If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember this post where I described my frustration in getting my kids to hang up their hand towel in the powder room. 

I thought I had found the perfect solution in a $3 adhesive hook that I got at Lowe’s.

To my dismay, the result wasn’t perfect. 

Layne complained that it was difficult for him to get the towel to hang on the hook.  Sometimes he would attempt to hang it up but it would fall down shortly after.  In desperation, I turned to IKEA.  Which is where I usually turn when I’m feeling desperate.

You see, IKEA has hand towels with tags that double as loops for hanging. 

The IKEA THISTED hand towel (at $6.99 a pop) makes it a cinch for my lil’ guys to hang ’em up. 

It’s not a fluke.  They’ve been doing it for over a month now!  (I might be a little more excited than I should be.)  And the quality of these towels is icing on the cake.  They are oversized, beefy and absorbent…all things a towel should be.  So glad I purchased 2 – one is in use and the other is ready and waiting for the first to get dirty.

If you’ve got kids that can’t reach your towel rings (or even stubborn husbands that are oblivious to the act of towel hanging)…then you’ve got soggy towels.  If you’ve got soggy towels, slap on an adhesive hook at kid (or hubby) level, grab a few IKEA THISTED hand towels and watch the hanging begin.

I love a killer deal.  Gently used clothing from the Salvation Army?  Yes, please.  Secondhand toys from neighborhood garage sales?  Yes, please.  Furniture left on the side of the road in need of a little TLC?  Yes, please.  Pretty much nothing is below me when it comes to finding a great price.  I’m not afraid of dingy little outlet stores with questionable bathrooms and leaky roofs.  (I just make sure to empty the tank before I get there!)  Every few months or so, I’ll peruse nearby Goodwill stores just to see what they have.  Most times I leave empty-handed but on a recent trip I came out with some housewares.  Score!

I walked out of Goodwill with 5 picture frames, 3 drinking glasses, 1 ceramic dish and 2 matching candleholders (and a partridge in a pear tree)…for a total of $19.  Yippee!  You woulda thought I’d won the lottery by the look on my face.

The 5 picture frames are real solid wood.  They aren’t much to look at now but they’ll come in handy for the future family photo wall.  Stay tuned for that…

This set of drinking glasses made me squeal.  They’re a good size (not too small, not too large) and have some weight to them.  I can see my boys and me sipping ice cold lemonade out of these in the summer.  Summer does still exist, doesn’t it?

My favorite part is the raised green sunbursts.  Aren’t they sweet?  They provide great texture and subtle color at the same time.

I couldn’t pass up this small green dish.  I have 2 white ones already.  They’re perfect for dipping sauces, kids’ snacks or food prep.  I kind of feel like Rachael Ray when I chop and measure out all my ingredients in these little guys before dumping them into whatever dish I’m making.

And last but not least, I found a pair of matching candlesticks.  Yep, a PAIR.  It’s truly a miracle when you find a pair of matching anything at Goodwill.  I actually saw one first and marveled over its shiny whiteness but was disappointed when I couldn’t think of anything to do with one lone candleholder.  But, lo and behold, I turned down the next aisle and spotted its twin!  It was nothing short of divine intervention. 

So, there you have it…the fruits of my Goodwill shopping spree.  And it cost me less than $20.  Goodwill and other resale/secondhand stores are great places to score on affordable glassware:  dishes, vases and decorative accents.  You may have to search through junk to find worthy pieces but the hunt is quite fun!