Welcome to the Kick-Off of my 25 Days of Christmas celebration!! You get to spend 25 days of inspiration, challenges, freebies, giveaways and MORE with me (and a few sponsors), here on my blog. Be sure to check EVERY day for something new. You're NOT going to wanna miss out on this...I have some fun things in store and some seriously AMAZING giveaways (at least I think so! LOL). You may want to follow me on Twitter OR Google Friends so that you won't miss out on anything. (just click on the Google Follow icon to the right, under FOLLOWERS...it looks like this: 
First off, I wanted to remind you that today is New Tuesday at Little Dreamer Designs and you will get ALL new products for 20% off, including my newest product:
Your photos can go from this:
To this:
OR this:
To this:
These compliment my Celebrating Light Sun Flares and Bokeh Overlays.
Don't forget that when you purchase this set of overlays, you get the Bokeh Lite set FREE! Just add them BOTH to your cart and you will automatically get the discount.
Okay...READY??? To kick the day off, I have created a FREE December '09 Desktop Calendar for you. (Screen sizes: 1024 x 768 AND 1280 x 800)
SPECIAL special thanks to Megan, of SHABBY BLOGS for letting me use her clustered frames for this freebie!! Check that site out...she has sooo many awesome freebies to pretty up your blog! :)
NOW to kick this celebration off, I'm awarding
{ONE} $20 coupon to a lucky person
To win, reply below and tell me ONE tradition that you do that leads up to Christmas (or any other Holiday that you celebrate this time of year). Do you pick a family in need and do the 12 days of Christmas? Do you bake like crazy? How about just getting your house decked out with lights and decorations? I would love to hear from you, even if you reside outside the U.S....I especially love to hear about THOSE traditions.
If you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this and then come back and post the link in another comment, that counts as another entry! If you add yourself as a FOLLOWER on Google friends and post THAT(with the name) in another comment, you get another entry! :) If you blog about this promotion (My 25 Days of Christmas celebration) and post that in another comment, then (you guessed it) that counts as another entry!
PLUS everyone who visits today gets a coupon code for 25% off my store!!
For the coupon code, use the code: Day1_25DAYS when you check-out. This code will be good through Dec. but after today, I will take the code down. It's just for YOU for visiting my blog today! :)
To win:
1. Post a comment about a tradition
(and for extra entries)
2. Follow me on Twitter: post a comment with the link of your tweet about this contest
3. Add yourself to my GOOGLE friends following: post a comment with name you go by when you signed up
4. Blog about it: post a comment with a link to your blog post
SO, you have 4 chances to win today!! This contest will close at 10:30 pm MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME on Dec. 1 (because that's where I live and I go to bed then! LOL!).
Don't forget, you ALL get to take 25% off one order in the month of Dec. just for stopping by today. The code is: Day1_25DAYS Please note this is not a gift card, so you need to redeem as COUPON CODE.
I'll see you tomorrow with another post and another give-away. :) Don't worry..the sponsor's prizes are coming!!
Leora
73 comments:
Oooh first comment! Usually not very lucky but here goes anyway! :)
One tradition we have each year in my family is to have our "siblings name draw" for xmas gifts. There are five of us and our spouses too so a total of 10. We agreed years ago to buy for all the children (LOTS OF THEM NOW!) and we would just draw names for each other. We do not let our parents into the name draw because we usually pool our money and get them one large extra nice gift, like a computer or dishwasher, etc.
We do our sibling name draw on Thanksgiving day cause we are all together then. Next we spend our time trying to get hints for the name we drew. We keep it a secret what name we have so we usually try to be pretty sneaky in getting good hints. We have alot of fun trying to confuse each other and at the same time dropping little hints as to what WE would like to get. We have a set limit on how much to spend and try to get somethng fun.
We all gather at our parents home Xmas eve for a big meal and church at midnight, but after dinner we pass out all the gifts for the kids and we get to unwrap our "sibling" gift! (The rest of the gifts go home for under the tree to be opened Xmas morning!)
We have so much fun seeing who got our name and what they got for us!
One year I got ONE GIFT from everyone, my parents, my children, my husband all went in together and got me my very first digital camera!!! I might have gotten only ONE gift that year but it was the most wonderful one ever!!!
I hope everyone has as wonderful a Xmas as we get to have!! :)
Ok, I am now a follower!! My name is photomagic247-web.
I am an Aussie living in the states so I like to try and include some Aussie christmas stories and traditions in our festivities - like leaving a beer and vegemite sandwich for santa
My mom had a "Countdown Calendar" with 25 pockets, and she puts a little treat in them. All of us kids are in our 30's now, but she still does it!
I love going through advent Calendars with the kids, reading a scripture everyday, and then getting a small treat.
I am following as babyphoto
Our yearly tradition is breakfast at mum & dad's. croissants, ham, cheese & pineapple *Yum*
Following as Caroline B (or it may come up as NightwolfDesigns)
following on twitter (& retweeted) - NightwolfDesign.
now off to blog bout it :)
Love the desktop too . TFS
ok blogged bout it at http://roll2create.net/NightwolfsLayouts/
Instead of the traditional recipe for Greek baklava I make a Southern style with pecans, cinnamon, sugar, and honey. It is decadent and great for gift giving. :)
Our tradition begins on Black Friday. We skip shopping, start decorating the house and putting up the tree and just have a full day of uninterrupted family time.
I love to decorate the house and I have a couple of advent calendars. Then for Christmas we cook the traditional dishes of my grandmother!
Sometimes when you have things you do every year, you forget they become traditions -- they are just things we do every year. LOL! But all this scrapping had gotten me thinking about things a different way.
I don't really like orchestral Christmas music except on Christmas Eve, so we play rock and roll Christmas songs at full blast. Then we sing and dance to whatever hits our fancy at the time.
Every year I try to find something for my kids to make that is cheap, easy and can be made in multiples for their friends. This year, they are in their 20s, and we still did it using these directions for making Dulche de Leche Caramel Sauce:
http://thiscrazylife-michelle.blogspot.com/2009/11/freebie-caramel-sauce-labels.html
My husband and I shop for the girls' Christmas Stockings together (he thinks -- I actually go out first and spend a boatload of money, but that's beside the point.)
I guess because I am following that I get another post, right?
We are a "new family" making our traditions these first couple years of marriage with a new baby which is very exciting! One old tradition taken from both our families is baking TONS of cookies and then delivering them - it's always a fun excuse to stop by and say hi ;) It is always fun making them too and a frosting "fight" usually happens :) Fun fun!
*whoops didn't mean to be "anonymous" before!**
We are a "new family" making our traditions these first couple years of marriage with a new baby which is very exciting! One old tradition taken from both our families is baking TONS of cookies and then delivering them - it's always a fun excuse to stop by and say hi ;) It is always fun making them too and a frosting "fight" usually happens :) Fun fun!
I bake like crazy - Not! LOL!!!
I love to decorate!!!
Awesome, Leora! My favorite tradition is with one of my best friends, who is also like a sister to me. We round up the kids, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. No rules, we just eat, open presents and enjoy eachother's company. :-)
Tweet, tweet :-)
http://twitter.com/somchea
Following your blog, username 'som'. I will also blog today. Thanks, Leora! This is awesome! :-)
It is so fun to read the comments. A tradition we have is the 12 Books of Christmas. Each December we gift wrap 12 Christmas books and put them in a basket (some are new, some are old favorites). From the 13 through the 24th the kids take turns choosing and unwrapping a book. Then, we all sit down with hot chocolate and have story time. Of course, the last book they choose (marked with a big red bow as the special book we have to wait for) is The Night Before Christmas. The kids look forward to this every year.
To kick off Christmas I always have to pick out little presents for my boyfriend for all the days up until Christmas that I am gone. I go home after classes are finished and he opens them together on the phone. It's a way to celebrate Christmas together even when we are apart.
Thanks so much Leora. I'm a bit late, but we started a new family tradition about 3 years ago with my inlaws. Our kids get together with Grandma and Grandpa each year about 2 weeks before Christmas and decorate Gingerbread houses which then become our table center pieces for all the days leading up to Christmas.
The kids love it and so do Grandma and Grandpa.
Our first Christmas tradition is to get our Christmas tree which involves loading up the family, the saw, the hot chocolate and usually lots of hats/mittens/coats, etc. We then head to the local tree farm to cut down the tree ourselves. This is always a good time and sometimes takes hours to hike back to find the right tree, cut it down and then tie it to the top of the van. Everyone's usually cold when we're done so the hot chocolate always puts smiles on everyone's faces.
Our holiday traditions start off with decorating the tree and the house on Thanksgiving morning while we watch the Macy's parade on TV.
Now following the blog as Stacy (pewtertm). I also added you to my Facebook...if I get approved that is :)
Our yearly tradition is we plan a visit downtown to Christmas in the Park. We stroll around ooohhing and awwing over the displays, taking pictures in front of the tall Christmas tree while sipping hot cocoa and coffee. We always look forward to this family quality time.
Google Follower: Corinne Fragata
Cookies for Santa :)
Christmas puzzles! My favorite thing to do during Christmas is whip out the Xmas puzzles and go to town :) With the advent of digi-scrapping, though, that luxury is harder to come by since all my "spare" time is spent scrapping up a storm for Xmas presents. Oops.
Our family selects a child & their wishlist... and purchases a gift to the Angel Tree Project(children of incarcerated parents). I especially want to teach my children the importance of being life long givers.
One of our traditions is Christmas PJ's! Every year the family gets a new pair of pajamas that they get to wear to bed on Christmas Eve!
I am a Mass. transplant living in Florida-Santa under the palm tree takes a bit of getting used to! We wait for the coldest night of the season and head downtown to enjoy the lights, carriage rides, and falling snow (otherwise known as bubbles!). Its the closest thing we get to the real thing!
One of our traditions leading up to Christmas is either the day after Thanksgiving (or sometime that next week) we put up our lights on the house and get our tree! I just love this time of year!!!
I'm a google follower...Name is COURTNEY
I, uh, I *tweeted* [gasp]
http://twitter.com/denali0407
BTW, I want to know how to get on Michael Taylor's Xmas list. Southern baklava? yum! :)
Blogged: http://photochick84.blogspot.com/2009/12/25-days-of-christmas.html
Thanks so much for this fun 25 days of Christmas celebration!
We started a special "Pooh Bear" tree for our oldest daughter (who is now 7) and we've added ornaments every year...our 2 girls love to decorate it, the very first thing we do each season!
http://twitter.com/JulieMedia
that is my link to me tweeting about your contest! I started following you today, too! thanks!
One of our traditions would usually comes after Christmas but it is one of my favorites...going snow skiing with my husband and sister. I can't wait for my son to old enough to join in! I look forward to this every year and pray for snow :)
I'm starting a new tradition with my girls. We made an Advent Calendar that has a family activity a day on it. Mostly simple easy things, but lots of fun for little ones. I blogged about it with photos.
I forgot to tell you our tradition in my comment :) We do a few dinners during December where we have foods from different countries and learn about how Christmas is celebrated in that country. My kids really love it!
Beautiful kick-off to these 25 Days of Christmas! Thanks for the giveaway!
We have lots of traditions, but one my daughters love is making a paper chain to count down the days. We use old scrapbook paper strips, and write down a fun Christmas thing to do on the back of each. Then each day one of the girls gets to pull off a chain and we do what we're told-- today was making paper snowflakes to decorate the house. I'm hoping tomorrow is baking cookies :)
We love watching all of the Christmas Specials on ABC Family channel - The 25 Days of Christmas they call it. A Christmas television special or movie every night!
A tradition we started this year, thanks to my high school marching band student - attending an electric light parade in a neighboring city - it's going to be the start of our Holiday Celebrations from now on - especially since it is the week *before* Thanksgiving! :)
we take a trek to the "hinterlands" to cut down a fresh Christmas tree with my husband's family - with the addition of the kidlets this gets more fun each year!
My favorite tradition happens on December 1st of every year. Everyone in the family gets new Christmas pajamas. Even though 2 of my children live outside the home (one married and one in college), I still mail their pajamas so that they arrive on December 1st.
I get out my fabric count down to Christmas calendar and fill up the pockets with little treats for my children, so they have a little chocolate or candy cane each day as we count down the days 'til Christmas. And I try to read a different Christmas story to the kids every night at bed time too.
We do a $5 dollar gift exchange. We draw names at Thanksgiving when we are all together and then there are different rules to go along with a story, song etc that explains why you bought the gift you bought for that person. For example one year you and the person you bought your gift for where driving in a snow storm and while on this drive you devise a story and act out ginving the gift and why. It is always fun to see the creativity.
Well... one of our Dutch "traditions" is ofcourse Sinterklaas. Which looks a bit like Santa Claus... but also with big difference.
So with Santa Claus our december starts with a bang!
~ Esk
One tradition is who gets to put the star on top of the tree each year just yesterday there was a car discussion on whose turn it is. That is where Mom's picture each year comes in handy. Even though we have an order we all seem to forget. A side note my kids are in High school and Jr high,so it must be a good tradition if they still care enough to want to do it. And it was also suggested we let my daughter the Senior do it because it will be her last year here before college, yes i am almost crying even now!!!
My girls and I like to pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
I love the light actions overlays!
The tradition I have is to bake a bazillion different kinds of cookies and give them away! My mother in law and I have a ton of fun!
We do a special service project for my nephew who died, and we present it to his family in a lovely white envelope.
I am following you now!
So fun Leora! The blog looks FANTASTIC!!
Ok..My name is Denise(aka Deca) and I live in Brazil.. I used to go, in 24 dec, to my mother in law house with my husband family.. My son, my husband and I always wear a red cloth. 2 weeks before this, we raffle names and we have to buy a present for the person we get.It's like "secret friend". But the funny is when we change the "hidden enemy". (Yes we pick a name for this too!). And obviously we have to use our imagination to give the worse present for that person!! After the dinner, we start to change the presents.. It's so funny!! This year we don't have to do that Santa scenario because the children found out the truth!! They say that Noel doesn't exist! How innocent they are! I do believe in Him! Is that so that I can bet that I'm going to win this contest! Hohohohohoh! Just joking! I Love your work!! Have a wonderful Xmas!!!
Sorry for my terrible english!!
This seems like a silly tradition - but one of my favorites. Every year my husband and I take the a Tuesday off of work and do all of our shopping. This way he gets to share in the *joy* of Christmas shopping! We eat lunch out at a favorite place and basically hang out shopping all day. I love it =)
One of our traditions that has developed over the last several years is getting together the Friday after Christmas and decorating Christmas trees. I have two grown children and we go to my house and to my sons house and to my daughters house (I am blessed that we all live in the same town) and decorate our trees. We of course "graze" our way through these events.
I live in Australia, and the thing that I love most about Christmas in summer are the Christmas carols. We try to get to at least one night time carols where we take a picnic and champagne and the kids sing and dance.
We are starting a "magic elf" tradition this year - two little ragdoll elves are visiting us till Christmas. They hide at night (and get up to other mischief) and my kids are loving it so far.
I make needhams!
Thanks for the chance hon!
I'm back - following you on twitter as nkathleena
http://twitter.com/nkathleena
As a child, I loved to go on car rides with my family during December just to look at outdooor house decorations and to vote each night on our favorite display! I seriously HEART beautiful christmas lights. Today I feel so lucky to live near Lasalette-Shrine (www.laslaette-shrine.org)where they have a Festival of Lights (300,000 of them!) on their grounds that are free for all to see. We make multiple visits between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Hearing beautiful songs piped over loudspeakers, attending Father's Pat music concert, seeing the giant manger and walking the grounds while hearing our 5 and 7 year old girls ooh and ah over the lights help to remind my family and all shrine visitors of the real reason for this joyous season!
A tradition I did with my kids as they grew up was to get everyone together for ornament painting. For the past 4 years now, the tradition has been revived now with all my grown children, their spouses, my granddaughter and even my ex-husband!!! Very fun, very blessed times.
My favorite tradition is when we decorate our tree. I have 3 boys, and have bought them each an ornament every year. They are now 21, 19, and 18 so there are GOBS of ornaments!! While we are decorating they entertain us with many funny escapades of their youth.
Got a beautiful tree from a local tree farm, but broke tradition in two ways! First, we usually get one the day after Thanksgiving; we waited until today when it was 60 degrees and fun to be out. And second, we didn't select one of theirs, but one they'd brought in from Wisconsin.
We have loads of traditions that we do as a family all through December here in Australia but my favorite one would have to be Christmas eve. We drive around just after the sun sets, looking at Christmas lights until the girls fall asleep. Then at 12.01am who ever is still awake gets to open their midnight gift. The girls never make but it is so sweet to see them try to keep their little eyes open...lol! xo
Posted on twitter: http://twitter.com/dideemartin
Following too as Diana Martin xo
Now with my own children getting older we have purchase hand bells. We practice all season and play at all the family parties. The 4 and 6 year old really enjoy it as much as the older ones. We all can participate.
Following your blog
Post a Comment