1,000 Followers! No way!

Some of you may have noticed that I reached the 1,000th Google Friend follower (not that I'm counting. Okay, I'm trying not to.) I really wasn't expecting this many readers to jump on board so quickly. So, y'all caught me off guard.

Some of my most recent readers have come over from Today's Creative Blog or The Stories of A to Z. (Thank you Kim & Beth!) Well, I'm so glad you are here and I hope you enjoy my blog.

In the tradition of celebrating certain follower milestones, I will be putting together a giveaway for one lucky follower. In the past I gave away a Hollowed Out Book  with a gift card to Border's inside.

and a CD/DVD Visor Wallet with a gift card to Amazon.com inside.

But, this time I'm going to be offering something REALLY special! You'll have to wait to see what it is. I need to work out a few more details, but I should be sharing what the giveaway is and how you can win soon. Please bear with me until then. (Can you tell I was really surprised by this milestone?!)

In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the "Falling in Love with Your Home" series.

Up tomorrow: learning some de-cluttering secrets!

We have a WINNER!

Ahem, may I have the drumroll please?

 Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tata...

...and the winning number chosen by Random.org is:

#59 (well, that is random isn't it!)

Michelle! Wooohooo! Come on down and pick up your prize:

And for everyone else, don't be blue. I was a busy beaver in September and stood up to Robin's Stashbusting Challenge. So, when I saw this tutorial written by Jorja over at Puking Pastilles (Great name! Don't you think? Any other Harry Potter fans?) I knew this was a great way to bust some of my fabric scraps.

I took some of these:

 And a few of these:

And cut them like this:

 Then did a little of this:

To make this:

And because I already had my stash out, I also made these:

 But, I put the most effort and love into this one:

Because it is for someone very special to me! You!

I will choose one of my followers (via Google Friend Follower or FeedBurner) to receive a Pretty and Handy CD/DVD visor wallet. So, you too can roll around town with one of these:

But, wait! There's more! Inside one of the sleeves will be tucked one of these:

And the best part is that if you are already a follower you will be eligible. You don't have to do ANYTHING! No tweets, no likes, no comments, nada, zilch, nothing.

One of my Pretty Handy Assistants (Boy #1 and Boy #2) will choose a follower for me at the end of October. So, if you aren't a follower, head over to my side bar and either click the "Follow" button or add your email address to the FeedBurner subscriber box.

Thanks again to all my readers. I wish you good luck in October!

Now, I have officially said goodbye to Summer. Sniff, sniff.

Giveaways: Reminders and Announcements

Hey, y'all (did you know I live in the south?) But, I also lived in Philadelphia for 9 years where I worked very hard to get rid of my southern accent. (If you live there, yoos know wood I'm tawkin' about.) Unfortunately my southern accent hasn't come back completely now that we are back "down hee-yar". Every once in a while I'll hear myself say Git, but never Fixin'. And I was shocked when my six year old started calling me Mama the other day.

Anyway, sorry for the diversion, on to a few giveaway announcements:

I wanted to remind you that the "Beach in a Bottle" from the Painted Cottage giveaway ends September 30th at midnight EST. That would be tomorrow night! So, be sure to enter if you want these adorable bottles in your home:

Right now I only have 36 entries, so your chances of winning are VERY good. Plus, you can have up to five chances to win!!!

Now onto some exciting news: 

 

500 FOLLOWERS!!!

You followers snuck up on me! When I added you up the other day, there were over 550 of you (both Google Friend and Feedburner combined!)

When I started this blog a few months ago, my goal was to empower a few people to take on their own DIY project; to be gently nudged out of their comfort zone; and to feel the sense of accomplishment from completing their own DIY project. I have received so many wonderful comments and emails from readers who have tried something new after reading one of my tutorials. If I haven't told you, your comments really made my day! And it made every hour I spend on blogging so worth it! Thank you so much.

Way back when (who am I kidding, only 2 months ago) when I reached my 100th follower, I surprised that lucky lady (Sharon from thisthriftyhouse.blogspot.com,) by sending her a decorative book with a secret hiding spot.

And, inside was an Amazon gift card! I hope she put it to good use.  At that time, I also promised to have another special gift for one of my followers when I reached 500 followers.

I've been working on a special gift for this special giveaway. So, as a thank you for being so sweet and checking back with my posts, I will be giving you this!
 

 Do I hear crickets chirping?

It is a CD/DVD wallet for your car visor! (If you want to make your own, read the tutorial here.) And if that wasn't enough, it will contain an Amazon gift card tucked inside! Cha-ching! I don't know about you, but I don't have much time to go shopping for the little necessities that I desire. And when I do go shopping, there is bound to be a scene (if the boys are with me, because when are they not!) Can you say, "Emmmbarrrasssing"? So, I prefer to do a lot of my online shopping on Amazon.com.

AND... because I appreciate y'all and value your time, I'm not making you jump through any hoops or making you break out your online bullhorn, or leave me any comments (but, you can if you want to), etc. etc. It is simple, if you already follow Pretty Handy Girl, via Google Friend Follower or Feedburner (both available in the side bar), you are in the running to win. If you aren't – well – I apologize, but I won't be able to track you down to notify you that you won.

One of my two lovely assistants (my 4 and 6 yr. old sons) will choose one of my followers at random to receive this special 500 follower gift.

Thank you for your precious few minutes that you spend on my blog. I have lots more DIY tips, tutorials and fun in store for you.

P.s. I will enter any and all followers who jump on board up to October 31st. Okay, so maybe I am making you jump through just one tiny hoop.