The Winners of the "Winter Wonderland" Photo Contest

After much deliberation, our panels of five judges has come to a decision.

Here's how we judged:

There were 5 judges - myself, three historical seamstresses of high skill, and one professional photographer. In the interest of privacy, I will not reveal the names of the judges, but they are all people I have known for years, know to be fair and unbiased, and trust absolutely.

Each of the judges independently chose their top 10 photos from the 90+ entries on the basis of overall composition, mood/feeling, costuming prowess, and photography. From the top 10, we narrowed it down to 7 that all five judges had included in their top 10. Then, each judge was asked to score each of the 7 photos with a point system - their first choice received 10 points, second choice 9 points, and so on.

The points from each judge were added, and the winners are as follows:

1st Place - 47 points

Karolina Z. "Christmas Love Letter"

2nd Place - 39 points

Lauren M. "My husband and I took his 1939 Plymouth to get our Christmas tree, and we dressed up for the occasion. We don't get snow where we live, but the smell of fresh pine and warm coats always signify a winter wonderland to me!"

3rd Place - 34 points

Maija - "Dressed up warmly for a stroll in the park!"

Congratulations! I will contact you within the next day with your gift certificates.