by Nikol Lohr

FIND THEM AT: Montgomery Wards
PRICE: $3.99 - $4.99

A couple of months ago, I bought one of those Montgomery Ward oil change six-packs. Or maybe it's a five pack. Either way, the idea was that next time I needed an oil change, I'd only have to fork over the five bucks for the filter & I could hang out at Toys R Us (in the same strip mall).

They're also actually pretty fast at the Wards I go to, so when I got distracted by the SHINY THINGS while cutting through the juniors department after snapping up some extra Xena figures (so I could have an extra set to take out of the package) at Toys R Us, I ended up blowing my usual excellent oil change time.

The shiny things in question were insect barrettes. Way better (and a bit more expensive) than the Target ones that came out a couple of weeks ago but have since flown off the shelves. These ones were a mixture of cloisonné and rhinstone-bedecked. They came singly and in sets of two (both going in the same direction, though) in a variety of colors and styles. At the time they were buy one get the second one half off, so I went nuts. I think that sale's over, though.

But at under $5, they're still an affordable luxury--even if you get a whole swarm.