Seen & Heard. Martha Stewart Lists. Cleaning, Organizing, etc.

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller, Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, 1966

That's how I've always approached cleaning with two small boys in the house.  Yes, this is clean.

However, there are the occasional days where the miraculous three happen: 

1. I have time to clean
2. I want to clean
3. I have the energy to clean. 

Those are the days where I get on a roll and then there's no stopping me!  Granted, those days are FEW and FAR between, but they do exist - I promise!

There are some cleaning things that I do everyday no matter what, and those are based on the Martha Stewart "Six Things To Do Every Day " cleaning list that I found some time ago.  They are:

1. Make the Bed.
2. Manage Clutter.
3. Sort the Mail.
4. Clean as you Cook.
5. Wipe up Spills while they're Fresh.
6. Sweep the Kitchen Floor.

These lists are fabulous and a great place to start if you need some organization (like I do!).  There are weekly and monthly cleaning checklists, as well as seasonal cleaning checklists.

Martha has more lists that you may find helpful.  She has Celebrations checklists (which cover parties) as well as Holiday checklists (which are for Holiday entertaining).  There are also Moving checklists and another one of my favorite the Home keeping checklists, which show how to organize a linen closet, and Spring Home Maintenance.  I also like her Stocking Up checklists for cleaning, home essentials and safety.

You can find all those lists and download them in pdf's here.  Check them out and tell me what you think!!

p.s.  I am working on the posts for my son's Bowling Party!  It was a hit!  Stay tuned...

Linking up to...

Debbie Doo's Newbie Party
It's Overflowing linky party
Tip Junkie handmade projects linky party
Printabelle Wonderful Wednesday linky party

Craft. Christmas Soldiers.

This past weekend was so beautiful that it inspried me to craft.  I have always liked the look of clay pot soldiers, and after seeing this blog post I just HAD to make my own!  I have yet to add the belt and the bottom, but I was so proud of my quick work that I just had to put them out now.

Here is what I used to make two soldiers:

1. Ten S10 clay pots from Michaels
2. Paints
3. Gold ribbon
4. Epoxy (for final assemby)

I used my countertop to do most of my painting - just put some Glad press and seal on my counter to protect it!  BTW...LOVE this stuff...I use it all the time in crafting...makes a great paint tray liner too!! 

OK, back to the soldiers!

I started by painting all my pots.  I'm not a big fan of primer so I did not prime them first which then took me more than one layer of color.  But really, it dried so quick that it was no big deal.  My paints were not glossy, but I wanted a shiny red coat so I bought some Martha Stewart gloss which worked well.  It went on super thick and clumpy so I was worried, but I got the shiny effect I wanted!  Woo hoo!

Now I was ready for the coat.  I could not find flat gold buttons that I could afford, so I spray painted some black and white flat buttons gold - whatever works right!  Then it was on to my face.

I knew I needed both faces to match, so I freehanded the eyes, nose and mouth on an old cereal box and cut them out as templates.  Worked perfect!

Once the face was done, I glued some ribbon for the hats (I am casually skipping over that part because it doesn't look so good.  Haha.  Note to self...next time use rick-rack instead of ribbon!). 

 Then I assembled all my pots for the final look!

 Ta da!!  Don't they look GRAND!!?? 

No, the angle of the photograph is not an illusion...I took these photos backing up and leaning around my landscaping to get both soldiers in, yet not get the blue pots in front of the soldiers in the picture!! 
I'll do better next time ;-)!!