Speed Cleaning Giveaway
I spied a tweet the other day that piqued my interest:
@karen_ehman, attended your “Keeping your Ducks in a Relative Row” workshop and decided to make a few cleaning aprons.
In attempting to live my priorities, and encourage others to do the same, I have adopted into my routine Speed Cleaning. (Okay, not so much lately as I’ve been busy trying to finish up my latest book project. Currently, well, let’s just say I am thanking the Lord that I have a man who doesn’t mind dishpan hands! ;-))
Speed Cleaning is a concept my friend Suzy introduced me to almost 20 years ago. It is based on the book by the same name and created by a man named Jeff Campbell.
Visit his site. His products are fabulous and worth every penny.
When I teach speed cleaning, I also show how to use a apron crafted to hold your supplies so you have everything right within reach and do not have to walk the perimeter of your home several times. (You know….go around and dust everything. Then take the window cleaner all around getting rid of the cute little finger prints. Next, take the all-purpose cleaner and clean the counters and sinks….etc… You get the time-wasting picture, right?)
Well, my new cyber friend Sheri, who heard me speak a few weeks ago at the Hearts at Home conference on the campus of Focus on the Family, has made some absolutely adorable cleaning aprons and has them for sale on Etsy.com. She is kind enough to give away one to a commenter today.
Here’s a bit about Sheri:
I am a military wife and homeschooling mom of 4. I fell in love with aprons about 14 years ago as a new Christian and new mom, listening to Elisabeth Elliot speak on Susanna Wesley covering her head with her apron to pray.
I just love the message wearing aprons conveys of home, love, comfort, etc. It’s like a homemaker’s uniform.
I love sewing any apron, I had made a similar design as a “cash” apron, and after hearing Karen’s Workshop on “Keeping Your Ducks in a Relative Row” I decided I needed my own cleaning apron, and since I recently started placing items in my etsy shop, I made some extras.
I will take custom orders and currently have free shipping with code SHIPFREE at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SheriMomto4
I love it. I love that she is using her passion to help others (like me, who can’t sew a straight seam) and earn some money at home for her family.
And, oh do I have a special place in my heart for military moms! Please check out her Esty site.
Okay girlfriends, leave us a comment today sharing your biggest cleaning headache.
Do you wrestle with your dirty floors?
Have an aversion to washing windows?
Can’t stand to keep up on keeping the fridge rid of rotten items that resemble a science project gone bad?
What is your greatest cleaning challenge?
You just may win a free apron.
Happy cobweb busting!
I clean for a living so when i get home i start to look around and notice that my house is not as spotless as the ones i clean. I also clean an office three times a week in the evenings,so i do not have that much time to clean mine like i would like to. I only have mondays and wednesdays to clean do laundry and cook meals. My garage needs to be decluttered! Who has the time.! I thank you for the apron idea and by reading everyones comment i am glad i am not alone. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am currently reading your book A Life That Says Welcome and loved the apron idea! My biggest challenge is clutter that accumulates on the kitchen counter and desk areas.
I dislike cleaning but embrace the idea of speed cleaning!! Would love the apron! I too love aprons and have a closet full but not one like this!! Thanks!!
My biggest challenge is that I’ve never been a particularly neat person, but I married a total slob and now have two kids two and under! This has really motivated me to step up my game; my house isn’t perfect, and probably never will be, but it’s slowly but surely becoming more functional day by day.
My biggest challenge these days is getting motivated to clean at all!
My biggest problem seems to be the fact that my family thinks the house is a “self-cleaning” one :) They do not realize it does not clean itself unless I get sick…then it gets noticed. Laundry and toy clutter are big challenges also. I think they “multiply” at night while we sleep.
Via email:
Karen,
I am blessed with a man who doesn’t mind helping around the house. That said, we never run out of laundry piles for me to fold. He is like a laundry washing robot. :)
Thankful to have the helping hand, Anna Bracken from Missouri
My cleaning challenge is cleaning itself. I think am a good cook and would rather spend my time cooking rather than cleaning.
Cleaning….the whole idea is a challenge because I would rather have fun than clean!!! Dusting is a challenge I think I’m in the dustiest house ever, I dust and not even 30 minutes later there is a layer of dust! Aprons take me back to family times when my grandmother did everything: clean, cook and always wore an apron, and sewed everything. Unfortunately the sewing didn’t get passed down to my mom or to me. I wish it had it is such an art! But the love of aprons did and just like my grandma and my mom, I wear them all the time, and now my 8 yr. old daughter has her own and loves to wear them to help me.
A cleaning apron would be wonderful so the supplies would be right on hand!!
My biggest cleaning challenge is the kitchen. 4 kids and homeschooling keeps me really busy so the kitchen gets out of control very fast.
Time, kids, life, and ….. CLUTTER!
My biggest cleaning challenge is the Kitchen Floor. We live on a farm and it does not matter how many times I sweep the floor every evening they are covered with dust and straw. My boys also like to leave the door open and their pet Turkey likes to find his way in.
These days my greatest cleaning challenge seems to be cleaning clutter; paperwork, to be exact. I don’t understand it, but in this modern age of computers, I seem to collect MORE paper than I ever have. Many of the companies I deal with print out receipts large enough to write a small book on! While I try to stay ahead of the accumulation, it always gets away from me. And yes, honestly, I just finished cleaning out a drawer and tossing out paperwork that we no longer need.
Oops – my biggest cleaning headache is most definitely the floors. I think it’s because they seem to get dirty right after I clean them! I’ve tried putting rugs by the doors, having the family take off their shoes, etc. The dog doesn’t seem to help either. Help!
Getting to it at all! I clean for a living so I’m not at all motivated to do my own!
Kinda like my dad, who was a fabulous cook and owned a restaurant yet never had anything to eat at his house for us kids but Cherrios. :-)
I dislike dusting the most!
My biggest challenge seems to be my clothes!! When I am finally getting into my jammies–I am to tired to put things away!! I am also not great at keeping the fridge clean–Hoping an apron might help me change!!!! Blessings, Barb
My biggest cleaning headache is m
My biggest cleaning challenge is staying on top of it all! With 6 kids, husband overseas, and all the running that church school and sports involves…I have wanted to make my own apron numerous times, but I find myself sitting and thinking, I really should be….rather than sitting at the sewing machine! ; – ) An apron like that would definitely come in handy, though, to be able to walk around and get it all in one swipe! Thanks so much for your ministry!
Jennifer
Seeing these aprons bring back such memories! My mother always made her own aprons and growing up she never cooked without one on. She even made one my size and my daughter used it when she went to Grandmama’s. My mother is 93 years old now and does not sew or wear aprons but what a wonderful memory today. Thanks so much. Wish I could sew as beautiful as she did. She used to make her curtains, bed skirts, clothes for her and me, even made me a coat when I was little!
Jane— Your comment made me smile :-)
I absolutely DESPISE cleaning my bathroom, – UGH!!!!!
One of my biggest cleaning headaches has been the basement! Lots of STUFF stored down these from adult children, dirty from the woodstove that we use to heat our home and way too many Christmas decorations! In Sept. there was a flood in our area and we ended up with 2.5′ of ground (clear) water in our basement-ended up throwing out a lot of stuff and it is the cleanest it has been in the 30 years we’ve lived here! .
OK….I’m a slob. I can clean my house really really well one week…then the next week I slack off because I cleaned so hard the first week…then the NEXT week I tell myself that things don’t look “too bad”….and by the next week cleaning is SO much harder to do and takes me all day Saturday to do. I need to find a quick cleaning routine that I can do each week so that I’m not working myself to death one whole day :(
I’ve recently moved into a new home. I am overwhelmed and trying to find creative ways to lighten my load so to speak! I would love to have a cleaning apron!
My biggest cleaning challenge seems to change weekly. I will get one challenge under control and find another one! Today it is laundry and changing out the sizes and seasons in the closets of three girls who are growing too fast! I want to be organized and tidy where it isn’t overwhelming.