Homemade Play Kitchen

At the beginning of this year, I decided I wanted to build a play kitchen for Eric's niece Abby who had just come to live with Eric's parents. Abby was turning 3 in late May so she was a great age for it and it gave me a few months time. I remember loving my play kitchen as a child which may have helped contribute to my love of cooking. (Although I think I may have also had a play vacuum and I certainly don't love vacuuming) I had seen a few homemade play kitchens around blogland that really helped with the process such as Out of the Crayon Box and I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like and I knew I wanted to be thrifty making it. So here is how I tackled my first DIY project :)

I took a $10 ugly but functional thrift store nightstand (honestly I probably could have found one cheaper than that but I went with it because I wanted to have plenty of time since I had no clue what I was getting myself into to get it just right).

And turned it into a homemade play kitchen!!! Complete with a magnetic chalkboard! And hooks for an apron, chef's hat, reversible shopping tote, and cupcake-shaped pot holder (these were sewn/made by my godmother Peggy because she is SUPER crafty and has the talent and sewing machine to make these)!

Here are some steps from along the way. I did leverage the blog referenced above because there is a great tutorial there although I think every play kitchen is different - dependent on what nightstand you start with.

The nightstand was a bit challenging to take apart due to its dovetailed and peg-like construction but it finally surrendered to my force... well perhaps the hammer helped.

First I had Eric cut a hole for the sink with his new jigsaw. We measured the dog bowl I bought at the dollar store to know how big to make it. He was happy to get a new tool out of my project and I didn't feel comfortable trying to use a saw for the first time to get the hole right (altho I did make him practice on a scrap piece of wood first). And it fits!

Next I primed all the pieces I wanted to use in some way for the kitchen. We had to buy a really thin piece of plywood to use for the bottom of the kitchen and for the bottom of the oven (separating the oven and the storage area)

I painted it a cotton candy pink color - Abby's favorite color is pink so that was a given. Did you know there is an Oops shelf at HD and Lowes with discounted paint where the color wasn't to the buyer's liking. This one was a gallon for $5 at Lowes and it happened to be oil based - a pain since it takes so long to dry but very durable. Before painting I had Eric cut a square one drawer front to be the oven "window" and to get rid of the ugly gold handle.

I painted the insides of the oven with black craft paint and painted the faucet-wooden letter J, sink knobs- wooden people, and burner knobs- diet coke plastic tops with silver craft paint. As you can see one board is only painted halfway - this is the back of the oven so the bottom half will be painted pink for the back of the storage area under the oven.

I painted the other half of the board pink and did some touchups.

Then we (Eric helped) put on the hutch piece secured with  little L brackets to the base and bracket for the shelf (unpainted at the time). The hutch was one of the nightstand drawers minus the drawer front and its shelf was a leftover piece of wood.

Next came the most challenging task of all: the oven door (one of the nightstand drawer fronts) We attached the oven door hinges probably at least 10 different times trying to get the door to fit and shut and open properly and we even tried bigger hinges. Many times the oven door would open too far, or not far enough, or there would be a big gap at the top. Finally we had to let the hinges guide where the door needed to fit on the kitchen at and needed to cut down the door by about an inch. There is a very small gap where the hinges are but I am OK with that. Thank goodness for wood filler!

After that I traced rolls of tape for the burners and painted them with gray craft paint.

Then the dowel and curtain and door handle were put on. My mom made the curtain out of cupcake material I picked out... it was a lighter shade of pink and perfect for a kitchen, who doesn't like cupcakes?! I also glued, well attempted to glue the sink in... because of the shape of the rim on the bowl the only thing that would work in the end was tape under the rim.

I added the faucet (glued), sink knobs and burner knobs (screwed in so they could turn).

I borrowedtook a clear plastic folder from work to put on the inside of the oven "window" and also secured top of the oven door with velcro dots. I glued on little cut up dowel pieces I had painted black to the burners for that real burner feel. It's kinda hard to see below but I also wrote H, M, and L on each burner knob for high, medium, and low.

Then I did a little more touching up, wrote Abby a message on the back of the hutch, and sprayed it down a couple times with a clear protective coat.

Meanwhile I had been also been working on the magnetic chalkboard. I bought small sheet of metal for like $4 at HD and sprayed it with a couple coats of Chalkboard paint. The corners were sharp so I covered them with sticky tack and added a hem tape/ribbon border complete with button bows made by my mom. I attached it to the left side of the kitchen with gorilla glue.. pretty strong stuff.

gorilla glue- this is the strong stuff!

Since it had to travel in the car on its side, I attached the adhesive hooks to the right side of the kitchen once we got to Eric's parents for Abby's (belated) birthday dinner this past weekend - this was the first weekend that his parents, us, and Eric's brother Keith and his wife Megan could all get together. I hadn't told Eric's parents what I was working on in case it failed miserably so it could be a surprise. I did tell Keith and Megan about it so they could get Abby all kinds of kitchen items/play food for their present. Here are some pictures from the play kitchen revealing!

Here she is all dressed up in her apron and hat, PRICELESS! Peggy also made her a play cake that said Happy Birthday Abby and she LOVED it! Look out Top Chef 2030!

She had so much fun and I think I had just as much playing kitchen as she did! She made a shopping list and sautéd a donut, hamburger, and fries, delish! And she even let me be sous chef for awhile and wear her hat.

So Abby's homemade play kitchen and my first DIY project was a big success! I am really proud of this kitchen because I did it all by myself (minus a few powertool things) AND I had a vision for that old nightstand and I think it came out pretty darn fantastic! I did spend a lot of time on it but the nightstand and materials used for the kitchen were around$40 so pretty thrifty. I hope it's something she can play with and love for years to come. I had a great time making the kitchen even with some challenges and I would definitely make one again!

Now all Abby needs is someone to wash those dishes for her :)

I will be linking up here:

Domestically Speaking POPP
JAG Show and Share Day
Hooking up with HOH
Weekend Wrap Up Party
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Frugalicious Friday
Blue Cricket Design
Spotlight Yourself

504 Main

One Year Ago

JUNE BRIDE

Oh, they say when you marry in June,
You're a bride all your life.
And the bridegroom who marries in June
Gets a sweetheart for a wife.
Winter weddings can be gray
Like a Christmas holiday.
But the June bride hears the song
Of the spring that lasts all summer long.
By the light of the silvery moon
Home you ride, side by side
With the echo of Mendelssohn's tune
In your hearts as you ride
For they say when you marry in June,
You will always be a bride.

(From Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

I cannot believe that almost 1 year ago (6/20/09) Eric and I tied the knot. Wow time has flown! That was such an amazing day for both of us and we had the best time with all our family and friends. Here are a few random snapshots from our big day!

I love looking at our wedding pictures (I have a some of our wedding pictures in various places in the house) and remembering everything from that day. It went by so fast that it is nice to think back about those fun memories. I can remember feeling so anxious/nervous right before the church doors opened and I walked down the aisle. Good thing my dad was there, if he isn't calm cool and collected then I don't know who is. Once I saw Eric's face waiting for me, all I could feel was so incredibly happy and blessed!

My dad, or dad-o as I call him, is a pretty funny guy. I guess this fits in nicely since Father's day is also this weekend.

There are so many things I loved about our big day besides marrying the man of my dreams of course (duh!). I loved my dress and especially the fun bow with the broach. I think I may put on my dress again this weekend and wear it every place I go just around the house for a bit, I mean what fun is an amazing dress you only get to put on once right? I especially love the way Eric looks in a tux too! I loved the atmosphere of our reception country club- one big open room ballroom with gorgeous windows overlooking a golf course and a large dance floor. Eric and I love dancing and we actually got to dance a lot. People had said we wouldn't get to eat or dance very much but we made sure to! All of our guests seemed to enjoy the dance floor so that was great. I loved the flower buckets my mom made filled with blue hydrangeas (swoon!) that lined the church aisle and were also on some tables at the reception. I loved my earrings that my mom and I designed and made. I loved how Keith, Eric's brother, made me laugh during the best man speech at his funny comments. We loved spending time with our close friends and family and seeing everyone so happy!

So many great memories that I hope I never forget anything about that day! Happy 1st anniversay to Eric and I!

Backyard renovation- Deck!

We tackled our first major home project in May- a deck! I have always loved being outdoors and knew I wanted outdoor living space in our new home. I could just imagine hanging out and grilling and playing cornhole :) The floor plan and lot we picked were perfect for this. We have a nice sized backyard with a hill in the very back for wonderful privacy and the front of our house faces the west so the house shades the backyard area close to it. That meant we could use that space in the summer heat during the afternoon and evening without being in the sun. It really would have been a crime not to expand our square footage outside.

Before: this is the back of our house, the screen porch wasn't complete yet at the time but it was the only before picture I have. I think I took this picture in March 09 standing at least 5 ft in front of the hill.

during our house construction

The screen porch was great especially for keeping bugs out but we really wanted more space. We planned to save up the money and build a deck before the next summer (the house finished in Apr 09 and we moved in July 09). We wanted a simple design to span the rest of the back of the house and wouldn't need steps or railings since it would be low to the ground.

Eric, his twin brother Keith, and their Dad (the real mastermind behind the project) had built decks before and graciously offered to do ours- THANKS! It was a fun weekend for them to do something together and cut down on costs too! I acted as official gofer with many trips to lowes and cooked lots of food to keep them energized. They started on Friday evening, worked all day Saturday, and finished Sunday afternoon.

Just starting out

some framing

more framing- this is the longest step in the process

securing posts in concrete - digging those holes was tough

starting to lay the deck board

spacing and screwing in the boards

finished deck- view from the screened porch

view from the yard - we still had a lot of extra wood piled up there

After: Eric added some screen and lattice to the bottom to keep out critters and give it a finished look

first major home project complete!

We moved our patio table and chairs and 2 chaise lounges to the deck. The grill is still on the porch for now. I have been searching for patio furniture and would like to buy a 6 person table and sell the current table/chairs and then get a loveseat or chairs and a coffee table for the screened porch. The deck is wonderful - we have already eaten dinner out there a few times and I've lounged and read in the chaise. I could not be more excited about our new addition and I can't wait to have people over to enjoy it as well! What do you think?

Soon we will have to tackle our backyard grass, and the word grass is a real stretch... more like dirt, weeds, and occasional patchy grass. :)

Linking up here:

Savannah

For Memorial Day weekend, Eric and I traveled to Savannah to hang out with one of my best friends Emily and her boyfriend Tucker who live in Jacksonville. We stayed at Tucker's parents house on Skidaway Island. Savannah was on our list of places to visit and it worked out so nicely that we got to see friends and had a place to stay :) 

Saturday we explored downtown Savannah. I loved the quaint feel and all of the shops, old homes, and abundance of squares. We made sure to stop by Paula Deen's restaurant and store,  sampled Savannah's famous pralines from a candy shop, and made sure to walk up and down River Street. We had a great lunch at a little deli and did some more touring around.

oh Paula Deen

Forsyth Park was beautiful and while we were there people were setting up for a wedding- I'm sure it would be gorgeous saying I Do in front of the fountain. Tucker was a wonderful tour guide and pretty hiliarious.





Sunday we explored Skidaway Island which is a lot of marsh areas, marinas, and golf courses. There is basically one huge gated neighborhood where people live. We saw some dolphins swimming at the marina and we hung out at the neighborhood pool which had this crazy slide probably not meant for adults but Em and I finally faced our fears (after Tuck almost flew off) and went down- the kids told us not to be scared haha. (Sidenote: 30 min after our slide adventure a girl fell down the stairs to the slide and must have hit her head or something because 2 firetrucks and an ambulance showed up to take her away on a stretcher and then they closed the slide for the day)



Sunday evening we went back to downtown Savannah for a little more exploring and we found Madison Square which was in Forrest Gump.



Then we had a delicious dinner at The Olde Pink House. It was recommended by my parents who visited Savannah a year ago but it was also voted Best Restaurant, Best Waitstaff, and Most Romantic Restaurant in the Savannah newspaper - how can you go wrong with that? We all had a great time and loved the food. Then we figured how could we leave without going to the Best Icecream shop so we visited Leopold's. Yum!









Emily and I have been best friends since 4th grade so it was awesome to spend some quality time with her since we don't get to see each other as often as I wish we could! She's pretty uh-may-zing and funny too and I'm so thankful for our wonderful friendship over the years! Monday we left to go back to Charlotte and they went back to Jacksonville but hopefully we'll get together again soon.