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Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways! (with Shannon Acheson)

*Give Away has Ended*

*If you are reading this post in your email inbox, be sure to navigate to my blog order to leave your comment and be entered to win the giveaway. To do so, click here.

NOTE: The best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the 12 days of giveaways is to subscribe to my blog so new posts are sent to your email inbox. When you do, you will automatically be sent a PDF resource I wrote called 5 Ways to Tether Your Heart to God’s Word. Click here to subscribe.

Welcome to my 13th annual 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!

Years ago, I had an idea that has since grown into a fun and fabulous annual tradition. For 12 days in December, I have a guest share about a Christmas topic such as their favorite Christmas memory, movie, food, or tradition. They also offer a giveaway of the day. To enter to win it, all you need to do is answer a “quick question” of the day in the comment section and you will be eligible. Easy!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although all you need to do to enter is comment here, I will also be snooping around on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, looking for people who are promoting the giveaway by sharing an image along with the hashtag #12daysofchristmasgiveaways When you do so, you will be entered a second time for the giveaway that day!

Additionally, there is a grand prize for one person who comments on all 12 days, so set a daily alarm on your phone from now until December 18th and join the fun!

This year our Grand Prize is worth over $225!! It includes:

Ok…up first is a new friend of mine. Shannon Acheson is an author, home design and lifestyle expert, and creator of the popular website Homemade Lovely! Be sure to follow her on Instagram for some fabulous ideas.

And now, here’s Shannon!

Day 1: Christmas Eve Tradition

Since my husband and I didn’t actually grow up celebrating Christmas, we’ve had to create our own Christmas traditions. A couple of my favorites that we return to again and again are opening one gift each (always pajamas) and our stockings on Christmas Eve, and also making and eating cupcakes to celebrate baby Jesus birth (we do this a little less often now that the kids are older but it was definitely a highlight when they were young). We look forward to all these simple traditions every year.

Now, for my giveaway!

I mentioned opening pajamas and stockings on Christmas Eve. Is there something you usually do on Christmas Eve each year? Go to a candlelight service? Open new slippers? Watch a movie? Order pizza and drive around looking at Christmas lights? Tell us what it is in the comments and you’ll be entered in today’s giveaway. Remember, if you want to enter to win the grand prize, you must comment on and share all 12 days.

Day 1 Giveaway

Thanks Shannon! For first prize, Shannon is giving away a copy of her new hardcover book Home Made Lovely I have this book sitting on my coffee table right now and I love working my way through it. It will give you tons of ideas and loads of inspiration for making your home welcoming.

Everyone wants a home that is beautifully decorated and clutter-free, but most of us are unsure how to get there without breaking the bank. In Home Made Lovely, Shannon Acheson takes the overwhelm and guesswork out of styling and organizing a lovely home.

Home Made Lovely is a mind-set: Decorating should be about those who live there, rather than making your home into a magazine-worthy spread. This book will help you:
· decorate in a way that suits your family’s real-life;
· declutter in seven simple steps;
· perform a house blessing to dedicate your home to God;
· be thankful for your current home and what you already have;
· brush up on hospitality with more than twenty actionable ideas that will make anyone feel welcome and loved in your home.

In Home Made Lovely, Shannon meets you right where you are on your home-decorating journey, helping you share the peace of Jesus with family members and guests.

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Shannon Acheson is a mostly self-taught designer, decorator, writer, and stylist. Although she has completed her interior design training, she’d much rather teach you how to decorate your own home than do it for you. She is the editor and designer behind the design and lifestyle company and blog HomeMadeLovely.com. Her happy place is in the suburbs of Toronto, where she is a Homebody with a capital H, a Jesus girl, a happy wife to Dean, and a homeschooling mom of three teenagers. Learn more at www.homemadelovely.com.

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Don’t forget to answer today’s quick question in the comments below!

NOTE: Affiliate links may be included. We only recommend products we know our readers will love!

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS RULES

  1. U.S. Addresses only please.
  2. You can comment on all 12 days (once per person) up until midnight Pacific time, Sunday, December 20. Each day will be linked below for easy reference.
  3. One daily winner will be chosen from each day’s comments.
  4. To enter to win the Grand Prize (worth over $225 and includes: A leader kit of my What Matters Most Lifeway study of Philippians, including the teaching DVD’s and one Bible study guide; a Wheatfield Woman ESV journaling Bible from Wheat and Honey Co.; a pink cable knit throw (other color options available); a pour-over coffee dripper ; a half pound of Fortress coffee, a company started by two fellow alumni from Spring Arbor University; an insulated pink shimmer mug–or color of your choice), comment on and share all 12 posts. You can use the share buttons below or repost and share on Instagram (my fave!) and tag me @karenehman.
  5. All winners (including Grand Prize) will be announced here on the blog on Monday, December 21, and contacted via email. Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your prizes. 

Day 2 with Amber Smith

Day 3 with Bella Schwenk

Day 4 with Andrea Brouwer

Day 5 with Nicki Koziarz

Day 6 with Alexis Joseph

Day 7 with Kia Stephens

Day 8 with Chrystal Evans Hurst



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525 Comments

  1. We go to candlelight church service and eat Aurelio’s pizza, one of the finest pizza places in Chicagoland, so we don’t go often and it’s something we look forward to each year.

  2. Christmas Eve has always included candlelight service with church family to honor our Savior’s birth! That service has always put an end to the hustle and bustle of the season for me and a start to a week of rest, renewal, and enjoying life’s greatest gifts from Christmas Day to the New Year! When our children were little, we would come home from the Christmas Eve service to gumbo and Christmas goodies before opening family gifts!

  3. We have always attended the 11 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church, ending with the congregation leaving at midnight singing Silent Night.
    Now that we have grandkids we have incorporated the “Night Before Christmas” Box that they get to open on Christmas Eve, it is filled with pajamas, a book , and some snacks for Christmas Eve.

  4. When I was little before opening our presents Christmas morning we all sit in a circle and each say a prayer. It’s a precious tradition that I do now with my sweet kiddos.

  5. This post reminds me of when our children were small (until the late teens) and we also opened a gift, pajamas, on Christmas Eve.

    1. This has changed a little since my husband and I combined our traditions, but one of the big things we do is have chili and cinnamon rolls made for after Christmas Eve Service for our family members who can come over! It is always a winning combination, because my husband makes the chili, and I make the cinnamon rolls. YUM!

      His family has done this all of his life. My church always had a late (11 PM) church service, so we didn’t do the chili thing until he and I married!

      @karenehman #12daysofchristmasgiveaways

  6. Christmas eve is sometimes a night wrapping final gifts. We usually open one gift each, drink hot chocolate, sit by the fire and/or watch the lights on our tree and say what we are grateful for. This year, presents will be wrapped in time for us to slow down and enjoy these things more. I want my kids to have a solid tradition on Christmas eve that prioritizes Jesus.

  7. I usually got a Christmas Eve candlelight service. And then I drive around and look at the Christmas lights.

  8. When I was growing up my mother would always read the Christmas story on Christmas eve before we went to bed. And we always left cookies and milk out for Santa.

  9. When our kids were growing up, our Christmas Eve tradition always started with the kids in the car ready to drive around and check out the Christmas lights in different neighborhoods. While they are in the car, either my husband or I go back into the house, dust a few ashes from the fireplace unto the hearth, and then bite into the cookie and drink a little of the milk we have prepared for Santa by the table next to the fireplace. Then we head out to see the lights before attending our Christmas Church service. When we get back home, the kids notice the half-filled glass and cookie and are excited that Santa came by. We wait until midnight to enjoy a snack and open gifts.

  10. Christmas Eve used to be a great time for our family to get together. It is unfortunate that it doesn’t happen anymore. Most of the family has gone on to Heaven, but the ones left are spread out, and some have some hard feelings towards others in the family. I will be able to get to see some family, but it will be after Christmas. It will be a quiet night for me and my husband this year.
    Maybe I’ll be able to find something locally going on either with the town or a church.

  11. We also open new pajamas on Christmas Eve, as well as watch the Nativity movie & go to a candlelight service. This year we moved to a new state so we are still looking for a church home but are still hoping to find a servive!!

  12. I take the kids to a Christmas Candlelight ceremony at our Church. I get awestruck everytime the dark church lights up with thousands of candles!

  13. We have a big Noche Buena dinner on Christmas Eve. I am from Venezuela and we have always celebrated Christmas Eve and rested Christmas day (or visited friends or family) . We always try to make candlelight services, too.

  14. We always go to Christmas eve candlelight service. Silent Night by candlelight is the best! Before that we make shrimp cocktails and eat them in a crystal fluted glass with Christmas place mats and napkins on the table. Then we drive around to look at Christmas lights.

  15. We always go to candlelight service, eat Japanese food, and watch Polar Express. The kiddos off to be for Santa to come

  16. My family always goes to the Christmas Eve service at our church and reads ‘The Night Before Christmas’ before we go to bed.

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