kate's online space: A Dozen Reasons to go to IKEA....

Here's some wonderful finds that we've either picked up recently, or been gifted from the lovely and innovative IKEA....(scroll down to the very bottom of this post for pictures to coincide with each of the #'s)

1. I love these bowls for my son's food. They are microwave safe, nice and sturdy, cute in color, and the perfect size!

2. These chopping boards are great because they're bigger than normal size cutting boards and easier to move around. I like to chop up more than one item on them (like fixins' for tacos) and use the board to serve off of too!

3 & 4. These toys were gifts from my parents for our son. I can't say enough about them, they're both so perfect, and made very well! Each toy is like a double toy because they each have their own set of blocks to do additional things with. I love that they're both made out of solid wood too....it's hard to come by toys like this that aren't super expensive!

5. These bowls are great too because they're a little higher around the sides, making them perfect for kids to hold on to (or try to) while walking, or for you while shielding them from trying to tip over. Super cheap, and in cute colors too.

6. We got this hooded towel for our son when he was just a wee little lad, and here we are a year later, and he still has plenty of room to go! A lot of kid towels are super itsy bitsy, which is kinda waste, since you can always fold part of the excess towel up and around the child.

7. I LOVE cute places to put things!!! This sage green set is new (I love!), as last year they had a red gingham set that I got, but the size and of these are perfect for so many things....we use some of ours at our changing station, and some on our son's bookshelf for little toys!

8. Any kind of IKEA's thick and soft hand towels are SUPERB burp cloths. Trust me on this- they may be a bit pricier, but wash up really good, and are very absorbent.

9. This spatula and I had been searching for one another for a long, long, time....finally, we met, and it truly was love at first sight. Afterall, who hasn't longed for a sleek, skinny, serving spatula to serve their dessert bars in perfect sized square pieces without getting crumbs and other remnants of the bars on or around each piece? Magic.

10. What great gifts these jars of jam make- just tie them up with a cute little card and some red gingham ribbon and you're all set!

11. This is the treat you give yourself after a hard day's shopping! These little Prince cakes are as delicious as they are cute and even come with cute mini crowns on them! The Draper location also has veggie wraps which are really yummy, and you MUST get those individual wrapped chocolate chip cookies by the register. My sister said that I started to talk about how good they were before I even took a bite....they're that soft and perfect, you just know they're going to be GOOD!

12. Who can resist a LARGE sized rich, European, chocolate bar? My favorite flavor of these bars are the Hazlenut kind. Their size makes me feel like I'm eating something decadent and naughty, like right out of Willy Wonka Chocolate's factory!