A Merry Little Christmas Giveaway

Who else is really excited for Christmas this year? I know some of you are because I’ve already heard you talking about it and pinning ideas like some Tazmanian devils.

I’m SUPER excited this year, so I’m going to kick things off right with a giveaway! Would you like to win one of these pretty little signs? How about two?

Allrighty, just suffer through skim over enjoy my attention whoring story first, then I’ll tell you how you can win!

Earlier this year after the holiday season died down and all the decorations were tucked back in the attic I had an email pop up in my inbox that I never expected to see. It was an editor at BHG.com asking to feature my Christmas mantel on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

And this was me…

No, not really.

But I seriously squee’ed and did a little happy dance in my chair. Apparently there is a person who works for BHG who just scours the internet looking for blogs to feature. Something about my mantel caught her eye when she was sifting through the frajillion other gorgeous mantels at The Lettered Cottage Christmas mantel link party, and I was chosen as one of the lucky few to be featured on the BHG “Real Home Christmas Mantel Decorating” slideshow.

THANK YOU, Better Homes and Gardens for choosing my mantel to be on your website. And THANK YOU to Layla and friends for hosting some seriously popular link parties!

This is the photo I submitted to BHG:

And here is how it looks on their site:

HA!! I’ve been cropped!

Flipping through the other mantels, I feel like mine is just a Freshman band geek trying to walk the hall with the Senior cheerleaders. Not to mention the fact that the picture is all blurry because my lens pooped out on me after our Vermont vacation last year. Of course my new lens that I asked for bought myself for Christmas hadn’t arrived yet. I kinda want to hide from embarrassment and ask for a do-over on that pitiful fuzzy photo. I swear I can do better than that, BHG! Instead I’ll just laugh and say Attention all Bloggers, take note! Always post only your very best images on the innerwebs. You never know when your favorite magazine might come a-knocking asking for a copy for their website. Oh, and it might be a good idea to check underneath your furniture for any toys/ socks and random Crocs that might be lying around or your picture might get cropped into oblivion. DOH.

Martha Stewart I ain’t, people.

Seriously, though, I cannot tell you how honored I am to be a part of this slideshow. It’s exciting and blush-inducing all at the same time.

Maybe I should have submitted this photo instead.

Or this one! Ehwell. Too late now. Fuzzy McCropperson it is.

Fast forward to a few months ago, when the new 2011 BHG Christmas Ideas magazine came out. Have you seen it yet?

Of course I ran to Walmart when I heard it was out and bought a copy for myself. I was so excited to see two of my favorite blogs– Centsational Girl and The Lettered Cottage– featured in all their shiny paged glory with some fantastic decorating ideas.

Then, right smack in the middle of Layla’s beautiful article I spotted this:

YES! It’s like six degrees of Christmas mantel separation! I’m almost famous! This is the closest I’ve ever been to making it into a magazine before, so I am going to be the big dork who posts just the picture of the link to my picture in the slideshow.. Hey, I might even give my mom an autographed copy.

So, thank you for letting me toot my horn for a minute. And in honor of all that excitement, I’m a-gonna have myself a merry little Christmas giveaway here on the old blog! This week I’m giving away TWO sets of these Christmas signs that you can use to adorn your mantel this year, or regift to your Mother-in-Law. Whatever. You decide.

Giveaway #1: One lucky giveaway winner will get these two signs right here:

Giveaway #2: And a second someone else will win these two signs right here!

I’m excited to see these pretty little pieces of typography bring some holiday cheer to two of your houses this year. They are made by Primitives by Kathy. I like all her stuff!

That’s it!

I’ll let random.org choose two winners for me on Wednesday, November 16th at 8:00 pm CST.

Good luck everyone!

And try not to shat in your pantaloons if you are the winner, mmkay?