trays and baskets

I have often thought that you can tell a Montessori enthusiast by how excited they get seeing baskets and trays.  The idea of presenting materials and activities to a child on a special, delineated space appeals to her sense of order and helps her see how it all fits together.  I'm always on the lookout for cheap, natural, beautiful baskets and trays to organize Vicki Jo's things. 

There has been an estate sale happening down the block from our sitter since Wednesday.  We are moving into our first house (!!! Much more on this later!) and the large dining table we have will no longer be suitable for the small eat-in kitchen.  At the sale, I found a perfect, scratchless, solid walnut table with three drop-in leaves.  It was too costly, but I swung by this morning on a whim, to see if it was still there.  It was, and . . . everything is half off today!  So I bought the table, and also these two trays.  Can't wait to put them to use!