DIY Life

Here at DIY Life, Earth-friendly ideas are always a popular topic. So, when we heard that our sister site Green Daily is running a fantastic giveaway from Gardener's Supply Company, we couldn't wait to tell our readers about it!

One lucky reader will win a complete composting kit, featuring more than US $300 in supplies. The centerpiece of the prize is the Earthmaker Composter (a $225 value), but there are also plenty of accessories in the package, including a nifty odor-busting crock in which you can collect your kitchen scraps before putting them in the compost bin.

To learn more, and enter, please visit the giveaway post at Green Daily and follow the instructions: all you have to do is leave a comment telling them what you would compost if you were the winner. If you've never commented before, the system will require you to confirm the comment with a legitimate email address. Good luck!

If you don't win, a few great DIY composting ideas may come in handy. Check out the following posts:

• Bethany's Start your own worm composting bin
• Create a compost pile in your back yard, also by Bethany
• Francesca's Make a compost bin from shipping pallets
• Anna's 163 items to add to your compost

We've started notifying our Toolstravaganza winners-- and a big thank you to everyone who entered. Since our notification email contains words like "giveaway" and "prize" we urge you to check those junk mail folders. Many filtering systems are easily confused, and we'd hate for you to miss the prizewinner email.

Also, we require a bit of paperwork in the form of an Excel document. If you don't have a copy of Microsoft Excel, there are actually a few free alternatives that will allow you to open, edit, and re-save the .XLS format.

There is an entire office suite for your machine, be it Linux, Mac or Windows, called OpenOffice. This open-source project includes a word processor, spreadsheet app and presentation tool, just like MS Office. Did I mention it is free? Now if you'd rather not install something and you have a Gmail account, there's always Google Docs, an online suite of office apps (no presentation tool yet, but they have a private beta). Lastly, there's Zoho, which adds CRM, wikis and more to their office suite. Zoho is a commercial enterprise, but you can use the office apps, with some restrictions, for free.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned in the future for more great giveaways!

UPDATE: The email will be from weblogsinc, as Weblogs is an AOL company. Sorry about the Excel requirement, but you are free to refuse to participate and we'll pick someone else.

Today's prize is a scrapbooking wonder: the Cricut machine. Pronounced like the jumping bug, a Cricut comes in handy if you're tired of using scissors to laboriously carve out letters for scrapbooking, cardmaking or anywhere you need paper letters and shapes. The Cricut is easily transported and stored, like a little papercutting robot. Using cartridges and dies you can combine and scale things to get new shapes and sizes. The keyboard on top tells the machine what to cut, and there a loads of extra cartridges (not included in our prize package) for adding new fonts later.

To enter today's giveaway for a chance to win a Cricut machine, simply leave a comment on this post during the entry period. Today's entry period, like all during our Toolstravaganza giveaway, is 5AM to 11:59PM Eastern (although your entry today, August 9, will be to win the Cricut machine). Full rules after the jump, or on our Toolstravaganza page. Good luck and happy scrapbooking!

Today we're kicking off the 2nd phase of our Toolstravaganza giveaway. In this round (and with just 13 more days to go) we'll be giving away more artsy-craftsy stuff. To get started we've got not one but four Xacto products! Today's prizes are: Xacto precision soldering iron and hot knife tip, a 9x12" Xacto self-healing mat, the handy Xacto X-tra hands with magnifier and the Xacto deluxe hobby tool set. The set includes a bunch of blades and knives, a jeweler's screwdriver, block plane, sander, balsa stripper, gouges, pin vise drill bits and a coping saw with blade. The set comes in a nice wooden chest as well.

To enter, leave a comment on this post and validate the comment (check your email and click to verify so the comment appears on the blog). Entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EST on August 2. Full rules on our Toolstravaganza page and after the jump. Good luck and thanks for reading!

Need to work on something tiny? Day three of our Toolstravaganza brings us tools for the small stuff. A telescoping magnetic pick up tool for when you drop a screw into the computer case. Tiny pliers, tiny screwdrivers, even an itty-bitty mirror for peeking inside tiny crevices. As Steve Martin once said, "let's get small." This is a great set for the computer tech or watchmaker in your family.

As always, to enter, simply leave a comment on this post. One per person, please (we know!). Don't forget to validate those comments! Rules after the jump, and on our Toolstravaganza page.

Today's Prize: Allied International 89038 Micro Precision Tool Set featuring pliers, mini screwdrivers, tweezers, telescoping magnetic pick up tool, telescoping swivel head mirror and a tape measure.

Welcome to day 2 of our Toolstravaganza. For 30 days we're giving away over $4,000 in tools and equipment. Of course, if you're going to have tools, you need a tool chest, right? Grizzly makes a nice little portable tool chest that'll house just what you need for quick fix-it work. Banish that cheap plastic thing or cardboard box!

As always, to enter, simply leave a comment on this post and be sure to check your email and "validate" your comment (it'll appear on the page once you have validated it). For the full rules, check out our Toolstravaganza page or keep reading after the jump.

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Today's prize: Grizzly 3-Drawer Aluminum Portable Tool Chest
Dimensions: 21"W x 8.7" D x 11.4" H



Official rules after the jump.

What's a do-it-yourselfer without the proper tools? Tune in each day for the next 30 days and enter one of our daily giveaways in the DIY Life "Toolstravaganza." For 30 days we'll be giving away tools and craft supplies to fit almost any need. Knitting needles, power tools, beads, hot glue guns and more will roll out every day. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on that day's post (one entry per person please).

Of course, some rules apply (full rules after the jump):

• Contest open to residents of the 50 US states
• Must be 18 or older to win
• Only one entry per person per day
• Entry period extends from 5AM Eastern time to 11:59PM of that day
• Enter by leaving a comment (you must verify your comments, so check your email!) on the post for that day
  

Today's prize? A combo kit from GMC, featuring a cordless screwdriver (3.6-volt indispensable to any proper DIY'er), rotary tool (multi-purpose 1.2-amp), soldering iron and engraver. The kit includes the tools and a bunch of extras: 40-piece accessory kit, flexible shaft, mounting stand, wrench, two bits, magnetic bit holder, soldering stand and a hard case to put it all inside. It's a great little starter kit to get us all started. So tell a friend, and thanks for reading!