The Mother's Birthday Giveaway!

Today is the Mother's birthday -- but the gift could be for YOU!

We spent the day running around yesterday because today I'm going to get to Phase 2 of the outside project. (It's her birthday; it's what she wants.) We were stunned by how packed everywhere was yesterday. You'd think there were only a handful of holiday shopping days left instead of nearly 50. Of course, the mother has all of our holiday gifts WRAPPED and almost all of them tagged.(I'm making more tags and it's turned into a joint effort between us.) But ... onto the giveaway!

In honor of the Mother's birthday, I'm giving away a $65 gift certificate to CSN Stores. That means you have more than 250 stores to select from to spend it. Consider it a jump on YOUR holiday shopping!

You could put it toward a drop leaf table, maybe a little something for the little ones in your life or maybe, taking a tip from This D*mn House, a new mailbox!

The contest will end at 11:59 PM Central Time on Thursday, Nov. 11. So get entered now. Here's how:
Leave a comment on this post – 1 entry (post-related ONLY, please)
· Tweet this post’s link – 5 entries
· Write a blog post – 15 entries (your post must contain a link to the contest post)

LET ME CLARIFY ... The MOST entries you can get is a total of 21. You need only tweet once to claim 5 entries. Leave me a link in the comments. If you write a blog post, leave me a link in the comments and you claim 15 more entries. You don't have to leave me 15 links in the comments. You won't get more than 21 entries. I LOVE getting comments (and thank you for the many kind birthday wishes for the mother and get wells for me) ... but not spammed!

In your comment, I'd love to hear how much of your holiday shopping YOU have done already.

One fine print note: The gift certificate DOES NOT cover shipping costs.

Can't wait to hear your responses. GOOD LUCK!

A Birthday Give-away: Win a B&D 24V Trimmer!

It’s Ozzie’s birthday (he’s 13!) – but the gift just could be for you.

In a first of its kind contest at This D*mn House, a Black & Decker 24 Volt Cordless String Trimmer/ Edger with PowerCommand™ is up for grabs. Ozzie and I are both very excited about giving something away! And thanks to our friends at Black & Decker for making it possible.

You just read my review (and if you haven’t, go do it now) so you know what you might be getting! Believe me, you want this. Take it from someone who HATES yard work!

There are THREE ways to get your name in the hat. Please note, while you can do all three, you can do each ONLY ONCE (for a maximum total of 21 entries). Here’s how to enter:
· Leave a comment on this post – 1 entry (post-related, please)
· Tweet this post’s link – 5 entries
· Write a blog post – 15 entries (your post must contain a link to the contest post)

For the latter two, please let me know you’ve done it! (You could even make THAT your comment on this post and earn another entry.)

What you get: the trimmer/edger, charger and 24V battery with a retail value of $139.

Contest ends at 12:01 a.m. CDT Sunday, June 27. What are you waiting for? Good luck!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

You find out the d*mndest things sometimes when you check your email.

Thank you, Todd, and Sears! Can't wait to get my hands on this baby. You know there will be a review.

Hammer Time

Before you go all '80ish, begin sing-rappin’, and dancin’ around in tent pants that could safely house a country’s worth of refugees … it’s not that Hammer.

It seems our friends over at Charles & Hudson have announced a new award, The Hammers. Here are the only rules: Our goal is to discover new sites with great content that we're hopeful can help you with your own home improvement project.All blogs are eligible even if their main focus isn't home improvement as long as they regularly share great insight on do-it-yourself projects.

Hit the link above and nominate a worthy site – or sites – by Friday!

It would be hard to nominate just one because so many of you are not only amusing and encouraging, but helpful, too! I'm thinking ...

Baby Needs Some Beadboard

In as much as Baby could really use some beadboard, this is an entry to get me in the running for a $100 Home Depot Gift Card. Wouldn’t that be an awesome way to kick off the holiday season? It’s the perfect gift for the DIY-er! (Especially since I should have my own personal parking spot under the contractor canopies at both Home Depot and Lowe's, right?)

If you think so, you can enter too over at Todd’s site, Helpful Advice for Home Construction Improvement. Or, at least, check out his site. Todd’s building a house so he might be able to offer something useful for you. I particularly like his product reviews. And, Todd was gracious enough to offer me a guest column slot earlier this year.

Why, you ask, do I need beadboard? There’s already beadboard up in the kitchen and bathroom, downstairs in the family room, and a stack waiting to go up on the mother’s bedroom walls. Well, I need the beadboard for my bedroom. I think I told you some time back about the lovely toile pattern that is going up in the bedrooms. (The mother’s is black; mine is a wine color.) Really pretty stuff and I can hardly wait to see how it turns out!

With the holidays coming, it would be nice to not have to shell out the money to buy the beadboard! Plus, I should even have a little left over to put toward wallpaper paste. Or toward Liquid Nails adhesive and some finishing nails. Or, some chair rail that will separate the beadboard from the lovely new wallpaper.

Todd doesn’t say how the winner will be selected (whether random or by actual judging). He just wants a blog entry with a link back to the contest. He’s got it!

It sure would be nice to find a little something extra in my stocking this year. At the risk of bragging, I’ve been very, very good this year. And I've got the blog to prove it.

A Shameless Plug

OK. I never ask -- or rarely do -- for votes! I'm one of 14 entries up in One Project Closer's Before and After Contest. (I entered the fence because I hadn't finished the porch and walkway at the time.)

If you want, you can vote for me here.

Since I currently don't have ANY votes, I'd appreciate your support. THANKS!