Ikea Loot

So the Hess family boys were away at a retreat this weekend and my mother-in-law proposed us ladies head to Dallas for a some girl fun. You know, spending hours at Ikea, dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (Jerk Chicken Pizza anyone?), sleeping in a comfy hotel bed, make your own Texas shaped waffle breakfast, and swimming in the hotel pool...

It was a pretty fabulous weekend. I capped off the weekend with a wonderful lunch with my Aunt Billie. I guess I started the weekend early too by driving to Dallas early Saturday morning for a little thrift shop challenge. (More on that on Friday, really, you will want to see this...)

But today, I'd like to tell you about all the loot I snagged at Ikea. ...Oh Ikea, how smart and genius your people are. How I wish you were closer, but only if I had unlimited funds.

If you've ever been to Ikea (at least the one is Frisco/Dallas) you know you start with the escalator. My nephews LOVED the escalator. Unfortunately there is no down escalator (Smart Ikea) and so the boys may have had to take the elevator down between escalator 'rides.' You know, after we found the elevator, they are very tricky there at Ikea no wanting you to go back the wrong direction or anything...

So we got a map. Which kind of helps. But I LOVE it, it's like a store adventure through all those small little houses and living rooms and kitchens then down to the world of a million awesome things to buy. If you need a map in the store, I consider it entertainment too...

I don't know how they do it, but things just look prettier at Ikea. Maybe it's because they are prettier... or maybe it's the low prices...

They even sell live plants at Ikea. I had no idea. I've even been there before. But I feel like that will happen every time I go; I'll be amazed by something new and great. Kind of like the people that keep going back to Disney world again and again... right?

Although the boys spent some time in the kiddo-land at Ikea, they were beat. I was too, but I was hyped up on "oooh look what I just bought," and Landen wasn't so lucky...

See?? How do you not get excited about this basket of awesomeness... even though that's some of my sister-in-law's stuff in there too.

But let's unpack. Here's the loot I ended up with. Sorry for the poor lighting, I took these pictures a little later in the day than I should have...

First this was an impulse buy. I saw this cool figurine man and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I've always wanted one (he's fully poseable) and I thought they were like $30 or something so I never looked for one. But then Ikea said $4.99 each and I said, okay I'll take TWO! I figure (pun, lol) I'll put one one my desk at my new job, and one in the living room. I can't seem to find the name of them, but they were on sale and don't seem to be available on Ikea's website anymore either. But I'm sure Kyle and I can pose them all crazy like and it will be a fun game of something.

Then there was the rest of the loot. I maybe should have taken individual pictures of everything because it's harder to see the details. But once they're in place in the house I'll update you guys on where they ended up and how...

Starting on the right: First we have magazine rack/dividers called Knuff (Ikea names most of their items, and they all are kind of funny actually). They were on my list. I know it looks like one, but it's actually two. I've been looking for a way to sort the 'piles of files' on our desk for mail sorting, and I think this may do the trick (more on that system later). There were some made of cardboard for 2/$4.99 but I like the wooden ones. It was the look I was going for and they seemed sturdier so I sprung and paid 2/$9.99.

Second in the lineup is the striped napkins: Matta. These were also an impulse buy. But they were fancy and LSU-colored and 49 cents for the whole pack. So spendy...

In the middle are the red dish scrubby brushes called Plastis and I'm kind of in love with them. They were also on the list.. We have the exact same one now and it's about dead and needed replacing. They're $1.49 each and they have a suction cup on the end of the handle which means they just suction right to the sink when you're done.

The blue lamp you see may have been my third and last impulse buy (if you count the two figurines as one impulse...) and it's called Morkt. See I told you the names were funny... Anyways it's a tea light lantern and the color is unbelievable. And it's cute, and I think I may hang it on the wall... 

Then last, but never, ever least are the frames. I could not believe the prices for these frames. AND they were already white, which meant I didn't have to spray paint them white like I did the last cheap frames I bought from Target.  They're different size and all white except for one silver one that I thought would be fun.

See how many I got?? From top to bottom: one Ribba 5x7" in Silver, four Ribba 5x7 in White, one Virserum 4x6"in White, one Ribba 4x6" in White, one Ribba 4.75x6.75 in White, and two Nyttja 8.5x11in in White  And they all have cool mats except the Nyttja frames (which means without the mats the frames can hold larger prints or with the mats they look very, very cool. All the frames seem to have real glass, and get this... ALL the frames (except the Ribba 4.75x6.75) were $1.99 each! Crazy, crazy, crazy! The 'expensive' one was only $4.99.

In case you lost count, that's ten brand new, already the color I want, with mats, and glass, and ready to hang (once I put stuff in them) for a total of $22.90 (without tax). I think I can swing that. Or I did, I guess I already did...

So I've got a whole lot of stuff and a few projects up my sleeve, if you can't tell. And I've got some pretty fun stuff from my thrift shop hunting too... so tune in Friday for the Thrift Shop Madness again, inspired by these guys and a little bit of crazy music.

Do you live near an Ikea? Do you wish you did now? Or maybe when you have a ton of cash and can redo you're entire kitchen with Ikea stuff and their awesome butcher block counter tops?? ...okay, maybe just me...