IKEA Rocks…

July 20, 2010

Or, the best $14.95 I’ve ever spent…

Friends, if your adorable is over 37″ and potty-trained, and you have an IKEA nearby, take advantage!

(And by 37″, I do NOT mean 36 and 15/16″ as they made my younger adorable remove his shoes and while he clearly made the 37″ marker, they hemmed and hawed until another mother said, “He’s made it!” I was seriously quaking in my boots the whole time. He would NOT have been a happy camper to leave.)

There is a children’s play room complete with a ball pit, drawing tables, jungle gym, etc, where the adorables can have a ball while you shop.

Not a great photo at all, but the last thing they wanted to do was pose, they wanted IN THERE, MOM, so hurry it up!!

And I put on a HUGE smile and dashed around in my 45 minutes of Adorable-Free IKEA glory.

I was pretty restrained – some organizing tubs and buckets for the mayhem of sports equipment in the garage, random kitchen items and strict orders from the elder adorable to purchase one of these:

The Mala Easel – last year when I deliberated it was $24.95, but this summer it was $14.95. I almost bought 2.

It has proved to be a great purchase for my budding artists. The roll of paper mounts on a spindle that is right there behind the tray. The paper goes up one side and down the other and that means –

One adorable on one side (hot air balloon)…

…and the adorable (a cake, he says) on the other side – not drawing on each other’s work, not hitting/kicking/licking or the myriad of other things they do to each other.

And they’ve been quite prolific –

I LOVES it.

Do you have an IKEA nearby? What other treasures have you found?

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Category: Activities, Brilliant
Tags: IKEA, IKEA for kids |

8 Comments »

Marla
on July 20, 2010 8:18 am
Nice hot air balloon and cake!
RLR
on July 20, 2010 11:38 am
IKEA is a 90-minute drive for us. I found a set of kitchen towels on my first (and so far, only) trip there – and want to go back for more of them. There were tons of things I *wanted* – but I’m reigning in the purchasing until our whole-house purge is complete. This easel is great – would make a perfect birthday gift for our kids’ friends/classmates! And it looks much neater than the ‘clip on the paper’ type that we have.
Gina
on July 20, 2010 1:48 pm
I think half my house is from IKEA! We actually go there on ridiculously-hot or stormy days just so the kids can play in Smaland and I can walk around for 30 minutes by myself. So fun! I have rid my home of all paper plates/cups and use the plastic colorful IKEA ones to be better for the environment, and I updated our couch pillows with their awesome pillow cases–stripes, solids, different fabrics–they all fit and are about $4.99.
Heidi Farmer
on July 20, 2010 6:26 pm
Gina – Reading MoneywiseMoms.com was my inspiration for our trip. Though we missed the free kids meals, they had a blast in the Smaland and I had ever so much fun by myself!
SunnySaves
on July 21, 2010 8:41 am
We are 5-6 hours away from the closest IKEA, but the last time we were there, we found perfect, square tables for the kids playroom ($12 each!). They are stackable and easy-to-clean. However, one day, I don’t know why, but I sat down on one and cracked the side. Yes, embarassing, and no, I wasn’t under the presumption they were meant to be used as seating!
Katie Fisher
on July 21, 2010 10:44 pm
Okay Heidi why won’t my kids used ours like that? But oh how I love IKEA too. Just went today and bought up curtains, rods, lamps, and dressers for the new house.
Chani M
on July 23, 2010 2:20 pm
IKEA is to me what the TV is to my son. A treat, and one that needs monitoring at that!

Every season I order the new catalog and being that it’s a 3.5 hour drive from me, I mentally refurnish my house in it’s goods. LOVE IKEA!!!!
Heidi Farmer
on July 23, 2010 2:40 pm
I think the “mentally refurnishing” is a great idea!