Recently, our family took a trip to the great state of Minnesota for the Christmas holiday.  We had a lot of things to do, including a wedding, bridal shower, and of course Christmas.  Between the wedding and Christmas, I was able to sneak in an IKEA shopping adventure and finally meet my blog bud, Jen from IHeart Orgainzing in real life.  We (well, at least I did; Jen may be too polite to say she didn’t) had a great time, falling naturally into conversations.  Not only does she have a great blog, beautiful home and awesome organizing ideas, but she’s so sweet and genuine.  We spent a few hours in IKEA, browsing the upper level, soaking in the ideas; we forgot to take pictures because we were so chatty. 

One item on our list was to find cheap winter organizing solutions for my entry closet.  Unfortunately, IKEA didn’t have many wire mesh baskets in the dimensions I needed, but I did buy two sets Emu boxes, hoping to screw them into the wall.  I showed them to Ben, but he wasn’t so keen on affixing these to the wall, so it’s back to the drawing board.

I have also had my eye the Ofelia blanket my past few visits, so I decided to finally buy it.

Unfortunately, when I returned home, I realized it had a huge snag, so I’ll have to return it.  I guess it wasn’t meant to be.  I did plan to make some textured pillow shams out of the blanket, though.

Another item I’ve considered getting more than once are the Limmaren bottles.  Jen and I had a great idea, why not use one of the bottles for our Tom’s of Maine mouthwash?  So, we both added them to our big yellow bags. 

I know this is late for Christmas, perhaps if you’re headed to a New Year’s party, but I think one of the bottles would be part of a simple and useful hostess gift.  Make a spice blend of any seasonings you’d like, add extra virgin olive oil, and pair it with a delicious bread and small dish to pour the oil mixture into.  If any of you have been to Johnny Carino’s, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. 

As you know, I’m trying to get our entry more organized and better suited to handle all our winter gear.  I love the deer hooks I found at World Market, but I thought I’d buy some back up hooks, just incase the deer were too deep for behind the door.  So, I took a set of three Bjärnum folding hooks home with me too. 

Jen and I also bought matching trays that we have plans to gussy up.

Believe it or not, that’s all I bought from IKEA, though I did have to keep in mind that we had a truck load of stuff to haul back to Montana already, so space was very limited. 

After IKEA, we ventured over to Home Goods.  Can you believe this was my first time in HG?!?  I know!  I found a few great items there, like these Chilewich pressed vinyl place mats for $2.99 each.   

I’ve seen similar Chilewich place mats for sale at Crate and Barrel for $7.00 each, so I bought two.  I love the detail and the fact that they’re vinyl makes for easy clean up.

I know quatrefoil patterned items are hot right now, and I not the only one unable to resist.  So, when I eyed this black lacquer capiz jewelry box, I snapped it up.

It’s perfect on my nightstand, holding my necklaces.  Again, I love the pattern and texture!

Here are a few other beauties that caught my attention.

Loved their side tables!  I also fought the urge to pop a set of these pillows in my basket.

You know me though, I’d rather sew it myself.  I’m already formulating my plan of attack. 

We walked over to Marshall’s, but neither of us bought anything.  After Marshall’s, we got lost, but finally found a Goodwill.  We definitely found some ‘interesting’ items, but nothing that I needed.  Though, I had to fight Jen over this potato bowl…

Umm, yeah.  There was no fight.  Not cute.  We actually considered a little ‘Best of the Worst’ post, sort of a ‘What Not to Buy,’ but we didn’t know if you’d be interested.   

Any other Home Goods virgins out there?  What is your best buy?  Would you be interested in seeing a ‘Best of the Worst’ post?