that as well as the presents farther Christmas would bring the decorations and the tree. My parents must have been up all night decorating!
One of my favorite Christmas memories is the first one I spent with my (now) husband. I had moved to a new city a few months before, and met him fairly soon after. My roommate and I threw a Christmas party for a bunch of our friends, and it was so fun because it was our first real “adult” apartment and holiday party. He was there of course, and it was a night that for some reason I felt the shift from just dating to a more serious thing. Â Here we are, 10 Christmases later, celebrating with our 4 year old while we wait for baby #2 who is due the day after!
My favorite memory is waking up in the middle of the night as a kid and running to see what Santa left me.
I already follow you on Instagram.
My favorite memory is baking all kinds of Christmas cookies with my mom every year!!!!Â
I follow you via instagram (@linzaleetus)
My favorite Christmas memory is the smell of cinnamon rolls baking as we open gifts – my dad always makes a fantastic brunch Christmas morning!
I have two favorites! My husband proposed to me for Christmas and our son was born the day before Thanksgiving, making us especially grateful each holiday season.
Every year at Christmas my mom would have this funny little plug-in pot (I caught a glance of it in the attic recently and all I could think was….that thing has got to be an electrical hazard!!) simmering away on the kitchen counter.  It was like a magic pot that made our house smell so good.  I think she tossed oranges and cinnamon sticks and cloves and who knows what else in it!
P.S. I love the video!
I follow on instagram.
I follow you via You Tube
My favorite Christmas memories from my childhood were when my extended family would load up on a trailer, sitting on hay bales, to go caroling. I have over 30 cousins and it was the funnest ever. I can’t imagine a childhood without all of them.
Ah too many to count! But literally my favorite moment of the holidays every year is opening up stockings at my grandparents house on Christmas eve! Better than presents :P
I follow on Insta too!
Favorite Holiday Memory— My son’s first Christmas! So magical to have kiddos during the holidays!
Talking to Oscar winner Emma Thompson in departures , St Lucia , back in 1998. She was charming.
Hi! I for sure follow you on insta, and just subscribed to the youtube channel. My favorite Christmas memory is when my sister and I got a fisher price cassette player (hi, 90’s kid right here) and spent all afternoon recording our own fake radio show singing carols and talking about how our Christmas day was. I wonder if my parents still have it!
Your home is a magical winter wonderland! So beautiful!
My favorite Christmas memory is my mom decorating our trees every year. We had two main trees (which were completely filled with ornaments) and then my brother and I each had specialty trees in our rooms. Mine was full of Barbie’s and my brother’s had NFL players.
I subscribe via Youtube.
I’ve subscribed to your Youtube account.
I already follow you in instagram! My favorite Christmas memory is waking up every year before my parents and opening stockings with my brother – it was all we were allowed to do before parents were away, and spending that time just the two of us was extra special!
I follow on Instagram
I just subscribed to your YouTube channel!
I remember being in the kitchen with my mom, making traditional Christmas treats. Â I loved the feeling of taking weeks to anticipate and get ready for the holiday – the preparation was even better than the actual day. Â And the house smelled magical.Â
When I was little, we would wake up to find a sooty mess outside the fireplace and big footsteps down the hallway leading to the Christmas tree! I remember feeling so excited that we had proof that Santa had been there!
PS- I follow on Instagram!
Baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my son.
One of my favorite memories was when I was little and my older sister woke me up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to send me out to see if Santa had come. The whole house was dark and scary, I ran out as fast as I could with just enough time to sneak a peak of the stockings and reported back – Santa had come and there were little Christmas bears sticking out of the stockings! I was so proud the next morning when opening them and knew that my sister and I had a little secret between us.
I also follow on Instagram!
I follow on Instagram (hillaryg)
I really enjoyed our holiday to Iceland, we never saw the Northern lights but we did Whale watching and bathed in hot geothermal waters, and saw geysers and waterfalls.
Definitely cutting down our Christmas tree each year! The tree farm made homemade donuts which basically made freezing 28974472 times worth it!
I also follow on IG!
one of my favorite traditions is that every Thanksgiving my mom gifts us with a new ornament to kick off of the Christmas season!
I also subscribed to your YouTube channel, love your Christmas video!
following you on IG!
My favourite holidays moment is walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru . Exhausting but definitely worth it
As an adult, it’s been watching Christmas Magic (capitalized) through my sons eyes. It just gets better every year. He’s four and absolutely loses. his. mind. of Christmas decorations. It is THES BEST.
I’m Jewish but my husband’s family celebrates Christmas so I’ve only recently started making Christmas memories with him and now with our 14 month old daughter. I love sitting in our house at night, with our twinkle lights on and the tree lit up, listening to music and enjoying hot chocolate. Looking forward to really enjoying it this year with our daughter as well, who is quite fascinated with the tree!
Opening my Christmas stocking in my brothers room on Christmas morning, we were always so excited
My favorite Christmas memory is watching Christmas movies with my family in our cozy basement. My brother and I had a tree filled with ornaments down there so it was extra special to be near OUR tree. :) I followed on Instagram as well!
Ok first of all, where in the world do you store all of your decorations?! I’m totally blown away and embarrassed because I only have about 1/100th of the decorations up in my condo.
My favorite Christmas memory is celebrating with my family up at our cabin in northern Minnesota. We have a traditional log cabin and my grandpa (who lives in a house up there) would start a fire 3 days in advance just so the cabin would be warm enough to sleep in! It was truly a winter wonderland and we would cross country ski, sled, and ice skate! Oh and my grandma always made the best cookies.
Looking forward to the giveaway!!
You know I already follow you on Insta – but I just subscribed to your YouTube channel!!
My favorite memory is waking up December first. My mom would have been up the night before, decorating and putting out all our Christmas books. She would wake us with a CD of Christmas carols and the whole house would be lit by candles only. We would have homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream and gingerbread men for breakfast. And from our table we could glimpse our skiing Nisse (santa) holding his candle lantern.
My favorite memory every year is decorating gingerbread houses with my nieces and nephews. Your trees are gorgeous!!!!!!!
Opening stockings! It’s always so fun and you still have the anticipation of your BIG GIFTS!
My favorite Christmas memory is of the year we came back from church on Christmas Eve and low, who was in our snowy yard (a rare white Christmas in DC, where I grew up) but a big deer, with antlers so big my brother and I were convinced it was one of santa’s reindeer. The serendipity of the moment is really what made it so special!
and followed on Insta (and YouTube)!
I always remember making a bunch of different types of cookies with my Dad!