Years ago, I was put onto a site called You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice.  It’s basically a blog where people post “blatant rip offs” of others artwork.  Recently, I’ve been in baby mode, buying all kinds of stuff I never knew existed and came across a rip off moment of my own at home.  One item we purchased was this Skip Hop counter drying rack for baby bottles which retails for about $25.  It’s pretty useful and looks nice.

After purchasing it, I realized it was very similar to something I purchased about 5-6 years ago.  We’ve always collected various Alessi housewares and one item was their grass letter holder.  This thing was a real splurge in the $60-100 range (or around there) but we thought it was pretty unique at the time.  Here’s a pic of the Alessi letter holder and Skip Hop dryer side by side.

Although they serve different purposes, the concept is pretty similar.  Between the two,  I’m pretty sure Alessi was first with this one, but there must be others who have used the grass theme as well.  We love both products but given that its pretty hard to find this Alessi letter holder these days (and the ridiculous price tag), the Skip Hop could do the trick as both a bottle dryer or paper holder.

On a related note, my cousin came by today and was one of the few to notice and point out the Alessi.  It’s deadstock now and even finding a simple picture of it is difficult (forget about finding one for sale).  Anyways, if you have or see one on sale, let me know and I can tell my cousin.