September 8, 2008 | Contests

Apparently quite a few of y’all like those Weight Watchers desserts. That’s great news, because it leaves more full-fat cake and cookies at the store for me. (Oh, I kid. Everyone knows that to neutralize the calories, you have to bake it yourself.)

176 of you managed to enter the contest before the super-quick deadline, and today’s lucky winner is commenter 33, Lindsay. Congratulations, Lindsay! Please check your email, because I have three coupons for you but my psychic abilities are on the fritz and I need your address.

Big thanks to everyone who played, and to my pals at MS&L for donating the coupons.

Missed this one? No worries! Another great contest is coming up later, with an even bigger prize. Pinky swear!

September 7, 2008 | Contests

If you are female and American, chances are you’re on a diet right now, or have been at some point in the past. We could talk all day long about why that is or what it means to be healthy or why so many women are unhappy with their bodies, but I have to get to church.

Instead, let’s all agree that whatever your personal body image demons, there’s nothing wrong with a little dessert that doesn’t pack on the pounds. Weight Watchers makes snack cakes, cookies, and muffins that are only 1 WW point apiece. (Wait, I lied—the muffins are 3 points. Details. The cookies and snack cakes are only 1.)

As part of a balanced diet plan… well, blah blah blah, you know the drill. Please don’t eat nothing but snack cakes. Anyway. I have coupons for three free Weight Watchers sweet baked goods items, and they’re going out to one lucky Want Not reader.

Want to win ‘em? Simply leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) tonight, Sunday, September 7th, 2008.

And then you can go get three boxes of guilt-free snacking. Not that you need it—you look fabulous, darling.

September 4, 2008 | Contests

Once again, the competition was fast and furious. And by “fast” I mean “normally paced” and by “furious” I mean “exceedingly polite.” Y’all are a well-mannered lot.

Nearly 300 entries later, Ye Olde Random Number Generator has generated five lucky winners of Sandra Tayler’s awesome book, Hold on to Your Horses. They are:

• Jennifer (116)
• Tiffany (7)
• Michelle Newman (263)
• Michelle (122)
• Cocosmom (90)

Check your email, please, winners—and enjoy your books!

Didn’t win, but still think the book’s the bomb? Sandra has graciously offered to extend free shipping to Want Not readers on purchases of Hold on to Your Horses! Through September 10th, 2008, simply enter code wantnot (clever!) and your order will ship for free.

Many thanks to all who played, and special thanks to author extraordinaire, Sandra Tayler, for sponsoring the contest. Nothing warms my heart quite the way a great book for kids does, so please, show the lady some support and pick up a copy. I promise it’ll be a hit at your next baby shower or birthday party.

Wishing you were taking home a prize? Patience, my pretties. You know there are always more contests coming.

September 3, 2008 | Contests

If you haven’t yet entered to win Sandra Tayler’s awesome kids’ book, hurry up! You’ve only got until midnight(ish) to put your name in.

As always, I reserve the right to taunt anyone who tries to enter the contest on the reminder post. I think that’s fair.

September 1, 2008 | Contests

No, really—this next awesome contest is all about Hold on to Your Horses, a delightful children’s book written by Sandra Tayler and illustrated by Angela Call. I have a soft spot for fellow writer mamas, of course, but trust me when I say that I get a lot of folks who want to show me what they’ve built or written where I then end up trying to figure out how to respond politely, because what they’ve just shown me is boring at best or bad at worst.

Thankfully, Hold on to Your Horses is one of those children’s books that tells a great story with beautiful pictures; I loved it immediately. Here, don’t take my word for how great it is (but it is great): Go download the free PDF and see for yourself. I dare you not to love it, in fact.

Five lucky Want Not readers will win signed copies of Hold on to Your Horses because Sandra Tayler is extremely pretty. And generous. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008. One comment per person, valid email address required. Winners to be determined by random number generation and stamping of hooves. (Whose hooves? Well, that’s part of the mystery, right there.)

Ready? Go!

Contests

Wow. Wow wow wow. I am definitely going back to contests that only involve random drawings, because what I learned during this contest is that I have a really, really hard time selecting winners.

Big huge thanks to everyone who participated—your pictures were amazing, and I’m so touched at the little glimpses of your lives that you shared with everyone. It was incredibly difficult to pick the winners.

Nevertheless, here’s the winners I ended up with, in no particular order:

• Debra (63), with her spa girls,
• Becky (70), with her baby sunglasses shot,
• and Sue (20), with her very American baby.

Winners, check your email! You should have email from me, and you’ll also be receiving your redemption code via email.

Thanks, too, to the America At Home folks for sponsoring the contest. It really is a gorgeous book and I encourage anyone looking for a great gift or conversation piece to check it out.

There’s another contest coming up later today, so check back!

August 27, 2008 | Contests

Don’t forget—you have through Sunday to enter to win a free copy of “America at Home” complete with a custom cover. Go mock up a cover (directions in the contest post) and leave me the link and you’re entered to win.

We have many fewer entries, right now, than usual. I assume this is because you need to do something other than leaving a “me, please!” comment, but I promise, it is not hard to create an entry and this is a fabulous book. I’m loving looking at all the entries so far, too. Picking the winners is going to be hard!

Anyway, even though you have extra time for this one, don’t forget!

August 25, 2008 | Contests

Hello, my pretties! We’re going to do something a little bit different for this week’s contest.

First, I’d like you to go take a look at the most gorgeous coffee-table book I’ve ever seen—it’s called America at Home and it’s a monster of a tome. This was a collaborative project put together by photographer Rick Smolan (a renowned photographer), and the end result is a stunning collection of day-in-the-life photos from all around the country. It was created during a seven day-period last September by not only 100 professional photographers but by tens of thousands of amateurs as well.

The book itself is beautiful and impressive, but they’re doing something really cool in addition to just producing the book. They’re also selling them with custom covers, which means that you can go online and upload your favorite photo to turn it into the book jacket! Personally, I think this is all kinds of brilliant.

This book sells for $39.95 + shipping and handling, but three lucky Want Not readers are going to win copies of “America at Home” and get to make their own custom covers to go with ‘em.

Here’s what’s different: This contest will not be determined by random drawing. I will be hand-selecting three winners based on your cover photos. Here’s what you do:

1) Go use their custom cover creator to make yourself a cover, featuring your favorite photo.
2) When you get to the final (billing) step, instead of purchasing, click on the “Email my cover to a friend” button and send it to yourself. You will get an email with a link to your cover.
3) Come back to this post and leave the link to your cover in the comments. That constitutes your contest entry.

(Here’s an example of a cover I made and mailed to myself just to give you an idea.)

One entry per person, valid email address required. I will take entries until 3:00 p.m. Eastern (noon Pacific) on Sunday, August 31st, 2008. (That’s a whole week, so plenty of time.) Winners to be determined based on the ones that tickle my fancy. So, um, get to ticklin’.

August 20, 2008 | Contests

My my my my. So many of you value oral hygiene! It’s so heart-warming! And, um, tooth-brightening!

471 of you cast your names into the hat for the fancy new Oral-B Pulsonic, and sadly I only have one to give away. Maybe you could all share it!

(Ewwwwwwww.)

Anyway, the random number generator has spoken, er, generated, and it generated number 208, Aimee! Congratulations, Aimee, and please check your email!

Thanks to all who played, and a very special thanks to my pals at MS&L for donating the prize. And to Oral-B, too, for being so gosh-darned supersonic. Er, Pulsonic. Whatever.

Didn’t win this time? There’s always another contest just a day or two away, so don’t despair. More goodies will be headed out to lucky winners, and you never know when your number will hit the jackpot. (Yes, come to Want Not for the bargains, stay for the lottery—maybe that could be my new tag line.)

Contests

Have you made your entry into the contest to win a new Oral-B Pulsonic toothbrush? Better hurry up—you’ve only got a few hours left.