thanksgiving and the giveaway winner

 

Tomorrow in the US is my favorite holiday.

Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for so many things—

home, security, two challenging and rewarding children, a patient husband, good health. . . 

I really could go on all day.

But today, I am thankful for you.

Thank you for commenting, for trying my thrown-together recipes, for coming 

back time and again to listen to me ramble.

Thank you.

I have a little something for you.

Something to keep the kids out of your hair for at least five minutes while you

are cooking/entertaining/relaxing tomorrow.

Click and print.

(When you click on the picture, it will link to a Google Document for printing.)

Enjoy!

 

One more thing—

we have a giveaway winner to announce!

Congratulations to commenter #9:

 

Kimberly W!

Congratulations Kimberly.

You will be contacted via email with further instructions to receive your calendar.

Thank you all for participating!

Have a great weekend.

BleuOiseau Photography giveaway

We are long overdue for a giveaway here on MakeHappy, aren't we? It's time to remedy that. I asked Ashleigh Coyner of BleuOiseau Photography if she would offer something from her Etsy shop for our giveaway today. She is treating one lucky winner to this 2012 bookmark calendar! Thanks, Ashleigh!

 

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post by Tuesday November 22nd at 11:59pm Pacific time. I will randomly choose a winner the following morning. Be sure to include your email address if it's not linked to your commenting account. (If you win, but I can't contact you, I will choose another winner.) Read on for more information and photos. . .
 

 

This calendar includes twelve bookmark/calendars, one for each month, topped with a different original photograph taken by Ashleigh. 

 

You can use them as bookmarks:

 

Or hang them up—on your wall, on your fridge, next to your computer, next to your bed, in the bathroom, in the car. . . anywhere you need a quick reminder of the month's events. There is space to write notes for wordy reminders, or for your kids to draw pictures.

 

The coolest part—for me—is at the end of the month, you can trim off the calendar portion and use the photograph as a small framed gift or notecard. Hooray for fun repurposing!

There's no denying it. 2011 is almost over. We're all going to need new calendars before we know it. I already bought one of Ashleigh's photo calendars, so I'm set.

I also have Ashleigh's pumpkin photograph hanging on my wall as part of my fall decor right now,

 

her recycled paper pear notecards I use when I write to my husband's grandmother,

 

 

and her Candy Cane Love print waiting patiently to go up when the fall decor comes down.  

This is my favorite. I love this one!

 

So go browse around Ashleigh's shop. You're bound to find some gifts for those hard-to-buy-for people on your list. Check out BleuOiseau's Facebook page, too. And leave a comment below to enter the calendar giveaway!
 

Again, to enter this calendar giveaway, leave a comment on this post by Tuesday November 22nd at 11:59pm Pacific time. I will randomly choose a winner the following morning. Be sure to include your email address if it's not linked to your commenting account. (If you win, but I can't contact you, I will choose another winner.) Good luck!

and the winner is...

The winner of the Husky Powertek Precision Cordless Screwdriver is 

#2

Cathy!

Congratulations Cathy!

I sent you an email with further instructions.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Have a great Thursday!

Husky cordless screwdriver review + giveaway

 

Husky Tools recently offered to send me the new Powertek Precision Cordless Screwdriver to review here and give away to one of you. Of course I agreed. How cute is this little screwdriver? 

Let's get the fine print out of the way up front: I received one (1) Cordless Screwdriver from Husky Tools to review and give away. I did not receive any other compensation for this review/giveaway. The following review is absolutely my own opinion. I would never give you anything but my completely honest opinion in any product review.

The screwdriver arrived last week and I decided to try it out while assembling a Christmas gift for Sweetpea. Here it is, in the package:

Here are the 12 included screwdriver bits:

And one shot with my thumb for reference. These bits are pretty tiny. 

It's great that they all fit in the case with the screwdriver, though. 

You know me and organization–everything has to have a home.

My favorite thing about this screwdriver is that I can load it with one hand. 

This comes in very handy while taking blog photos. :)

OK. Ready? Set? Let's go!

Hmm. Well, a bulky one inch screw was too tough for this "Precision" screwdriver. My project needed something with more muscle. I took a look at Husky's promotional video and found that it's definitely a screwdriver for tiny screws–crafts, toys, models, electronics (including computers), glasses, etc. I should have looked at the video first. Duh. So I grabbed the nearest toy and gave it another shot:

It worked great! Of course, you can't tell that from this photo, so I made a little video.

(Very short–15 seconds. Sorry for the blinking light.)

Super duper, eh?

This will come in awfully handy for putting batteries in all those new toys Christmas morning.

I really love how the screwdriver fits in my hand. It's super comfy and very lightweight. Definitely one-handable. (Yeah, I know that's not a word.)

So, again, this is not a beefy, manly screwdriver. This is a lightweight, "precision" screwdriver for little screws. If you have projects that need a delicate touch, this is the screwdriver for you.

Want it?

I thought you might.

OK.

We're going to do this quickly, 

because I bet some of you out there would like this for a Christmas gift.

Leave a comment on this post by Wednesday, December 15th at 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you.

I will choose a winner via random.org on Thursday, email the winner for a mailing address, 

and hopefully get the screwdriver on the mail truck by Friday. 

If you don't live too far away from the Northwest, you should have it by Christmas.

(However, I cannot guarantee it will arrive by December 25th.)

Ready? Set? Enter! And tell your friends!

Oh, and if you don't win this time, you can find this screwdriver at Home Depot. 

It retails for $9.88. 

Perfect stocking stuffer.

According to random.org, the winner of the pretty pink rose earrings is...

Teri H!

Congratulations Teri!

I've sent you an email with further instructions.

Thanks to everyone for entering.

I'll be back tomorrow with my favorite around-the-house multi-purpose tool.

Any guesses what it is? What's your favorite multi-purpose tool?

from rose buttons to earrings...and a giveaway

Aren't these the sweetest little earrings? This idea sparked from Erin over at Sutton Grace, who showed her readers how to make earrings from buttons. It is so. easy. And there are thousands of gorgeous buttons out there that I would never use on a piece of clothing, but I would love to wear on my ears.

Erin used jewelry making pliers to remove the button shank. I don't have jewelry making pliers, but I do have a tile nipper. It worked perfectly. The button and shank flew a few feet when I clipped them, so eye protection might be a good idea. :)

I just love how these dainty little earrings are the exact color of my pale pink skin. This means I can wear these earrings with absolutely anything, for a tiny fashion boost.

 (By the way, if you're ever looking for a self-esteem boost, do not take macro close-ups of your skin.)

*   *   *

I'd like to take a minute to say thank you. Thank you, longtime loyal readers, who have been with me since the earliest days. And thank you, new readers (there have been a lot of you this past week–welcome!), for showering me with lovely comments and browsing through posts, new and old.

To express my gratitude, I made a pair of earrings for you, too. 

I am giving away one pair of handmade pink rose earrings. To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post, and make sure I have a way to contact you. (If your email address is linked to your comment profile, great! If not, please leave it in your comment.)

The deadline for entries is Wednesday, October 13th at 11:59pm Pacific time. I'll announce the winner on the blog (and contact the winner via email) after the comments are tallied and random.org chooses a winner.

Sorry, no extra entries for following, "liking" on Facebook, or tweeting. I'm doing something a little different this time. If you'd like an extra entry, you can post a photo in the makeYOUhappy Flickr group. This should be a photo of something you've made inspired by a {make happy} blog post or inspired by an idea posted on the {make happy} Facebook page. It can be a craft, a recipe...anything. One extra entry for each photo posted in makeYOUhappy. Be sure to come back here and add a comment to let me know you posted a photo.

Good luck to you, and thank you for all your support!

Fine print:

These earrings are completely new, never worn, on surgical steel posts. The plastic buttons have been adhered to the earring posts using E-6000 glue. If you are the selected winner, I will contact you for delivery information.

Surprise!

I told you yesterday that I made four little owlies. This owl pattern of mine (no, not mine, Simplicity's) is just too complicated, so this version of owl is being retired.

But don't worry. I'll be back with more once I complete the redesign.

For today, you can enter to win my very last Simplicity owl! Aren't you excited?? Can you tell that I am?? This is my first ever giveaway and I'm super excited about that! Let me show you what you're entering to win:

(I know her left eye looks a little funny, but it's just the camera angle. See?)

Yes, her name is Adelgard. Yes, I know that's a little strange. But I work very hard to find names that seem appropriate for owls but also mean "protector." Or in this case, "noble protector," which is even more suited to an owl.

So here's what you do to enter: 

Leave a comment, with a way for me to reach you, by Saturday, April 10, 11:59pm pacific time.

It's perfectly fine to do "myaddress at gmail dot com" so the trolls don't getcha. Sunday, I will choose a winner using the Random Number Generator. If I can't find a way to reach the winner, I will choose a new winner. I will then contact the winner via email and post his or her name on the blog Monday.

Want a second entry?

• Become a "Google follower" (look up on the left sidebar) and leave me an additional comment telling me so.

...OR

• Become a "fan" of make*happy's Facebook page and leave me an additional comment telling me so.

Two entries maximum per person, please. 

Good luck!