I have been pronouncing this place as ‘daze-oh’ for years…but yesterday was told on good authority by the beautiful LW that it is actually pronounced ‘dye-zo’.  However you say it, this place rocks…and not only because of the $2 price tags.

I am sure it comes as no surprise to my regular readers – who know how seduced I am by a bargain – but I love this place. Yes, it’s partly to do with the fact that it is undeniably great value but it’s also, in part, because some of their stuff is really quite wonderful.

It’s hard to remember what on earth they actually sell here as there is a lot of random stock. Here’s a list of my recent obscure buys seen through the safety of a hazy glow that only an instagram filter can deliver:

These have to be the best dumbbells there are out there. Love the idea that they double up as a drinking bottle! (Screw top lid is on the left.)

It’s not that I am a horribly mean mummy…maybe it is…but I hate spending money on sand toys which inevitably get lost after after about a day.  Buy them from here and you won’t bat an eyelid when they disappear. The red cone shaped thing on the left of the picture is actually a brilliant kind of megaphone (no batteries required).  I was at a party the other day where someone had to organise about 50 of us to go from one venue to another…and they used one of these.  Personally, I use it to shout at my children, but each to their own.

Boringly practical but leather lined half-insoles have been occupying valuable brain space as I can’t find them anywhere. Anywhere but Daiso, I now know.

Whilst on the subject of shoes, these look like something your Granny might have owned but don’t be deterred, they are brilliant – especially out here with all this humidity – at keeping shoes in shape and mould-free.  Just shove them in the toes of your Ferragamo’s darling.

Bought for the budding artist in my extended family…these canvas covered boards come in various sizes and look way more than what I paid for them. There are three in a pack. (I am not really sure I can get away with spending $2 on someone’s Christmas present! I think I’ll supplement this with a tube of Winsor & Newton oil paint in a lovely colour like their Cerulean Blue.)

I didn’t know they sold this in Daiso and made my mother lug rolls of Tescos string over here as a substitute. I will know for next time but meanwhile have rather a lot to wade through (about a year’s worth!).

If you drop this it breaks. But don’t…and it will work brilliantly. It’s got a magnetic back so can stick to the fridge.  We get through one a week in our household as they invariably and annoyingly get left on the side of the oven which melts them. At $2 though it doesn’t matter. I buy three at a time.

Storage, or lack of, is really quite a problem out here.  These are a good compromise for bedding etc but Daiso’s ones do have a nasty habit of unsealing.  I bought these for packing purposes and figured that as long as I can jam the suitcase lid shut before they reopen, you are home and dry.

These unlikely looking plastic pill or DIY dividers make the best earring separators.  I blogged about this here and mistakenly bought mine, for much more, at HomeFix.

…Oh and I can tell you on good authority, DO NOT be tempted to come here on a Saturday or Sunday when it’s packed, sweaty and deeply unpleasant.

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