Welcome to Deb Strain's studio...

Welcome to Deb Strain's studio...

Monday, December 5, 2011

Merry Christmas Blog Hop!


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Dear Friends!

Welcome to Moda's Christmas blog hop!
Each day, several designers will be sending you holiday greetings and give-aways
as our way of thanking you for your support and kindess throughout
the year.

I've been so excited about this...the blog hops are always such fun! So, first thing this morning, I started 
looking at the designers to see who was blogging on this first day of the hop.
Surprise!!!  One of them was me!
Somehow, during the craziness of the last few weeks, I have missed the
e-mail with the schedule. (So sorry! I am notorious for being
technology challenged!)
Rather than freaking out (too much), I decided "honesty was the best policy" and I am
doing this on the fly....

Please let me explain the "craziness!"
We had our annual Open House at our house
this past weekend...sent out over 400 invitations..

It is a lot of fun to have so many friends visit our home and see 
what we have been up to the past year.
I wish I could have had all of you come!


The Moda designers have provided a special quilt block and their 
favorite holiday recipe as a gift for you.
Please click below for a PDF of my Holiday Basket block
and recipe for Incredible Carmel Corn (truly incredible and quick!)


And now for the Give-aways!
Leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas tradition and you 
will be entered in a drawing to win one of these gift packages!
Gift Package #1- Tend the Earth

Gift Package #2 - Coffee Anyone?

Gift Package #3 - The Warmth of Home


I will use random.com this Friday evening (Dec. 9th) to choose the three winners.
Good Luck!

Be sure to visit all of the other designers to see what they have for you
this holiday season!


December 5th
December 6th
December 7th:
December 8th
December 9th


and 
from the Strain family...
Happiest of Holidays

Always,
Deb






564 comments:

  1. My fav Christmas tradition is all getting up Christmas morning in our jamas and opening all the gifts under the tree. A lovely family time for us.
    Your studio looks great, so Christmassy..

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  2. My favorite Christmas Tradition is just spending quality time with my family. As a military wife, time is more precious than anything else. Thanks for a chance to win!

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  3. My favourite family tradition is to sit around the Christmas Tree on Christmas.. with the Christmas music on, eating yummy goodies with my family. We always end up opening one gift...that sometimes ends up with all the gifts getting open! Santa still comes in the morning...:o)
    Thanks sew much for the chance to win one of your lovely give aways! Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope you get to participate in one of your favourite traditions too!
    Paulette

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  4. My favorite Christmas tradition is baking cookies. Everything gets all crazy & flour dusty in the kitchen, but the smells are worth it!

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  5. What a great blog hop...love the idea of a block and a goodie besides! We have a special ceramic Christmas candle holder that we bought when we first got married. We light it each night at meal time...ah the memories this one holds. Have a Merry Christmas...thank you for all you share. Hugs!

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  6. My favorite tradition is/was the excitement of my children waking us up to see what was under the tree on Christmas morning. They are grown now and have their own families. I miss the anticipation. Love the decorations, especially the ladders, great idea. Thanks for the give away.

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  7. My favorite tradition is making pajamas for my kids. They would open their new jammies on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed. The next morning they would look cute for pictures in their matching pj's. Merry Christmas!

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  8. My favorite tradition is going to church at midnight on Christmas Eve. After that...I am ready for anything!

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  9. I don't really have a favorite Christmas tradition, but I really love to get together with family, exchanging gifts and having a delicious meal.

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  10. I wondered what happened! :) It looks like you had a great time. Thank you for the quick caramel corn recipe. I am going to have to try that one. Your giveaway gifts are just lovely. As a newer quilter with limited resources, I would LOVE to win your new fabric. Have a blessed Christmas.

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  11. My favorite christmas tradition is to spend the christmas days with the whole family!
    Thnaks for the giveaway!
    Gretings from germany
    Hildy
    hildy@ebertzeder.de

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  12. My favorite Christmas traditon is spending an evening just before Christmas with all my family, my parents and my sibblings at my brothers house for our gift exchange, we all bring a favorite snack or two, and there's lots of visiting and lots of good food to eat. My oldest sister passed away in October due to cancer, so our special family times won't be the same with out her, but I know she will be looking down on us and smiling.

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  13. I guess my favorite tradition is putting up the tree and looking at all the ornaments my friends and family have given me as well as the ones I've stitched over the years.

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  14. My favorite tradition is a walk in the woods with my family before having dinner together, if there is some snow it's even better :-)
    I love bloghops and this one is very special. Thank you!

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  15. I love sitting with my family sipping some cocoa and watching Christmas movies. Or reading Christmas books. As long as there is cocoa I'm happy. :)

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  16. Oh to have been a mouse in the corner during your awesome Open House! The block and recipe are delightful substitutes, however. Thank you!

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  17. What a generous giveaway!! Love that block and the caramel corn recipe!! Thanks dor sharing!!

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  18. making cookies with my mom and sister- we have a blast!

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  19. My grandmother was from Germany and gave me an advent calendar each year. I couldn't wait to open the little door and see the scene behind it every morning. This memory started me on a collection of them in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some people decorate with Santas, villages or snowmen, I have a few dozen advent calendars around my house and open their doors. hang their ornaments or move their indicators every morning, a ritual that takes me back to my childhood.

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  20. Your open house sounds fabulous - wish I could have been there.
    Our favourite tradition still has to be decorating the tree - although our boys are 16 & 15 we all still enjoy the togetherness and remembering where & when the different ornaments came to our home.

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  21. My favorite tradition (and one that is changing as my kids grow up and leave the nest)but we're hanging on as long as we can! is to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas eve, come home and open the gifts under the tree and eat. We started this when the kids got to the teen years, sleeping in on Christmas morning was a much enjoyed change from "don't anyone get out of bed or wake us up until AT LEAST 6AM!"

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  22. Greatness! My favorite tradition is making cookies with my kids. As they've gotten older, they don't really care to do that anymore, but we still have fun. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. My favorite Christmas tradition would have to be decorating the tree with my kids. They get so excited to see the ornaments we've collected over the years and their excitement is what fills my heart with joy.

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  24. My favorite Christmas tradition is buying my kids an ornament each year. They have acquired quite a collection over the years and the older ones have taken them to decorate their own trees. Thanks for the chance to win such wonderful prizes.

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  25. My favorite current day Christmas tradition is being with family at our Christmas eve buffet! Thanks for the giveaways! Lana D.

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  26. A favorite tradition is cookie decorating. My kids are grown ups now, and on their own, but when they come home at Christmas, they always want to decorate cookies. We have lots of laughs and make big messes, sprinkles everywhere, but I wouldn't skip it for the world! Merry Christmas to you!

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  27. My favorite is putting the ornaments on the tree. Many are souvenir ornaments and I like remembering where they all came from. I love how you used ladders and shelves to display your collections. What a great idea!

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  28. Our favorite tradition is Christmas eve at our In-laws. The whole family comes, about 35 in all. The adults play dirty Santa. dorthac@aol.com Merry Christmas!

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  29. My favorite time is Christmas Dinner,a long table with all our loved-ones...;-)
    greetings from the netherlands,
    Marianne (ikorniquilt@hccnet.nl)

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  30. Wow, looks like a fun event! My favorite tradition is stockings first think Christmas morning. Everyone is together, nothing has been opened yet, and the anticipation is at its peak!

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  31. My husband and I had our first date on Christmas Eve 19 years ago. We went to dinner then out to look at all the Christmas lights. We have never missed a Christmas Eve since & our children look forward to it. Our youngest is already planning the route.

    Jodi

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  32. My favorite Christmas tradition is making ornaments for my family and dearest friends. I have been doing this for 30 years now. Some have been painted, made of clay, embroidered, quilted, or some kind of fabric craft.
    Everyone looks forward to receiving them...if I'm a little late getting the ornaments in the mail, they start to worry!

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  33. You do things on the fly quite well! I love the red-and-white quilt top on the table.

    My favorite tradition is having eveyone pile in the car, so we can drive all over town admiring Christmas light displays. My town's courthouse square is gorgeous! That stop is always the highlight of my family's evening outing.

    Link to a shared photo (not my photo) of the Saline County Courthouse:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cormackphotos/3112078936/

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  34. Baking cookies with my daughters all day one Saturday before Christmas....almost 40 yrs and we've not missed a year yet! Now the grandkids get in the act too :) Thanks for the chance to win. Christmas Blessings to you and yours, SWarren

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  35. Sweet thank you!

    My favorite tradition is getting new jammies and then wearing them all day on Chirstmas!

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  36. Thank you for the quilt block and recipe. I will be making both of them

    Your gifts look wonderful.

    Happy holidays,
    Susan

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  37. Every year it's church in the morning and presents aren't opened till after lunch! a great incentive to help me clear away the dirty dishes!!

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  38. Those packages look like awesome prizes! Thank you for a chance to win one. And, thank you for the free pattern! :-)

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  39. The first Christmas that my husband and I were together (not married yet), his mother (Now MIL)gave me a Peanuts Christmas Ornament (DH nickname is Charlie Brown) so that I would have a present with his Family. 32 years later, I still get a memory of that Christmas by way of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy or the rest of the Gang wrapped up and under the tree. Tammy

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  40. Loved your decorations. I am a little kid and just love all the lights and decorations around the holiday season.

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  41. i love to go downtown and see the city center lights.

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  42. Favorite tradition-so many to choose from. Christmas eve: after family "dressy" dinner the reading of the Christmas Story from the Bible.
    Christmas day: opening stocking gifts first. Then opening one gift at a time per person, round robin if you will.

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  43. The granddaughters love to get out my collection of Santas. What a time they have with these.

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  44. Deb: I love your block, and your give aways are very generous. Your caramel corn looks great! Our family's Christmas tradition is to attend our church Christmas Eve program together. Our time together doesn't come until Christmas Day night with our family and the 6 little grandchildren! What fun!

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  45. Thank you for the block pattern and recipe. Love caramel popcorn it´s so in the spirit of the season.

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  46. My favorite Christmas tradition is making Christmas cookies with my grandkids. They look
    forward to it and get to take home their own cookies they make and decorate.

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  47. My favorite tradition now that we are all grown up and retired, is getting together with my siblings for a holiday meal. The one hosting the party that year gets to pick a charity, and we all contribute to it. We've done things like breast cancer, brain cancer, a women's shelter, and a Christian ministry in Viet Nam. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive.

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  48. Thanks for the pattern & recipe, can't wait to try them. My favorite tradition is to watch White Christmas while wrapping presents.

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  49. My favorite thing to do at Christmas is put the the trees early... we do 5 in our house. Add all my Christmas quilts around the house and then sit and enjoy them for the month. Our family is small... my husband, son, our three shelties and myself. It is just nice to be together.

    Merry Christmas... Happy New Year... and Happy Quilting!
    Onalee
    Stow, Ohio
    Hawk612@aol.com

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  50. My favorite Christmas tradition is drinking spiked egg nog and listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree(s). Then we usually pop in A Year Without a Santa and cozy under a quilt. :)

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  51. Staying up late with only the tree lights on and sipping eggnog with my husband is the best tradition! Such a nice time to talk about our Christmas memories and dream about what we want to do in the coming year.

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  52. Starting when I was a child, every Christmas morning my siblings and I had to have our picture taken on the stairs before we could come down and see what Santa has brought. Now that I have my own children, the same tradition applies. We prop the camera and get all of us on the stairs before we can come down and sit in front of the tree. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  53. One of our favorite traditions is getting together with my husband's family and making lefse. It usually gets eaten as fast as it's made!!
    Thank you for the giveaway.

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  54. My favorite tradition is setting up the tree together and memories connected with all the ornaments.

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  55. LISTENING TO CAROLS WHILE WE DECORATE OUR TREE+ATTENDING WORSHIP SERVICES ON CHRISTMAS EVE, HAS BECOME A TRADITION FOR US! THANK YOU FOR SHARING SWEET GIVEAWAYS!
    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

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  56. Going to everyone's home to see their decorations, taking cookies to eat by the fire, and just visiting.

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  57. My favourite tradition is to decorate a gingerbread house with my grandchildren. Thank you for the generous giveaway, the pattern and the recipe. Happy Holidays!

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  58. My favorite tradition is riding around looking at everyones Christmas lights and singing Christmas carols with family

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  59. Your home must have been filled to overflowing. Open house entertaining is fun but so much work and your house looks beautiful. My favourite tradition around Christmas is our tree decorating day. My husband fixes fancy chocolate drinks and the music helps set the stage.

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  60. My favourite tradition is hanging my husbands old Norwegian ski socks up for Santa to fill. We still do it even though the children are all grown up now.

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  61. Getting together with my family on Christmas Eve. We have appetizers and soup, and just enjoy being together.

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  62. We get a game every year - board game, card game, etc. - after dinner and opening presents, we all sit around and play the new game.

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  63. My favourite Christmas tradition is to make crochet Angels for the Christmas tree and for our grands.

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  64. I just love waking up on Christmas morning and opening gifts in my PJs!

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  65. I love to bake cookies and make candy to give to neighbors and friends.

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  66. Wow. I would have loved to be there for all that holiday cheer. I thought I loved entertaining in my home but, there is no way I would even KNOW 400 people to invite, much less to invite them to my home. Your decorations are just beautiful.

    Our tradition which has been in my family since I was born is to visit the local tree farm. This farm has been owned by the same family that entire time. My parents took me and my brothers there all those years but I then carried that tradition on to my own children at the same tree farm. I'm very pleased too that one of my boys lives close enough that he is now carrying the tradition at the same tree farm with his family. It makes me smile to know he holds that part of the holiday season in his own heart as well. We'd come home after choosing our tree and decorate it while Mom (and me in my family) made homemade hot chocolate to drink while we also finally got to eat all Mom's cookies she's been baking. Of course, in my family my children enjoyed the same tradition.

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  67. My favorite Christmas tradition is the Christmas Eve service at our church - it's full of candles and just beautiful.

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  68. I just love the holidays and there are so many tradtions it's hard to choose a favorite.
    So in general my favorite thing is connecting with family and friends, whether it be by sharing a special meal, playing games, opening presents, delivering cookies, etc.

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  69. Our annual family get together for a meal at Christmas is my favorite family tradition :D
    NICE blog. Lovely gifts.

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  70. I like Christmas eve, we have a little party after church, just the four of us and my parents if they were spending the year with us. There are certain foods the kids always wanted, shrimp cocktail, little hot dogs cooked in grape jelly and my cheese ball. BY then everything that's going to get done IS done (or it isn't and I've faced reality!) and I can relax and enjoy time with my family.

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  71. We just started a tradition where each child has to make their cousins a handmade gift instead of buying something. These gifts have become the highlight of gift opening. The kids often stay up all night many nights working on some elaborately made gifts. All of learned new skills. Every gift is a marvel - from the simplist to the most time consuming.

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  72. Putting up the tree and making Christmas cookies. Regards, Lisa
    lisaursino@msn.com

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  73. Favorite tradition must be Christmas Eve Appetizer dinner with family gathered around the fire with Christmas music.

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  74. I typically work on Christmas Eve- medical- so I can have off on Christmas Day. We don't really have any traditions except sausage biscuits and staying in our pjs all day and doing nothing except being together. It is very relaxed and easy around here on Christmas Day:)

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  75. Love your ladder display. My favorite tradition is going to Christmas Eve service and singing Silent Night by candlelight. Really makes it special. Thanks for the pattern and the recipe.

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  76. Thank you for the opportunity to win such wonderful prizes! We make and most important, decorate sugar cookies with the grand children. We come up with some wild designs but everyone has a blast!

    Char S.

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  77. I'd love The #1 prize. My favorite Tradition is selecting a new Ornament to give the family each year. It's not easy with so many Grandchildren now but I love doing it.

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  78. My favorite newest tradition is a family outing on Dec. 26 (segway tour in SF, beer brewing in Sacramento, etc.) The best part is the time spent together.

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  79. I would love any of the prizes...my Christmas tradition is buying a new dated Christmas ornament every year for the tree

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  80. Alrighty, now I have all four of today's blocks and I'm pondering fabric for this quilt. You did good for being 'on the fly' LOL. Love the block and your caramel corn has my mouth watering. Our favorite Christmas tradition is combining with other family members, the money that we would have spent on gifts for each other and using it to support one of our local Rescue Missions or Soup Kitchens. We prefer to help a family or individual in need...but it is getting harder than ever to get names of those who need extra help, especially during the cold winters here in Northern Utah. Of course, today's economy has hit some our own family members pretty hard, so this year, we will be helping them. Thanks so much for a chance to win some of your wonderful gifts and also for the pattern and recipe. Hugs...

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  81. I love the annual Christmas Eve dinner that we have. Everything is done and ready to go and Christmas day is all about fun and relaxation!

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  82. My Christmas tradition is egg nog deluxe.

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  83. Lovely photos! Thanks for the chance to win a FANTASTIC prize! I love getting together with family at Christmas. It ends up extending through a few weeks of yummy foods and get-togethers!

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  84. Baking Christmas cookies - and now I have 2 grandchildren to help decorate those cookies!
    Thanks for such a generous giveaway!

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  85. Great photos of all the decorations. Great giveaway too.
    My favorite tradition is traveling to the mountains to a choose and cut tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree.

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  86. our favorite is christmas eve football. rain/shine/snow/freezing cold we play no matter what. My kids love it.

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  87. My favorite Christmas tradition is an ornament exchange we have with all of my extended family. We always have so much fun with it. When our kids were younger we used to have a talent show when we all got together & the kids got an extra gift after they performed. The adults got involved in it alot of times, too & we have such fun memories of those times.

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  88. Thanks for the recipe and block pattern. One of our family traditions is to draw a number and sing The 12 Days of Christmas in turn.

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  89. Every Christmas Eve I drive around & look at all the beautiful Christmas lights. When my daughter was growing up we went , now my Dad is in Assisted Living & I take him. He usually falls asleep at some point, but it's till a memory for both of us! Thanks for the great recipe & giveaway. Happy Holidays to you too!

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  90. Baking cookies and decorating the trees in the house. Thanks for the great giveaways!!
    Merry Christmas

    Elaine
    lecraft@aol.com

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  91. One favorite tradition on my dad's side of the family - kolaches on Christmas eve! Yum, yum!

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  92. My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree...every year it is so comforting to see the same ornaments up with all the memories that come with them! Thanks for the chance to win some great prizes...Happy Holidays!
    tamiquilts at att dot net

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  93. Thanks so much for the block and recipe. My favorite tradition is making lots of special cookies to give as gifts.

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  94. We all have dinner together on Christmas Day. 9 gkids make it quite interesting. We're very casual at our house and we always have a lot of fun.

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  95. My favorite Hoilday tradition is our $5 dollar gift exchange, this year it has to be made int the USA and given in an infomerical style as to why the person "has to have" this gift.

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  96. My favorite Christmas tradition is baking cookies! Especially the ones that have been handed down through generations. Thanks for the chance to win.

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  97. baking or making something with my grandbabies

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  98. I love our tradition of decorating the tree together while listening to classic Christmas tunes. We chat about all the ornaments and their history in our family.

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  99. thanks for the decorated pictures! it almost makes me want to put my sewing aside and decorate, but....i'm sewing with christmas fabric so that counts as getting ready for now.

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  100. I think the ceremonial opening of our stocking presents is my favourite tradition. Though decorating the tree on Christmas Eve is a close second.

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  101. My favorite tradition is to go the the Nutcracker ballet at our local theatre. Makes me feel like a kid again!

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  102. l dinner with family on Christmas Eve and New year also I like decorate my home.Thanks for the chance.

    Greetings from Spain!

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  103. I think my favorite family tradition is Christmas breakfast, a strata that has to sit in the refrigerator overnight which makes it so easy! My kids have all said it just isn't Christmas without it and all make it for their families now.

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  104. On Christmas Eve the three Magi start "travelling" around our house until they reach the manger on Epiphany. When my son was little, it was his job to guide them and he took it very seriously. I think of him as I move them along.

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  105. It has to be that glowing glittering tree.

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  106. Recipe and block printed... thanks for the chance to win!
    OOooohH... would have loved to attend the Open House. Your post find, give-away gifties are wonderful... take the rest of the day off! ;-)

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  107. Thanks for the recipe and block pattern. Our granddaughter is coming to spend the holidays with us so we will certainly try your caramel corn. My favorite tradition is that everyone must go down to the tree together on Christmas morning. Grandma always goes first to check and see if Santa has arrived (really,to put the coffee on). If he's arrived, everyone comes together. It is so much fun, especially when the children were small. Merry Christmas to all from Canada.

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  108. The tradition we started when my first was born was a yearly special Christmas tree ornament. We were in the military so I would select an ornament that would remind us of the country or state we lived in. I also kept a small journal that I would put our current address, child's name and their ornament. Each year it is like going down memory lane.

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  109. My favorite is the opening of gifts on Christmas morning. I love seeing my still sleepy kids tear into the gifts and wrapping paper flying through the air.

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  110. Our Christmas will wonderful this year we are waiting for the arrival of our first grandchild :)
    Love the carmel corn... can't wait to try.
    Thanks, Karin E:)

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  111. My favorite tradition is candlelight service at church. The church is decorated with white lights and candles everywhere. Everyone has a lit candle while we sing Silent Night. It's just beautiful.

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  112. Considering you did this all "on the fly" - nice job! Love the block and the recipe and thank you so much for the giveaway (merry christmas to us hee hee). I'm a sucker for Christmas carols and will follow behind any group of carolers and join in at will! Give me some old fashioned songs (in harmony), hot apple cider, and cookie baking with my kids and I'm a happy girl.
    - sunshdws at yahoo dot com

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  113. Hot iced cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate on Christmas morning is a "must-do" tradition for our family - thanks so much for the caramel corn recipe (it really sounds incredible!) and the "basket" to gift it in!

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  114. One year I sent my husband to but candy canes for our tree. Not knowing which kind to buy, (I assumed peppermint), he came home with 12 boxes, one of each flavor. That was 25 years ago, now our tree isn't complete unless it is covered in candy canes, although I have slimmed it down to about 6 boxes.

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  115. I love the wrapping of presents for others. Would love to win any of the 3 gift packages but particularly the fabric. Have a great Christmas Holiday.

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  116. It's funny cause my favorite Christmas tradition is also one I tend to be too lazy to want to do. lol! It's going out to the tree farms and choosing our tree for the year, cutting it down, bringing it home, and decorating it -- all in one day. We always have Domino's pizza for dinner while we decorate. :D

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  117. I can't settle into the holiday without watching Home Alone. Seriously, I love watching little kids open their presents.

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  118. Wow, Deb, you did great! I love the tradition of a Christmas eve Candlelight service and get togethers with close friends before the big day. I spy some wonderful fabric in those packages and cute houses too, oh goodie! :) Thank you for being so generous! Kd

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  119. When I was 6 years old my military family moved to Germany to live for a few years. Being away from our extended family my mother found new traditions for our family. A fun one that we carry on even 30+ years later is making funnel cakes on Christmas eve.

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  120. I think my favorite thing is doing something for someone who has very little.......filling a stocking for a kid with no expectations of gifts........
    my least favorite is buying for family members who have everything.......bah humbug.

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  121. At this time of year I like to give to those less fortunate...might not be a lot, but anything that would make this time a little brighter for them, makes me feel good.

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  122. My favorite tradition? Our plans are to do nothing except spend time together. We bake, cook, eat, scrabble, and enjoy.

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  123. I love to decorate the tree, the day(s)after thanksgiving, with the kids and baking cookies throughout the month. Love the pattern/recipe. The giveaways are beautiful, especailly #1 and 3.

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  124. wow beautiful packages all! My favorite tradition is orange rolls on Christmas morning.

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  125. We always make gifts and cards for residents at the nursing home, there are so many who have no one that visits and they always love seeing the kids and getting a gift.

    Debbie

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  126. We have Cutout cookies that for as long as I can remember, we'd use those old Hallmark Cookie Cutters to cut out. I think my favorite tradition may actually have been EATING said cookies, but making them with us kids + mom all gathered around the table is definitely a close second.

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  127. I always go to a church near here for their Christmas program. It is glorious and puts me in the Christmas mood.

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  128. I just love it when the whole family is able to gather in one place for Christmas to be together :)

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  129. Just love getting together with family and eating peanut butter candy and chocolate pies!

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  130. Blog hops are so much fun! Thank you for the cute pattern and yummy recipe, we love caramel corn here! My favorite tradition is the making of frosted cookies and other goodies. I love baking!

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  131. We just finished one of my favorite traditions this weekend, making cut-out sprinkled Christmas cookies with my Mom and son. Many years we are able to get my Grandma to come too and make it 4 generations!

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  132. I would love to win package #2!
    my favorite xmas tradition is playing board games all night long after we have had dinner!

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  133. Eating great food and keeping it just family.

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  134. Our favorite tradition is going for a drive on Christmas Eve to look at all the Christmas lights.

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  135. My favorite holiday tradition is our Christmas Tree Party that we host each year. I have five sisters and two brothers and all that live close enough come and cut trees at the local tree farm, have a fabulouse brunch and make ornaments together. We also do an ornament exchange, it is great fun!

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  136. We have a tradition of picking out our tree on Dec. 9th which is also my oldest daughter's birthday. Also the Christmas Eve service and lots of baking.

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  137. My Christmas traditions have only come about since my 3 year old was born. I want her to grow up with wonderful memories of the Christmas season. So we make gingerbread men and other decorations together, we buy a new special decoration for the tree, and we have delicious orange and cranberry muffins and cookies on the day (the smell is amazing!). I also want to start making up stockings for needy children but that will have to start once I'm working again!

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  138. Our family tradition is doing a while elephant exchange now that our families have gotten so big. Thanks for the great pattern and recipe and giveaway!

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  139. My favorite Christmas Tradition is shopping for a new puzzle and putting it together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

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  140. Midnight Mass is my favorite holiday tradition though I have to confess to missing it the last few years. Maybe this year?!! Thanks for the opportunity to win and have a Merry Christmas!

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  141. My favorite tradtion is the burning of our angel candle tree. We have a tree filled with the names of those in our family who have passed before us and adorned with candles. We light each candle and remember how much we loved each one. It is amazing how many were quilters who passed down that wonderful legacy. I would love the tend the earth gift, as I have a heart condition and can't have coffee...but wait I could share it with someone who could. Well here's hoping.

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  142. My favorite tradition is putting the star on the top of the Christmas tree. It is an old, crummy, plastic thing we bought in our early (poorer) years. The kids insist on using it and put up a big fuss one year when we tried to find something else.
    Thanks for the opportunity to win your wonderful gifts.

    Leslie S. in MN
    esclante at comcast dot net

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  143. May favorite Christmas tradition is looking at Christmas lights. We used to go look at lights on Christmas Eve, so Santa Claus could come while we were gone. ;)

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  144. My favorite Christmas tradition is driving around looking at how the houses are decorated. Thanks for the pattern and recipe. Merry Christmas!

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  145. My favorite tradition is hanging all the Christmas projects my girls made in school over the years. They are grown and do their own decorating now, but as I pull out each ornament or piece of art I'm transported back to the fun we've shared at the holidays over the years.

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  146. My favourite Christmas tradition making an ornament every year for my daughter. Most of them are cross-stitched. She's now 19 and has enough ornaments to decorate her own tree!

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  147. Our favorite Christmas tradition (other than stockings for every family member, including cats!) is decorating our tree with ornaments cherished by 4 generations - just love those memories!

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  148. My favorite Christmas tradition is baking cookies with my nephews.

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  149. Hi Deb, what lovely giveaways. I love to listen to Xmas Carols on Xmas Eve, when all the preparations are done and it is time to sit back and relax, sometimes with a nice glass of wine and shortbread cookies of course. :)

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  150. Great giveaways!! I just love seeing my kids faces on Christmas morning and their energy about the day! I look forward to being with family.

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  151. My favorite tradition is baking the Christmas cookies. My grandson is 5 this year and he is old enough to help this time around.

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  152. Yes! I have been looking for a good carmel corn recipe! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
    ~robin
    welchrobin@hotmail.com

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  153. Hi Deb, thanks for shaking my memory today. Our best family tradition was, Dad letting us kids pick a present, each night, for 5 nights, before Christmas to open. My brother still does this with his kids today. Best tradition ever!!!

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  154. Oh my gosh - another chance to win one of those adorable little blue birds!!! You are awesome. Xmas tradition? Nothing out of the ordinary. :)

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  155. Thank you for the fun giveaway! And the block and recipe, too!!!! One of our favorite traditions is going out looking at all the lights at night all around the city! Mom and Dad used to take us out every Christmas Eve and Santa would come while we were away. Was such a fun time! I still love looking at all the festive outdoor decorations everyone displays! Baking and time with loved ones is always top of the list, too! I am looking at a half decorated tree - so I best get busy! Love decorating, too! Bari Jo

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  156. My favorite holiday tradition is making Christmas gifts for family & friends.

    Linda - St. Michael, MN

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  157. My favorite Christmas tradition is simply getting together with family. We're a bit scattered around the country, so it's always wonderful when we can all get together for the holidays. Thanks for the recipe & pattern; and thanks for the chance to win.

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  158. Wow, awesome giveaways! Thanks for the block and recipe! A tradition we started a few years ago when my husband wasnt deployed to some foreign country was dealing with the Christmas gifts. Each person takes turns picking a gift out from under the tree and giving it to someone to open, then that person takes a turn and does the same. It gives each person the opportunity to be a giver and receiver and makes that person feel extra special. My kids are now 10, 8 and 6 and they still love doing that!

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  159. Like to make homemade ornaments or treats for family and friends. Thanks.

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  160. My families favorite tradition is to go to my sons for dinner and then play games afterwords. fun will be had by all!

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  161. I would so loved to have been at your open house!!! You are incredibly talented. Favorite Christmas tradition, is very simple...early Christmas morning with my girls and husband.

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  162. We have many fun traditions. We are starting a new one this year in honor of my Mother-in-law who just passed away. We will read a scripture and then a short Christmas Story every night. The kids are loving it. This tradition is because every Christmas Eve my Mother-in-law would select a new Christmas story to read to everyone Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to You!

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  163. Thank you for the pattern and recipe.
    A new tradition that we started a few years is a hayride 2 days before Christmas. A decorated tree on the wagon with everyone bundled up singing carols brings the spirit to the hills in the country.

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  164. I love baking LOTS of cookies and passing them out to friends,neighbors, family, or anyone I see at the holidays.

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  165. Sour Cream coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas morning...

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  166. Cinnamon rolls for family and neighbors on Christmas morning...Merry Christmas!

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  167. I love our tradition of having the youngest kids pass out the presents. When my granddaughter was too young to read I put pictures of the recipients on the presents so she could pass them out. Too cute.

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  168. Oh you sound like you are in the midst of traditional Christmas madness!! My fav tradition is the kids all piled on the bed opening their Santa stockings as soon as they wake up.

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  169. Decorating the tree with the yougest members of our family

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  170. One of the traditions I love is attending a Christmas Eve service with my family. Thanks for the great giveaway.

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  171. Favourite Tradition....baking cookies to share, decorating the tree and listening to Amy Grant's Christmas cd!

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  172. Baking is my favorite tradition. I love to bake and make candy for friends and neighbors.

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  173. M'y favourite tradition is the family reunion.

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  174. We eagerly await the Doctor Who Christmas special. It's the highlight of our day. . . we're such nerds!

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  175. Caramel corn for the holidays, doesn't get any better! Great giveaway, thanks!

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  176. My favorite tradition is reading Twas the Night Before Christmas with my daughter on Christmas Eve.

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  177. Well,we have several, one is Christmas Eve dinner(we have the family plus those that have no where to go), then we always make parker house rolls for dinner, and then everyone gets to open their gift of new pj's. All on Christmas Eve. Wow what a giveaway. I would love to win any of them. Thanks for the chance.

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  178. My favorite Christmas tradition is making lefse.

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  179. baking cookies and christmas music. this year we love celtic christmas.

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  180. My favorite tradition is going to the woods to cut down a tree and then sitting around the tree with all the lights off--except the tree lights and singing Christmas Carols.
    My other favorite is that we put out a nativity early in the month without the baby Jesus and then Christmas morning he come and the nativity is set up in front of the gifts so it gets seen first.

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  181. Oh What lovely goodies - I would love the Tend the Earth one. My favourite Christmas tradition would have to be putting up the Christmas tree - I always enjoy adding all the lovely decorations whilst the men of the family get tangled in all the lights. I hope you have a good holiday season.

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  182. Im printing all the blocks and recipes to give to a friend for Christmas, and I would love to win the fabrics so that I could share some in this gift!

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  183. I love caramel corn. My Grandmother used to make caramel corn balls every Christmas. Sooo good!

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  184. Making cookies, christmas music and having family and friends over, not just Christmas day but the whole holiday season....Great give away..THANKS

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  185. I love taking a hot chocolate and walking through the neighborhood with lots of Christmas lights.

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  186. Our favorite Christmas tradition is opening a gift on Christmas Eve which is always new pajamas! Thanks for the chance to win!

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  187. My favorite Christmas tradition is reading the Bible account of Christ's birth on Christmas morning with all our family gathered around. A close second is my husband singing O Holy Night each year in church - beautiful!

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  188. We love to ride in the car and look at all the beautiful lights on the houses around town.
    Shawn In Michigan

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  189. My favorite tradition is watching "It's a Wonderful Life" while putting up the tree.

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  190. We love being all together from far and near,
    and having fun with each other.

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  191. My favourite Christmas tradition is driving or walking around the neighborhood to enjoy all the Christmas lights.

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  192. Our favorite Christmas tradition is going to the candle service on Christmas Eve.

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  193. My favorite Christmas tradition is going to the candlelight service on Christmas Eve. I also love listening to Christmas music while I sew throughout the month.

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  194. Thank you for the recipe and block pattern! Also for the chance to win one of the sweet prizes!
    We will have to come up with new traditions because of our daughter getting married and my mom passing away this year. One of my favorite traditions use to be the whole family getting together at my parents' house on Christmas Eve and eating chili.

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  195. My favorite tradition is Christmas PJs for the kids. My mom did it for 7 of us as kids, and I did it for my daughters and now we are doing it for our grandsons. Mom's theory was that at least we would look good for Christmas morning photos.

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  196. My fa orite Christmas tradition is Christmas AM brunch with our kids and grandkids. we are a blended family so everyone has Christmas eve with in laws and then dinner somewhere else on Christmas day. So we have brunch at noon and sit around telling stories and playing games. I love the holidays,

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  197. favorite tradition would have to be opening our stockings on Christmas morning.

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  198. Our favorite Christmas tradition is the Family Photo moment. We line up all the cameras on their timers and run back to get in the pic! Sometimes it takes many tries until the picture is perfect! Fun and laughter and a great addition to our photo albums going back over 20 years.

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  199. Thanks for the special treat!
    BTW: How the heck can you fit 400 people into your home? Happy Holidays!

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