Christmas in July Giveaway!
69 comments » 
The grills have barely had time to cool off from the 4th of July celebrations, and here I am talking Christmas. Well, if you know me, then you know that anything related to Christmas is never off-limits! And I’m willing to bet a cinnamon roll that there are many of you out there that feel the same way. Am I right? I thought so 
Swizzlestix produces paper goods and housewares (things like aprons, tea towels, place mats, pillows, and greeting cards) that have both awesome colors and patterns – sort of a “retro chic” feel. They are offering a special giveaway to Brown Eyed Baker readers – one lucky reader will receive the “Ornamentini” tea towel pictured below. I just couldn’t resist how fun and festive this tea towel is. As I said, I’m a total sucker for all things Christmas!
If you haven’t heard of Swizzlestix or seen the awesome designs, head on over to the site pronto. I personally can’t wait to snag the “Balls of Joy” apron!
How to Enter: Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite Christmas tradition is. Please be sure to include a valid email address when leaving a comment so I can notify you if you win and get your mailing information!
Bonus: If you share a link to this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter, post another comment here with the link(s) back to your shout out(s) (just one additional comment per person), for a total of two possible chances to win.
Deadline to Enter: Thursday, July 9th at 11:59pm EST
Restrictions: This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents. My apologies to my international readers!
A winner will be selected by the random number generator and announced on Friday morning.
Update: The contest is now closed. Congratulations to commenter #17, Michelle of The Cooking Nurse, who has been notified!
Ooooh! I love Christmas in July…or any other time of year! Favorite part is sitting around with family and friends eating foods that are “special” and not every day fare, while chatting or sitting in comfortable silence.
I am like you love,love,love Christmas. I drive my family nuts anytime I start getting those feelings and want to watch Christmas movies. But don’t they always make you feel so good? My favorite time of Christmas is how sneaky we get trying to surprise eachother. My family members have always been the type to know what you got them especially my dad and now that my son is getting older even more trickier. Giveaways! I’m excited.
Here is the link back to my site thank you.
http://bakingmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/brown-eyed-baker-giveaway.html
Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love the whole season – the baking, the carols, the movies, the Christmas shows, the lights, etc. My favorite Christmas tradition is that my extended family gathers on Christmas Eve and has a big appetizer party, including our traditional Christmas Punch. We exchange gifts and just enjoy each other’s company. We also get together on Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve is my favorite because it’s more laid back (and I love appetizers!)
Favorite Christmas tradition = having the entire family gather around the tree to put the stained-glass star on top of the tree.
When I was a kid, I could never look downstairs and see the gifts under the Christmas tree until my parents were awake and could see my face themselves. I hope to do the same thing with our future kids.
Oh how I love Christmas! I fully support this giveaway
And I have so many different Christmas traditions, but I will narrow it down to one. I LOVE Christmas Eve – so much more than Christmas Day actually! It’s my parents’ anniversary and we go out to eat every year at a family friend’s restaurant and then go to my Grandpa’s house to spend time with the extended family. Now that everyone is older, spirits are definitely involved!
Ohhh I just love listening to Christmas music and sitting by my fireplace drink hot cocoa!!
There are countless things I adore about Christmas….but my two favorites are wrapping presents (I love the anticipation of the reactions of my family/friends to the gifts I bought and the sparkle of the paper and ribbon against the lights on the tree) and I love, Love, LOVE baking cookies. I bake year round, but there’s something so special about Christmas, all the nostalgic scents and people milling around the kitchen busy in different stages of the baking process. That is Christmas to me.
I love decorating the tree, my mom has been collecting ornaments since 1980 and everyone has their favourite. Every year we add a new one and we always have a box of chocolates to eat while we ‘work’.
And baking of course! I love making things we don’t normally have the rest of the year like gingerbread, shortbread and peanut brittle.
My favorite tradition is pruning the holly tree near my school with my roommate so that we can make a wreath out of it. And, of course, baking short bread.
Here’s a link to my page where you can see the post – though I’m not sure how well you can see it if we’re not “friends.”
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/home.php?ref=home
Hooray for Christmas! My favorite part is cooking up lots of comfort foods for all the family in town, then the big “fancy” meal on Christmas Day. I also love spoiling all the little kids’ appetites by feeding them whatever sweets they want all week long!
hmmm favorite tradition… probably going over to my Aunt’s house and eating the 20 different types of cookies she spent the last month or more making
SO GOOD!! Oh and of course the ham… you gotta have ham 
My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the trees in my house. I have a theme for each tree. Last year I did four: they were blown glass, silver and red, Asian, and shoes. I have enough to do a Barbie and a ‘fun’ tree…just need more trees!
My favorite tradition is decorating the Christmas tree while listening to my John Denver and the Muppets Christmas CD. My husband thinks I’ve officially lost it every year but I have been listening to those songs since I was a child and it really isn’t the Christmas season for me until I hear Miss Piggy shouting out during the 12 Days of Christmas. : )
I love all the cooking and baking that my family does together!
My favorite tradition is getting a new shirt to wear for Christmas Eve Mass at church. My Mom & I go shopping the begining of December and find the perfect shirt. Then after Mass, we order Chinese food with my parents, siblings, Grandma, Aunt & Husband. Now I wish it was Christmas
Oh my gosh!! Christmas is my favorite time of year. Reading all these comments is pulling at my heartstrings. It is hard to narrow it down to one thing. I guess it would be doing all the holiday baking to give away!!
What a cute towel! My favorite Christmas tradition is buying a new ornament for our tree each year that represents something new from that year. We have one for new house, one for our wedding, etc. By the time we have grandchildren, we’ll have quite a collection to show!
My favorite tradition is planning for and cooking Christmas Eve dinner for my family.
Baking cookies of course!
My favorite tradition used to be breakfast with my family. We’d have scrambled eggs, fried hashbrowns, biscuits, red-eye gravy, and MOST IMPORTANTLY country ham fried in a skillet. Imagine my horror, when this past Christmas my parents decided to forgo that breakfast, and just made an “easier” breakfast casserole! I was SO sad!
Do I have to pick just one? I’d say decorating the tree. I’ve vowed to never have an artificial tree (nothing against those who do!). It’s just something about that smell, and having a living tree in your home in the dead of winter.
Taking out and unwrapping all the old ornaments to hang on the tree. You think about when you got them, or back to childhood memories with them.
Such a great time of year, I love Christmas (and cute tea towels too!)
I guess my favorite Christmas tradition takes place the whole month of December. My best friend and I go shopping and do lunch without kids, I do tons of baking for everyone, enjoying trying to find that special gift to bring big smiles…did I mention tons of baking??? And I guess it comes down to Christmas eve night, before everyone goes to bed, I have everyone lay down under the tree with only the Christmas tree lights on, and focus on the true meaning of the season and how thankful we should be.
I love Christmas any time of year… and may or may not have already started thinking about what to make this year
My favorite tradition is making my mom’s French Chocolates. Soooo good and they make me smile because my mom always used to make them just for me.
I posted about this giveaway on Twitter
kiki85Check out @browneyedbaker ‘s awesome Christmas in July giveaway! http://bit.ly/UVB68
http://twitter.com/kiki85
My favorite Christmas tradition involves both the my sisters and I sleeping in the living room with some Christmas music turned down really low on Christmas Eve. We used to do it in hopes of catching Santa Claus in his act…but now its just become part of our Christmas Routine. There’s nothing more peaceful than being with loved ones on a Christmas night.!
My Fav tradition is hands down baking all sorts of cookies for my neighbors. Oh, and we started a new tradition last year between me and my friends – cookie/dessert exchange and then we make a recipe book from all the types that were submitted
I love all the baking!!
Over 20 family and friends go cut down our trees (or just go along for the ride) and off to lunch afterward!!!
My favorite tradition is to sit around the kitchen table as a family decorating sugar cookies.
I have so many favorite Christmas memories. One is eating soup underneath the tree while watching Christmas movies, kinda like a Christmas picnic. Also I look forwards to wrapping all of my presents. My aunt did such a fabulous job and now it’s my turn!
what a cute towel!
I loooove Christmas!! Love everything from picking out the tree, decorating, annual cookie swap, wrapping presents, and the general good will towards humanity.
Here is my post as well!
http://sweetonyou.yolasite.com/index/brown-eyed-baker-s-christmas-in-july-
Christmas time is the only holiday that all my 7 brothers and sisters make sure that we together. We have so much fun with all the little ones running around.
My favorite part about Christmas is putting up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving! Then, I love sitting in the glow of it throughout the holiday season!
I can’t decide between-
-Putting out Christmas decorations and lights. Always a favorite of mine when I was a kid too. Gives me the warm fuzzies.
-Wrapping gifts- I go all out, I am an artist so I can’t stand an ordinary wrapped present! I always wrap everything beautifully, even for my 3 and 4 year old nephews!
-Watching my niece and nephews open their presents. They are so excitable!
Now I am wishing it was Christmastime!
Picking out our tree
Putting the decorations on the tree and watching the cats play with them!
Baking Christmas cookies!
Here’s the like to my facebook page with your link on it!
http://www.facebook.com/Celticheart?ref=profile#/Celticheart?v=wall
Our favorite christmas tradition is simple, and very traditional. We love to go out and cut our tree down, decorate it and drink spiced apple cider and let the aromas fill up the house. I love that smell!
Every year we see the Washington Ballet perform the Nutcracker. Once we see that, the Christmas season has begun for us.
Every year I make about 20 bakery boxes of goodies and deliver to old family and friends. It gives me the best excuse to visit with dear friends.
My favorite tradition is baking lots of cookies of course:) We bake up a storm and give them to friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.
My favorite Christmas tradition is going into the woods at my in-laws house and cutting down a Christmas tree, we always get our family Christmas photo on “tree” day and then play a game of cards or put together a puzzle by the fire. Makes me feel good just thinking about it!!
My parents live in a small town hours from my residence, so I love the long, cold drive up there with lots of music to sing along the way!
Sounds like a great giveaway–they have adorable and chic items!! My favorite tradition is making a gingerbread house with my kids. It is fun for them, but me and my hubby enjoy it just as much!! Thanks for the chance to win these! fangelini@verizon.net
We have atradition of always putting an orange in everyones stocking, a wish that there be enough food on your table for the next year. Kinda’ keeps things in perspective.
My favorite tradition is our Christmas Eve dinner. We all get together for a decadent seafood dinner. The gathering of family & friends is more special than the actual Christmas Day!
Every Christmas Eve we have a family brunch with my side of the family & spend the best part of the day together~eating, sipping coffee, remembering Christmas’ past and enjoying each other!
Thanks for a SUPER giveaway=)
Luvdaylilies at bellsouth dot net
My favorite Christmas tradition is one that is celebrated just before you serve dinner, as everyone is seated at the table. We pass around small pieces of bread, that have honey drizzled over them, with a small piece of fresh garlic on top of that. Everyone takes a piece, and it symbolizes the bitterness and sweetness of life.
This sounds corny, but I always see my parents on Christmas–and I look forward to it especially now that I’m married and live 10 hrs away from them. The thoughts of knowing that I’d see them at least this one time each year gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
What a cute design! My favorite tradition was when we always went to the zoo on Christmas and saw the animals being fed their holiday treats.
My favorite Christmas tradition is our seafood feast on Christmas Eve. So many delicious dishes!
ooh, my favorite tradition (other than the cookies, of course) is opening one gift on christmas eve.
baking cookies of course
Baking…and eating!
My favorite thing about christmas is just spending time with family. After we eat our big Christmas lunch we break out the card games and play late into the night.
Baking cookies for everyone!
Favorite Christmas tradition–making gingerbread houses (last year we did trains) with the boys on Christmas Eve. Also love sneaking around doing the 12 Days of Christmas to friends or neighbors. Fun!
My favorite tradition has always been going to cut down a REAL Christmas tree with my parents! We would all hike out into a field and inevitably pick out one with a crooked trunk. Yet, it was still the “most beautiful tree we’ve ever had,” according to Mom!
My favorite tradition is that every Christmas Eve we choose a theme. All of our food centers around that theme as well as decorations, and usually an activity. We have gone through many countries, letters of the alphabet, types of food etc. Lots of fun!
Thanks for the chance to win the adorable tea towel! Christmas is a wonderful holiday as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and one of my favorite traditions is attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. I love it when we light candles at the end of the service & the entire worship area shines brightly with the light from everyone’s candles and we sing Joy to the World as we exit the building.
My family always gets together and makes homemade pizza on December 23rd. It’s usually the first night that everyone who is coming for the holiday are all there, so it’s a fun way to be doing a project together and laughing and catching up, and of course, EATING, all at the same time. Sometimes we get creative and try to make our pizzas look like Christmas trees or presents or Christmas ornaments. We call it Christmas Pizza:)
Our tradition is we decorate the tree the day after Thanksgiving while everyone is shopping!
Carla
cpullum(at)yahoo(dot)com
What a fun idea!!!!! Thanks for the giveaway!
I too am a sucker for any and everything Christmas! My favorite tradition is going with my family to church for a candle light service on Christmas eve. Afterwards, we have snacks like ham rolls, fruit with fruit dip, cheese trays…mostly snack size foods. We are usually trying to save our belly room for Christmas dinner the next day! Have a Holly Jolly Christmas in July!
My favorite Christmas Tradition is leaving the lights on the tree turned on Christmas Eve and then getting up in the middle of the night and see the sparkly tree with all of the presents around it. My brothers and I use to wake each other up to do this as a kid and I still do it now as an adult.
Ok and just b/c I couldn’t resist I also love Cookie Baking Day with my Mom. We set aside one day and bake a million cookies to give out.
Every year at Christmas, both sides (my husband’s and mine) all travel to one of our home city’s to spend the holiday together. We have been doing it for 10 years and the memories are irreplaceable!