Just in time for the holiday season, here's some good cheer worth spreading. From now through November 30, CharityBuzz.com is hosting a live auction of celebrity and designer-created papier mache homes to benefit Women in Need, an organization that provides housing and support for homeless women and their families in New York City.

Each home is a one-of-a-kind creation designed by a smorgasbord of VIPs including Diddy, the Beckhams, Halle Berry, Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, the Today Show anchors and many more.






The highlights:

• a blinged out chopper on Diddy's roof
• Isaac Mizrahi's sparkly get-happy bubble-gum pink creation (above)
• Bobbi Brown's house made of eyeshadow and blush compacts: makeup brushes for a chimney! (below)
• candy-wrapper covered house by Dylan Lauren, appropriately of Dylan's Candy Bar
• lots of other awesome creations below

VIEW ALL THE HOUSES HERE

With a little bit of digging, and a lot of prodding, we pulled together some tried-and-true cleaning tactics, as well as some out-of-the-ordinary approaches to tackling the nastiest, most aggravating cleaning tasks that you hate to (but have to) do at home.

We've got the quick and easy solutions if you've only couple a few hours. But if you're ready to roll up your sleeves and dive in, we've got the down-and-dirty approaches too. Pick your poison and er, enjoy?

I don't know about you guys, but my college dorm room was anything but stylish. If I'm going to be painfully honest here (and yes, this is going to be painful), I had my share of decorating no-nos. I definitely did the tapestry thing. I believe it was tie-dyed and it might have said LOVE (hey! I said might have). My roommate and I had white Christmas lights in the window. We once painted wooden snowflakes many-a-colors and hung them from the ceiling with dental floss. We each had a body pillow, mine was plaid. In retrospect, why does anyone need a body pillow? Anyway...what dorm room would be complete without a corkboard. Mine was smattered with photos of me and my boyfriend. They were from our prom. Oh, sweet youth.

Being pretty far removed from college days, and even further removed from the days of sending kids off to school, I feel out of touch with what's cool on the back-to-school front. Given all of the technological progress that's taken place since I donned that cap and gown, I'd venture to guess dorms can be pretty damn cool nowadays.

Well, our friends over at StreetLevel confirmed my assumptions. Check out their guide on How to Have an Awesome Dorm Room. No tapestries here. Pinky promise.

After just three months on the market, Mary Lou Retton's Houston home has been reduced by 10 percent to $4.7 million, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Retton, the gold medal Olympic winner, built the home with her husband in 2002. Having recently relocated back to Retton's hometown of Fairmont, W. Va., the family decided to put the six-bedroom, eight-bathroom house on the market. It's complete with a gym and a pool and it sits on two acres of land.

View pics from the real estate listing

It's a home that comes with an undisclosed price tag and the hope of potluck dinners with the First Family. President Obama's next-door neighbors in Chicago have put their Kenwood mansion on the market.

The home is located at 5040 South Greenwood Avenue, a historic, affluent area situated between the lakefront, The University of Chicago, Washington Park and various proposed 2016 Olympic venues. It was originally built in 1906 by A.R. Clark, the original owner of President Obama's home at 5046 South Greenwood.

This 6,000 square-foot turn-of-the-century home rests on lot spanning over 12,000 square feet -- that's over three standard Chicago lots, according to the Matt Garrison, Managing Director for the Matt Garrison Group Homeselling System, a team within Coldwell Banker.

"It's unprecedented to have a home like this available next door to the sitting President," says Garrison . "Our marketing strategy is to get as much exposure to the house as possible without a price tag, give it four to six weeks and then see where offers start coming in."

In the first day of listing, the realtor's website had over 7,000 hits. A typical listing receives only 50 to 100 in one day. The group plans to identify serious buyers over the next several weeks. Once they've narrowed their search, the Secret Service will then step in. What they intend to do with candidates has yet to be discussed, however, it has been said that tours of the home will not be given until a screening by the Secret Service is complete.

The current owners are long-time friends of the Obamas. Bill Grimshaw is a political science professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and his wife, Jacky, was Mayor Harold Washington 1983's campaign manager. Washington was Chicago's first African-American mayor.

The Obama's moved into their Kenwood home back in 2005, but the two families met back in 1993 when Mrs. Grimshaw hired Michelle Obama as the executive director of Public Allies. Once they became neighbors, however, the two families became even closer. "There was never a time that their girls didn't speak to us. They were extremely friendly," says Mrs. Grimshaw. "I have a special place in my heart for those little girls," she says, claiming they are what she'll miss most upon leaving her home.

One of her favorite memories of the First Family, was "Seeing Michelle outside leaning on one of the Secret Service barricades. I asked her what she was doing and she said, 'Teaching my daughter how to ride a bike'. I was so happy to see that even with all the secret service agents, life was normal."

So, how can the next neighbors expect to be greeted by the First Family? "With open arms," says Grimshaw, with the utmost certainty. "They'll be very protected and will get used to it. They'll just add another thing to their planning schedule," she says. "The Secret Service must know who comes and goes at all times."

As reports emerge about potential buyers and hoards of interested viewers, it seems as though Madoff's Montauk beach house may be snatched up faster than expected despite the circumstances under which it hit the market. The home, listed at $8.75 million, went on the market on Sept. 1 and already there are two confirmed bidders. As reported on CNN, it took only four days for Montauk real estate broker Joan Hegner to land two bids on the house and over a dozen prospective buyers. More are expected later this week. "We have people coming from Florida, from Germany," she is quoted as saying on CNN. "Since Tuesday, it's been bedlam. My poor dog is neglected."

We can't help but wonder: While the place is spectacular and the views breath-taking, would you want to live in a home tainted by the memory of what investors believe to be the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history? All three homes after the jump!

For many, having a vehicle in New York City is a big-time luxury -- no hailing cabs, no cramming on to overcrowded subway trains. Having a place to park it that doesn't involve dodging meter maids? Well, consider it a dream come true. Such is the case for John J. Mack, Morgan Stanley CEO.

Mack, with wife Christy, has reportedly purchased a $13.5 million carriage house in New York City's posh Upper East Side. For a moment, let's forget about the amazing third-floor garden that runs about 31-feet wide from the home's north to south end and the fact that there are over 9,000 square-feet to stretch out in. Why? 'Cause there's a 12-car garage on the first floor! (Did you hear that? That was my jaw hitting the floor.)

Now, I'd be avoiding the elephant in the room if I didn't make mention of the fact that reports of this purchase come less than a year after Morgan Stanley received its $10 billion bailout and less than three months after it was repaid. Make of it what you will, this home's got a 12-car garage in Manhattan and that is downright insane (not to mention a whole lot of gas money).

Pics after the jump. Assess for yourself!

There's a new pad popping up amidst the glitz and glam of good ole Los Angeles and there's one "die-hard" celeb who's ready to move on in. After checking out the place, we can hardly blame him.

Luxist reports that Bruce Willis, along with wife Emma Heming, has purchased a unit on an upper floor of The Carlyle, an exclusive new high-rise located on Wilshire Blvd. in the heart of Los Angeles' Golden Mile. The building, scheduled to open this month, listed its penthouse at $5.4 million.

Willis' three-bedroom, three-bath unit is about 5,000 square feet and has a private elevator. The building itself boasts a whole bunch of lavish features including a $1 million Dale Chihuly chandelier. Take a look inside to see the building's incredible interiors. Pics after the jump.

As you probably already know, us ShelterPop'ers have been covering the NY International Gift Fair going on now in New York City. Despite its name, the fair isn't just about gifts -- although many of these products, I'd love to get as one. Designers big and small come from all over the world to put their creations on display while store owners and buyers come to purchase goods that will then be sold in their stores.

As members of the press, we get to go and ogle all of the amazing creations we wish we could have in our own homes. Let me cut to the chase. This is the stuff I loved. Period. I think you'll agree.

1. The Boogie Woogie Salt & Pepper Shakers
Creative Danes, two Scandinavian designers, are the makers of these ingenious salt and pepper shakers that come with wheels so you can push them from one guest to the next at dinner. Bonus: they don't tip over. (I tried them, they're genius!)