Yay! It's Giveaway Day!

It's that time of the year once again, and Giveaway Day has come once more! I'm chuffed to be taking part in what has over the years grown into a week-long event of holiday spirit and generosity, so without further ado, here's the, ahem, star of my giveaway! :)

(I really wanted to take a photo of Stella atop a real tree, but it's been nothing but rain, rain, rain and drab grey here, so this is an artist's representation of what she'd look like sitting on top of a Christmas tree.)

This is Stella the rag-star and she's eager to get to grace the top of someone's Christmas tree.
Stella is made out cotton, and she's stuffed with rags and polyfill. She has little button eyes, an embroidered mouth and pretty blushy cheeks. There's a bit of elastic on her back, so she can be easily strapped to the tip of a tree. She's about 15 cm long from prong to prong.

I'm giving Stella to one lucky person who leaves a comment on this blog entry as to what their favourite way to decorate for the holidays is. I'll assign a number to each commenter, with the first person to comment getting number 1 and the second number 2 and so forth. Then, come the 16th (that's this coming Friday) I'll draw a number at random to see whose tree Stella will fly over to (it doesn't matter where in the world you live, I'm happy to ship internationally).

For me, it's hard to decide which is my favourite bit of holiday decor, lovely Christmas lights or the tree with all it's trimmings. Although right now, I'd have to say that the lights are the best thing, since winter has been a very dark and drab time over here this year, so all the shining, sparkling and twinkling lights that have appeared everywhere really do brighten things up a lot!

Be sure to check out all the other blogs taking part in Giveaway Day as well, there's a whole lot of long, long lists of them over at the Sew Mama Sew blog. :)

Edit on December 16th: Commenting is closed and I'll promptly pick a winner now. A great big thank you all who took part!

Comments

[Neo]

Actually, I don't decorate much... But at least I'll use my Iittala Christmas mugs. :D

[montse]

I love the softie star! What a terrific giveaway!
Xmas lights also put me in a Xmas mood... :))

[Jessie Hansen]

My favorite thing about decorating for the holidays is the new ornaments we try to find to make each year. This year I've been making fabric pinecone balls and cinnamon apple ornaments, but next year I think we are going to use our dehydrator and do something with oranges. I am so excited!

[Kristin]

Every year we make froot-loop garlands for the tree. The kids love making them, and even the smallest of littles can make their own garland. It is funny to watch the garlands near the base of the tree shrink as the kids sneak nibbles off of them. But oh, so much fun.

[Jenny]

Definitely lights, the winter is long and dark (and depressing and not to mention cold)so the lights really cheer me up. They are so pretty and sparkly. And it's just so fun to put up all the Christmas lights and sing along to Christmas music ^^

[Shawn]

Mainly twinkly fairy lights :)

[Louisa]

Christmas lights are my favorite. They add some brightness that is much appreciated at this dark time of the year.

[ToveB]

Oh, I'm terrible at decorating! I think I've only ever had a tree once or twice in my life. I try to remember to put up a star in the window, but more often than not I forget or can't find it. I don't even have a box of Christmas ornaments. :-o

[Amanda]

As we put the decorations on the tree, I love telling the children about where all the decorations came from and each year we add a new decoration to the collection. A new star would be lovely!!

[Maryn]

I've been looking for a star for my tree! I love this one!

[Jerimi]

I ADORE Christmas lights. I like to sit in the living room, in the gold glow of the Christmas lights, and have hot chocolate. Is there anything better?

We decorated a little differently this year. We strung beaded garland on the tree, and added a lime-green glittery star. The tree scarf is from the dollar store, until I can manage to make one. We did put a red fleece under the tree, too, for the kitties to cuddle up on. They love having the tree to play hide-and-seek under. :)

Thanks!

[aimee]

aww, I love Stella! I have an ornament for every year of my life, I love getting them all out each year for my tree.

[Deb Riddell]

Oh Stella is indeed a star, I would love to win her and have her grace the top of my Christmas tree! My favourite part of Christmas decorating is the lights; I love white lights and have them on the outside of the house, on the tree, down my staircase, on my mantel .... well, you get the idea LOL! When it starts to get dark at 4:00 p.m. and the lights come on it fills me with a feeling of warmth and contentment. Thanks so much for the opportunity and wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Deb

[Barbara (rhubs)]

I love to put birds & nuts on the tree!!!!

[Caren]

I love Christmas lights. I like making ornaments, but my favorite decorations are the lights. Winters are so dark and dreary, it's so nice to have cheery lights - they make me "glow" inside! Thanks for posting your giveaway on SMS, I'm glad to have found your blog (I also make soft toys!)

[Lisa L.]

How adorable it Stella!!? I want her on my tree!! My fave way to decorate for the holidays is with lights. Most years we kind of pick a color theme and this year we are working red and silver. Thank you for the chance to win! :)

[kate C.]

Cute star! We just decorated our tree last night, but it could use a star on top. I think my favorite thing is our Christmas stockings! I made them for my three girls and they make me smile!

[Kathi]

My favorite thing is the tree skirt with my kiddos handprints from each year.

[karen peachey]

I love bringing in fresh pine greens & stringing lights in them!

[kathy h]

Your little star is so cute. We decorate with a mix of handed down decorations and new ones that we have made or bought.

[pammalammadingdong]

Favorite way to decorate is in my head...all the great crafty projects I see creative people on the internets thinking up. Sigh. Someday.

[Marilize]

Eep! Oh Stella - you are the star for me. Where have you been hiding all my life.

Eerika - this little cutie is just too precious. Thank you for a very cool giveaway.

I love changing it up every year and living with Mr. Super Grinch in a small flat does bring on various challenges. This year I am obsessed with the vintage theme and our little home is filled with papery goodness. There's even an old book mini-tree - whoop!

I am obviously following you now - you had me at Stella :)

[dana]

Stella is quite cute, and glad to have a new blog post from you!
Most of my holiday stuff is in boxes as I just moved, but plan to do ribbons and a banner with some ornaments across the fireplace this year! Just to have a little something holiday-like!

[Niina]

Christmas lights! They are the must. I`m also hoping to own so many decorations that I could decorate every available surface. The more, the merrier.

[Justine in CT]

The tree is my favorite - love re-visiting all the ornaments from years gone by, especially those made by me children when they were young!!!

[marion]

I bought some glas mushrooms for this year. And I love everything in red and green.

[Rane]

I am in love with stella, such a sunny little star !! I agree this winter has been drab and very dark and dull. I love the lights too... so twinkly as if they were each a little firefly.
Thank you for considering us for your little give away.

[laurel]

every year my daughters and i make a new decoration, but i think my favorite is still popcorn chains - i alternate two pieces of popcorn with a cranberry colored wooden bead...

[illusia]

I've only started to enjoy Christmas again this year. My favourite Christmas thing is a simple paper star with a light in it. I put it up already in October when it started getting darker and darker outdoors. It looks so warm and cosy.

[British American]

Aww, how cute! And our angel's head fell off, so our tree is in need of something for the top right now!

We decorate with Hallmark ornaments from the previous years collection. My kids had fun adding theirs to the tree this year.

[Paula Castro]

The Stella is really lovely, I love to decorate my Christmas tree with handmade ornaments

[Lizzie]

Another vote for lights! My favorite thing is when I pass by a house at night, and I can see their Christmas tree through the window, all lit up in the dark house. It's such a cozy, festive feeling.

[Susan]

I love making buntings for each holiday. So far I have a happy birthday and a halloween one. It's time to make my Christmas bunting!

[liz]

Stella is adorable. My daughter will love her! Our dog is also named Stella as she has a star patch on her chest.
I love christmas lights and a nice xmas tree!

[Emily Flippin Maruna]

I'm a fan of buntings, paper snowflakes, and candles.

[Amanda S.]

Stella is a lovely shining star!

I usually decorate with tradition Christmas colors but this year I decided to be different and put up a white tree and decorate in pink, turquoise, and silver. It's so fun!

[Trinity]

I decorate with lights, lights, lights! I hang them everywhere, and I love the pretty glow that it leaves in my house. I always leave the lights up a little longer than socially acceptable, too. :P Thanks for the sweet giveaway, and Happy Holidays!

[eve]

I love our large over stuffed Christmas tree. We always wonder if the ornaments will fit and they always do. :)

[Cinnamon]

What a sweet little star! My favorite part of decorating is setting up all the handmade things I've made up on our mantle. It's such a great little collection that I've been adding to each year. Lots of fun!
scarletteandcinnamon(at)gmail(dot)com

[Miss M. Turner]

I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to Christmas lights. Even though we're in an apartment, I make sure to decorate my balcony as pretty as possible!

[Rhiannon]

I've put my wooden angel outside my front door to welcome visitors!

[Norma]

what a cute little star! I just want to squish it :)

I love having the stockings on a mantel

[Leo]

we keep it quite traditional - advent wreath with 4 candles, all other big Christmas decoration goes up on the 24th together with tree. All decoration we have is handmade by us or was recieved as present - except the glass balls for the tree (which are quite a mess as I was allowd to pick a new pack of 5 each christmas for 20 years, so you can imagine there are quite some impossible combinations)

[Robyn]

I like vintage decorations. Thanks for the giveaway!

[Jenny]

I like to let my kids do the decorating, they have so much fun decorating the tree and making paper snowflakes to hang around the house. :)

okiedokiemama at yahoo dot com

[Elaine]

I love decorating with the Christmas decorations that my mom gave to me, it helps me to have positive memories of her!!

[Binks]

OMGosh!!! That star is freaking adorable! Unfortuantely, I'm not allowed to decorate the house because I lack a sense of "refinement", according to my family. I would just go all holiday balls out. I'ma kid like that.

[Ginger]

Um, I love your Stella star. My first baby was born a week before Christmas (7 years ago!) and we named her Stella. She is my Stella star.

My fav decoration is the red berry wreath on our front door. It is so cheery.

[Penny]

Oh how sweet is she ?

My favorite decoration....perhaps the white tree I decorate in my kitchen in red and white. I spend so much time in my kitchen I want it to be beautiful and decorated for Christmas like the rest of the house, it makes me feel happy and joyful :)

[Jamie]

I let my kids decorate. Every year we make some ornaments and each year the tree gets fuller and fuller. I love Stella, what a sweet gift.