The words $100 shopping spree can be music to a crafters ears! Here’s one way you can win $100 worth of crafting stuff from Crafts, Etc. Just enter to receive their newsletter, and you could win enough money to scrapbook until your fingers bleed. (haha)

Best of all, this shopping spree is given away every single Friday.

One thing I like about this particular craft site is that they have a “project assistant” which allows you to look for materials and new project ideas.

Image: sxc.hu.

It’s time to show some hometown pride with the Steak-umm “Hometown Burger” recipe contest sponsored by Quaker Maid Meats. Simply use a special local food in a dish built around Steak-umm Burgers. Who knows – maybe you’ll invent the next Philly cheese steak! Each entry will be judged on originality, taste, visual appeal, creative pairing of your hometown ingredient with the Steak-umm product, and the extent to which the recipe brings out the essence of the local cuisine.

The grand prize is a Weber Q 100 Liquid Propane Gas Grill – just in time for summer barbecuing. The two runners-up will receive a 10” limited-edition Steak-umm frying pan.

The contest runs through June 15. Winners will be selected by June 25. Recipes can be submitted to hometownburgercontest@sspr.com with the subject line ‘Hometown Burger Contest.’

Sublime Stitching, Fred Flare & Amy Butler have gotten together to create one of the coolest crafting contests I’ve seen in a long time!  They want to inspire you to upcycle:

“If you’re like us, you recycle glass plastic and paper, compost your food waste and take your own shopping bag when you go to the store. Right? (”Of course! “) So do you ever think, “why do I need a trash can at all ?” What’s going in there? Well, take a look at the leftovers, get inspired, and create some handmade treasures from so-called trash! We wanna see how you can creatively re-purpose items that you have lying around the house, unused, or that might haveotherwise ended up getting thrown ‘away’. Perish the thought!”

Upcycling can be as simple as using fabric that was going to be thrown out or as detailed and complex as creating a masterpiece from scrounged materials.

So get creative, be thrifty and think twice about what you’re using!  Just click on the graphic to get all the details.

image: Sublime Stitching

I never thought I would like massages, but a few years ago I was getting married and my bridesmaids took me out for a massage. Wow - it was like heaven! In this very busy world sometimes it’s nice to just have some completely focused on making you feel serene and relaxed. Ahh….

Massages are expensive, though. And since I’m a frugal girl, I haven’t been back to get one since I can’t find anyone to pay for it! If you’re someone that likes massages, you might want to consider this contest. You could win a year’s worth of free massages.

Image: sxc.hu.

Longtime Jeopardy! host, Alex Trebek, heads off for a trip to the Galapagos Islands, and you could be going along with him.

In celebration of Jeopardy!’s 25th Anniversary, the show is selecting 25 viewers (and their guests) to accompany Alex onboard the National Geographic Endeavour for a 10day/9 night voyage.  The Galapagos, just off the coast of Ecuador, are one of the most biologically diverse and conservationally important areas on Earth.

The contest runs March 30th – May 1st.  To enter, you need to watch the show (of course!) and then go to the Jeopardy website to submit the Final Jeopardy! category for the episode.

I’ve been a Jeopardy! fan over the years (remember, Seattle is the home of BIG winner Ken Jennings), and have fantasized a time or two about standing at the lectern with that buzzer in my hand.  Now tease me with a Galapagos trip, you can bet I’ll be watching.

This archipelago of volcanic islands, known for its diverse wildlife, is located around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

What are the Galapagos Island’s, Alex?

Photo credit: wikimedia commons

If you enjoy using our National Parks, help your kids appreciate these national treasures by getting them involved in the Junior Ranger Essay Contest sponsored by the National Park Foundation.

Students aged 9 to 12 are asked to answer the question:

Why are our national parks important to you and what is your best idea to protect our parks for the future.

Essays must be no more than words in length, and must be submitted by May 1st, 2009.  Read the judging criteria and other details, as well as submit your entry online.

First Prize is a $1,000 Visa gift card and the opportunity to direct a $5,000 contribution from the National Park Foundation to the winner’s favorite national park.

Photo credit: flickr

Do you want a little publicity from the entire Lifestyles Channel on b5media?From October 6 - 17th, we’ll be hosting our Second Annual Lifestyles Channel Blogtoberfest.

We’re planning to run this event for two weeks during the month of October (or until the prizes run out). During that two weeks, we’ll be giving away some amazing prizes.

If you’d like to participate by offering a prize (in return for a little publicity throughout our channel) please email Gayla with the following information in the following format:

1. email gayla AT b5media DOT com (substitute AT and DOT with the appropriate @ and .)
2. make the subject line ‘BLOGTOBERFEST PRIZE’
3. describe the prize you would like to offer (what is it and it’s value)
4. include a link to the prize if you have one - if not, a company website would be fine.
5. include your name, the link to the site you’d like us to link to in return for your prize and a graphic you’d like us to use along with your mention.

NOTE: While we would like to include as many prizes as possible - however, we won’t be able to accept every offer for whatever reason. We’d like to encourage prizes that are in line with at least one of our blogs’ content - so our readers will benefit the fullest from their participation.

Also note that our channel has an international audience and prizes need to be able to be received by readers around the world so please factor this in since you’ll need to pay for shipping.

Prize submissions will be accepted until Tuesday September 30th.

Prize Suggestions: Cash or gift certificates are always a plus, gadgets and random fun things. Electronics, books, memberships, toys and just about anything that is “suitable” to at least one of our blogs.

We’d rather keep this event unique, so things like ‘hosting packages’, services and ‘ebooks’ aren’t going to exactly be relevant to participants. The more fun and creative the contribution the better (and value is a real plus).

What do you get in return?

You’ll be getting promotion in return for your prize on a number of pages/posts throughout the entire channel that yields a high number of visitors daily and monthly. Historically, once a contest of this magnitude is underway, you’ll probably get linked to from other blogs also as these events cause quite a stir around the blogosphere.

You will be guaranteed at least 2 links from every participating blog in the channel and multiple links from the blogs you sponsor for each prize you sponsor.

Example: One sponsor contributes 4 prizes, that’s 4 blogs that provide multiple links to your product website along with the channel wide promotion posts.

The better the prize the more attention you’ll get!

Now, let’s see just how creative some of you can be!