Fab Finds Friday: Animals & Kitchen Edition

This week's fabulous finds are brought to you by Ross and TJ Maxx, two of my main suppliers. I love them both so. They're great places to find inexpensive but stylish decor--especially picture frames of all shapes, styles, and sizes--and high-quality name brand cooking stuff! Lately I've seen a ton of Calphalon utensils and bakeware (the Calphalon Classic line), as well as Kitchenaid utensils and gadgets. I pop in every now and then to snatch up things--usually stuff from our registries that we didn't receive, but that aren't so super essential that we haven't purchased them yet. Tip: before you buy yourself any fancy pants kitchen stuff, try checking TJ Maxx, Ross, or Marshall's for them!

Without further ado, here are my latest fab finds:

1) Greeny-gray rhinoceros statue from TJ Maxx, $5.99. In late January, I spotted a white ceramic rhino hanging out with an elephant friend at Ross:

But at $14.99 a pop, I thought they were just a bit much, and I didn't have a home in mind for them. (Sherry from Young House Love probably would have slapped me silly for leaving them behind, given her white ceramic animal obsession. Amanda, too. Except they're too nice to slap, and they probably would've rejoiced and snatched the animals up themselves, but whatever.) So this time, I couldn’t repeat history. $5.99 seriously? He was MINE!

And I loved that the green guy was just like the rhino Sherry & John have. Obviously it’s trickled down since the first super-expensive version $3480 came out (and even since YHL found their ZGallerie version). I’m not the biggest fan of the color, but plan to spray him a glossy white this summer.

2) Calphalon cheese slicer from TJ Maxx, $6.99 ($12.11 at Amazon).

I love cheese. And I love Calphalon products. I’d already bought the brand’s Dual Plane Cheese slicer (also from TJ Maxx) earlier this year, and an awesome friend got us this amazing slate cheese board as a wedding gift, so this guy just completed my cheese serving collection. The Amazon ratings aren't great, but I'm wondering what sorts of cheese the users sliced--the product description clearly states it's for "semi-soft cheeses like mozzarella, Havarti or Port Salut," and that there's a Lifetime Warranty for regular use of the product. So I'm planning on using it only with soft/semi-soft cheeses and cashing in the warranty if needed.

3) Off-white antique-y looking birdie from Ross, $3.99.

I kind of have a thing for birds in decor--see the photos of our living room as proof--and this little guy just called to me. I like the brown glaze on him, and the detail is pretty great for less than 4 bucks!

4) Calphalon Classic nonstick 8” square cake pan from TJ Maxx, $7.99 ($17.00 at Amazon).

I can’t resist snatching up the Calphalon bakeware when I see a piece we don’t already have and will use. It’s a great product at a lower price than anywhere else, and since the inventories at the stores changes so often, it probably won’t be there next time I go! I love the nonstick pans so far—can’t wait to bake more with them.

Have you found any great deals lately? Do you love Ross and TJ Maxx as much as I do? I'd never even heard of Ross until we moved here, and now it's one of my favorite stores. I'm so happy that they're opening one near my hometown in Missouri soon :)