We asked some local Black Friday super-shoppers for their 2014 strategies.

Take notes! These ladies are serious.

JULIE ZIAJA: Get it done, make it fun

Julie is the associate director of evening & graduate admissions at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach.

What are you looking for on Black Friday this year? Toys to donate, a Ninja blender or juicer, jewelry, electronics

What's BETTER than Black Friday? Shop online, use coupons and discounts, clearance items, make gifts.

What's your holiday shopping strategy? Start on Thanksgiving and mark the ads so I don't miss anything! Enjoy the shopping with family and friends and meet for coffee at 9 a.m. when we are done.

How do you keep it fun? Our family makes Black Friday a fun outing by going together, including the men. Last year we were in Charleston, South Carolina, visiting family so we all went in two cars to Walmart and then Target and Kohl's. We used our phones as walkie-talkies and had a blast cutting up in the stores, taking pictures in the Duck Dynasty camo chair and my husband put on a Walmart smock, directing people in line. Black Friday shopping has become a fun family event and we enjoy the time together and don't take it too seriously.

BONNIE WELSH: Shop like it's Fantasy Football

This Jupiter shopper says Black Friday shopping now has similar rules to 'fantasy football'." These are:

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Ready, set, shop! Tips from area Black Friday diehards

JACKSON, Miss. - Waverley Mansion, near the Tombigbee River between Columbus and West Point, is in need of a paint job. An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign lets the historic home's friends brush up on their fondness for the spot.

The 1852 house, restored over the past 50 years by Robert Snow and family, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. It's also their home, and a generously shared one - open for paying tours.

It's that affection family friend Bob Raymond of Columbus hopes to tap. He watched as history lovers Robert and Donna Snow slowly restored the mansion themselves, room by room, opening each as they finished and plowing every penny back into the process. In its original state when they started, "no electricity, no plumbing, no anything," Raymond said, they rehabbed it after decades of neglect. Donna Snow died in 1991; several of their children still live there or close by.

The campaign began last week with a goal of $16,000, based on estimates from contractors for preparing and painting the front. Friends of Waverley Mansion hope to continue raising money to use in 2015 to finish the rest of the house.

"It's a tremendous undertaking, when the house is that big," Raymond said of the antebellum home with a four-story entrance hall - a big octagon stretching up to the cupola. Perk levels from $1 to $12,000 include a peacock feather from the lawn's showy fowl ($10), to a garden party ($1,000).

The campaign will close Nov. 25, Robert Snow's 89th birthday. "Dad says it's the best birthday present he's ever had," Melanie Snow, who lives in Waverley with her father, said.

Waverley factors deep in the area's lore. It was built by Col. George Hampton Young and his wife, Lucy, who came from Georgia with 10 children to the Black Belt Prairie in Mississippi. Young turned the rich river bottom land into a self-sustaining cotton plantation. When the last of the Young children, a bachelor, died in 1913, surviving relatives couldn't agree on the house's fate.

In 1962, Robert and Donna Snow of Philadelphia, then in their 30s, acted on a tip from a salesman who came by their antique shop. Lost on a dirt road near the river and Columbus/West Point, he'd run across "the most magnificent house he'd ever seen," Melanie Snow said, vacant and open with gold leaf mirrors and marble mantels sharing space with squatting critters. The next day, the Snows loaded up the kids in their station wagon to go find it.

"My mom and dad fell in love with Waverley the moment they saw it," Melanie Snow said. "We weren't moneyed people, but we were able to get the house and 40 acres" and began a lifelong restoration.

In its vacant years in-between, "it was the playhouse for the area," she said. "Everybody courted out there," writing who loves who on walls and woodwork as high as they could reach. Campers, hunters and fishermen came. Stories of ghosts made it a destination for Mississippi State University pledges.

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Antebellum mansion taps 'Friends' for painting help

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Leander, TX (PRWEB) November 04, 2014

When youre a giver like Cindy McNally, it can be hard to accept gifts from others. So when Fresh Coat Painters offered to paint her entire house for free as part of their Paint it Forward project, turning over the reins was a bit of a challenge.

I was humbled by the offer and the whole process has been an exercise in humility. Veterans are givers by nature, even willing to give their lives. Allowing others to be a blessing to me has been huge, McNally said. But truly, with everything Im involved in, theres no way I would have the time to do all this work on my own and I dont have the time to work to earn the money to pay someone else to do it. This has given me the opportunity to improve my home while working to help others.

The interior and exterior of McNallys home was part of Fresh Coat Painters' national Paint it Forward project. The painting was led locally by local North Austin Fresh Coat Painters franchise owner Karen Wagner. Sherwin Williams, Fresh Coat Painters national paint partner, donated the paint for the project.

Of the submissions to receive the whole house painting, Cindy was selected as the winner and she definitely deserves it. Cindy is extremely giving and passionate about what she does and this is our opportunity to give back and say thank you, Wagner said.

Painting this home for Cindy has been an incredible experience. It feels great to be able to give back to someone who served our country, who is a Blue Star Mother and who does so much for the veteran community. I hope to stay in touch and get more involved with her efforts in the future, she added.

Fresh Coat Painters is a leading residential and commercial painting company with a focus on customer service and professionalism. The company offers professional residential and commercial painting services including interior and exterior painting, wood staining and refinishing, wallpaper removal and many other services for nearly every protective coating application. They use quality, environmentally safe materials and offer a live 24/7 customer service center, online scheduling and free detailed quotes. All Fresh Coat employees are insured, trained and background checked.

Wagner opened Fresh Coat Painters North Austin in the spring of 2012 after 18 years at Dell. The local business serves Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, North Austin and the surrounding communities.

When my sons graduated high school, it was time for a career change. I wanted to open my own business and I was impressed and continue to be impressed with the Fresh Coat Painters franchise. The last two years have been great and this community is a wonderful one to be part of. I absolutely enjoy meeting with clients and getting to know the people who live in the area as well as getting to know the area itself more fully. Its all just very rewarding, Wagner said.

Sherwin Williams was thrilled to be involved with the project.

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Fresh Coat Painters Paints Cindy McNallys Home to Say Thank You

If you or someone you know is planning work on a pre-1978 home, please make time to take precautions against the possibility of lead poisoning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that about 500,000 U.S children ages 1 to 5 have elevated lead levels in their blood. Lead paint, estimated to exist in 40 percent of the U.S. housing stock, is considered the most hazardous source of lead for U.S. children, along with lead-contaminated dust.

Even a tiny amount of lead can cause nervous system, kidney, hearing or other damage, as well as development problems. Children age 6 and younger are at special risk because they lack the developed blood-brain barrier that protects older children and adults from more severe effects.

Since 1978, the federal government has banned residential use of lead-based paint. But old paint can chip. Also, any project that disturbs old paint such as painting, remodeling or window installation can create dust and debris that an infant or child may inhale or ingest.

Thats why the Environmental Protection Agency has required, since 2010, that contractors whose work disturbs lead paint be trained and certified in proper safety techniques.

Unfortunately, the Angies List research team recently found significant discrepancies between what federal law requires regarding lead-safe home-improvement practices and what some service providers tell potential customers.

Posing as parents who wanted work to be done in their 2-year-olds bedroom in a 1920s home, our team called 150 renovation contractors. We said we wanted to know the proper ways to strip paint or replace windows, window frames and door frames. Nearly 32 percent of the contractors told us they didnt have EPA lead-safety certification, and nearly 11 percent described work practices that might actually result in lead poisoning.

In 2007, when our team conducted similar research, about a third of contractors we interviewed gave advice contradictory to federal guidelines. Im glad theres been an improvement, but our work shows that homeowners must take matters into their own hands when ensuring the safety of their loved ones.

If you own a pre-1978 house, or your kids spend time in one, please spend the time and money it takes to ensure that a home improvement project doesnt create a health hazard:

Hire someone to test your home for lead. There are many in-home kits you can buy, but for more certainty, hire a reputable, experienced lead detection service.

Ask any painting or remodeling contractor youre considering if the company is appropriately certified in lead-safe practices.

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Lead Paint Remains A Threat in Homes

PANICKED motorists were left fuming after discovering their cars had been moved to another street by workmen who were repainting road markings.

Some drivers were on the verge of tears, believing their vehicles had been stolen after returning to find their vehicles missing from the Southampton street where they had left them.

In fact workmen had hoisted the cars on to a transporter and parked them in nearby streets to allow them to continue painting lines on the recently resurfaced road.

Drivers spent hours searching for their vehicles last night while making frantic calls to the police in a bid to find their cars.

After being reunited with them, drivers hit out at Southampton City Council asking how they were allowed to move their vehicles without warning and without any notification as to where they had moved them to.

Letters from the council had gone out to residents three days before the lines were due to be painted by Balfour Beatty, contractors for Southampton City Council.

The letter reads: We have made several attempts to complete this work but have found that motorists are removing the cones and parking cars in the spaces which has prevented work starting.

No waiting cones will mark the working area. Please be advised that any cars parked on the eastern side of Carlton Road between Wilton Avenue and Archers Road will be removed to the nearest available area, a record of which will not be noted.

"If your car is removed we will not be responsible for its safety and location or for any costs incurred by its relocation.

A spokesperson for the AA said that the action was pretty dramatic but that the council do have the right to remove cars if warning has been given.

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VIDEO: Driver 'loses' car - after roadworkers take it away

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