SPRING FLING

A quick glimpse around our neighborhood would give no clue that Monday was the official start of spring. However, under piles of snow (two storms graced our presence this week) are tiny, yet colorful, signs of spring. Yellow, blue, pink and purple flowers are fighting their way through the frost, desperately seeking their time in the suns spotlight. Their day will come soon, I'm sure, so in the meantime cold, tired and desperate to find a few bright ideas, I headed to my favorite slice of heaven yesterday...IKEA. I'm sure it seems as though my design world revolves around Ikea, but the "AS IS" section can be a treasure trove of fabulous items, sent to this remote part of the store after serving as displays, if scratched or slightly broken, etc. Prices are often marked down as much as 75%, so after finding a few gems for a staging job, I decided to hop around Ikea to get a quick peek at what's new for spring. Fresh colored rugs start as low as $1.99, happy sheet sets sell for $8.99, kitchen sinks are as low as $99, so whatever room you plan on attacking, Ikea is a cool place to find a hot bargain. Strolling through the dish section I noticed fabulous melamine trays, plates, plastic cups, etc. starting at $.99...FOUR plastic wine glasses for $.99!!! So, I put together a fun thank-you basket for a friend who's helping us on a project this weekend. Because she's helping us out, I wanted to give her a fun evening in a basket. So, I packed it with fun trays, plates and plastic glasses for outdoor entertaining (she has a great porch she loves to hang out on in the summer), two bottles of wine I found for under $10 and a fun movie (walmart has great baskets in the movie section filled with fun films for under $5). For under $25, I (think) delivered a basket full of good for a great friend.
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: ten minutes
COST: Basket; $2.99, melamine tray $1.99, four plastic glasses $2.99, plates $2.99 (all at Ikea)
STRESS LEVEL: Showing someone you love a nice basket: LOW