It’s time again to catch up on contests.
• DIY Network is giving away the North Carolina beach cottage that’s being renovated in the current series of its Blog Cabin series. You can enter the sweepstakes twice each day, once at www.DIYNetwork.com and once at www.HGTVRemodels.com. The contest closes at 5 p.m. Sept. 13.
• This Old House magazine’s Great TOH Giveaway is doling out hundreds of prizes, from a $40 sensor that turns off your lights when a room is unoccupied to a $50,000 kitchen makeover. Altogether, more than a half-million dollars’ worth of prizes will be awarded. Enter daily through Aug. 31 at www.thisoldhouse.com/win.
• The Copper Development Association’s Copper Home Innovation Challenge is looking for the best home project using copper. Projects in the kitchen, bath, living space or garden are eligible, as well as decorative artwork. The winner will receive a $250 Williams- Sonoma gift card. Enter at www.copperchic.org. Deadline is Oct. 15.
• Paint maker Farrow & Ball is giving you the chance to create and name your own paint color. The winner will receive 10 gallons of paint in the custom color he or she created. To enter, name your color, describe the inspiration behind it and upload photos or a video at http://tinyurl.com/paintcontest. Deadline is 8 p.m. Aug. 17.
• A $250 Lowe’s gift card will be awarded to the winner of the ChoiceDek Composite Decking sweepstakes. You can earn one entry by liking the ChoiceDek Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Choice DekDecking), three entries for submitting a photo of your ChoiceDek deck or submitting a 100-word essay on your favorite way to spend “me time” on your deck, and five additional entries for every friend who enters the sweepstakes from the referral link on the registration confirmation page. Deadline is Aug. 31.
• Your mole-control troubles could win you $500 in Sweeney’s seventh annual I Hate Moles Because … contest. To enter, submit a short story, poem, video, photo or other means to tell the company why you hate moles, gophers or voles. Enter by Aug. 31 at www.wrsweeney.com or www.facebook.com/SweeneysDIYPestControl.
Events, programs
• Guided Bird Walk, 9-11 a.m. today, Secrest Arboretum, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster Township. Free. 330-464-2148 or cochran.7@osu.edu.
• Barn sale, 8 a.m. to around 5 p.m. today and Sunday, Afterwords Farm, 3947 Brush Road, Richfield. Sale of antique and vintage items.
• Cleveland Botanical Garden events, 11030 East Blvd. Ask the Gardener, noon to 4 p.m. today. Green Corps Urban Learning Farm Tour, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 17 (members $5, others $12, reservations required). Garden Book Club Meeting, 2 p.m. Aug. 17. Garden admission: $9.50; children ages 3-12, $4; members and younger children, free. 216-721-1600 or www.cbgarden.org.
• An Affair on the Square Craft Fest, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Public Square, Medina. Handmade items by almost 150 vendors. Free admission. www.christmasinthecolonies.com/affair.htm.
• Warm Up Akron meetings, 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mogadore Branch Library, 144 S. Cleveland Ave. Members knit and crochet rectangles that are used to make afghans for needy people in the Akron area, and they’ll teach others the skills. 330-699-3252 or http://warmupakron.webs.com.
• Gardening programs, Aug. 17, Akron-Summit County Main Library, 60 S. High St. Seed Saving, 9:30 a.m. Season Extension, 10:30 a.m. Free. 330-643-9075.
Submit notices of classes, programs and events two weeks in advance to mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com or Home and Garden News, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include name and phone number. All events must be open to the public.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mbbreck, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckenridge and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.